Loch Ness, the monster Nessie, and the Highlands

---

Today was a lot of fun, minus the terrible weather we had on our tour up to Loch Ness. The tour itself, was rather drawn out, with several stops along the way. While we were on the bus it was rainy, and it only stopped when we got off. And of course when we got off, it was very windy and cold.
The first stop was at the small village of Callendar, where we visited a rest stop / tourist shop. The highlight of stop was the Highland cow named Hamish. We then proceeded for a short stop in Fort William for lunch, where I had fish and chips. Out next stop was at Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness itself. We toured the castle for about a 1/2 hour before heading on a freezing, windy boat ride to a hotel a few miles up the Loch (where our bus was waiting to pick us up). From there we drove through Inverness, only to find out that one of the passengers failed to get on the boat, and was left at Urquhart. Luckily for us, we didn't have to drive the 45 minutes back to the castle, and we headed back to Edinburgh.

Monster History: Legend has it that St. Columbo, an Irish Monk who brought Catholicism to the northern parts of Scotland in the 6th century AD, came upon the creature attacking humans. St. Columbo then told the beast to prey upon humans no more and stay in the loch, and so Nessie has. Now remember this is a legend. In reality, in the early 1920s & 30s, following the hysteria surrounding the film King Kong, the papers took to a mystery surrounding a report by the local water board keeper at Loch Ness. And so became the LOCH NESS MONSTER, also known as Nessie, who is in fact a male monster.

---

Photos

the Loch Ness tour
Hamish

the Loch Ness tour
Hamish