Loch Ness - Scotland

---

We slept in until 10 this morning. We were to leave at 10, but Kyle and I both slept in, oops. We headed out nevertheless after playing a bit of soccer to wake ourselves up. We headed to Ferry Glen. It is the most adorable place. Magical. Everything is miniature. The hills, the trees,, the waterfall, caves, etc. There is a lot of legends revolving around this area. Neil told us about the little trolls that live in the area before we got off the van. To make sure we didn't offend these creatures we were to make sure we didn't wear any religious jewelry, not have our hands in our pockets, and we couldn't swear or they would play tricks on us. Well, you might not believe it, but its all true. As Neil was showing us around I had a lapse in judgment and instinctively put my hand in my pocket to hold my cell phone. We broke up from the group and Dave and I went exploring the waterfall and then the caves. We got to the cave, and I realized my cell phone was missing! I really can't believe myself. I immediately ran back to the van to make sure I didn't leave it there, but I wasn't that lucky. Shoot! Somewhere in all the hills, nooks and water was my cell phone. The odds of finding it seemed extremely small. Neil began calling my phone and looking around trying to retrace my steps. Chris and Rave, who are getting married in a few months, helped with Dave as well. I ran all over the place and didn't hear or see it. I was making my way from the caves to the waterfall, sweating from all the running I was doing, as Dave comes over the hill. I make some comment about how ridiculous I am and he just stands there with a look of agreement. I began walking past him to continue my search when he justs holds my phone out just as Neil was giving it another call. Seriously!!! HE FOUND IT! And he wasn't excited about it at all. He barely smiled! (Makes me wonder if he gets excited about anything in life). I gave him a huge hug and we headed back to the van. I was in shock, thankful and relieved for the rest of the day.
We left magical Ferry Glen, probably my favorite part of the entire trip, except for those darn trolls, and headed to our boating trip. We got a taste of exactly what fishing in Scotland is like. We met up with our host. We loaded the fishing boat and headed out into the Loch. There we were shown the catch of the Loch, squibbles and crawfish-like things. We held them and then killed them. We boiled them on the boat and ate them. They were so good. We were told that the rest of the catch was going to the Flying Scotsman train that went by a few minutes later. It's like the Orient express. 5,000 pounds for a 3 day trip. That's ridiculous! Apparently, 3 of the squibbles that we just ate would be 25 pounds when served on board. And we were eating them for free! They were extremely good though. I wish I could describe.
We began driving around the Loch, when dolphins started playing in our wake!!! Bottlenose dolphins! This far north? Who would have thought? We stopped and the dolphins started showing off by jumping in the air and twirling through the water. I was on cloud nine, in awe. I love dolphins. We started on our way and saw the salmon nets. The salmon were jumping out of the water. It was a sight.
Eventually, we made it back to dry land.
For lunch, we went to the capital of Skyee, Portree. Mary and I went to the bakery. The bakery was a glorious choice. So many delicious, relatively cheap things. I had a Mac & Cheese Pie, Ham & Brie roll, chocolate brownie and a banana creme tart. O boy was it good! And only £3! We took it down to the docks and joined the rest of the Aussie girls for lunch. we fed the eseagulls. Bad idea, I was attacked with my sandwich in hand. Luckily man was quicker than bird and I managed to get away with my life, and my meal still in hand. We drove around Skye for a bit more until we arrived at our hostel for the night near Loch Ness. Kyle, Dave, Basel, Chris, Rave and I prepared a wonderful Mac and Cheese with bacon and salad dinner. I was nominated to be in charge simply because I was American. They joked that if they didn't do what I said they might run the risk of being bombed. I joked around and tried to play into their joke. Boy did those Aussies and Canadians do a good job cutting up the bacon. Haha.
We finished, everyone ate and we each had a few drinks before beginning our walk to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. I suppose the idea was to numb some of the cold for when we jump in with drink. The leisban girls in the back have been planning their skinny dipping escapade in Loch Ness all trip. Dun dun dun, the time has come. And there goes Carly streaking down the field in front of the castle, off the dock and into the freezing cold water with her knees tucked below her yelling cannonball!!! I threw off my clothes, but I'd planned ahead adn put a bathing suit on. haha, sorry boys. I jumped in head first in a dive. The cold water hit my body and I couldn't speak! Brrrrrrr..... between the cold and te prospect of being eaten by the Loch ness sea creature, I needed to get out of there. I began climbing up the dock laughing my head off because while it was cold, it was pretty darn cool. I just jumped in Loch Ness!!!!! I was climbing the dock when all the boys threw out their hand to help me. Really, I was better off getting out myself. Neil swung me into the dock and I hit my rib against the metal bar. I was so numb I didn't even feel it until I thawed out. Once everyone had jumped in, we took a group picture on the docks and just then all the lights of the castle went out. We had a nice moonlite walk back to the hostel and sat around the fire roasting candy marshmallows that Sarah had bought. It was a lot of fun. I'm really going to miss these people.

---