The Monster That Lurks

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Tuesday November 21, 2006 - Today was another partly rainy day, but hey, it's Scotland. We had breakfast in the hotel and then went to check out the Loch Ness 2000 exhibition. It was well done and I enjoyed it. Each room had a different video presentation and it documented the history of the loch and the possibility of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, in a fair and scientific way. We then spent a little time shopping and I bought a few presents before finding Steve again. We opted for a scenic drive around the entire loch, which I learned holds more water than all the lakes in Wales and England combined. I had no idea it was such an important body of water. We stopped early on at Urquhart Castle, located right on the lake itself. There are castles everywhere in Scotland, more than 600, and there are signs for them everywhere. I have decided that in my fantasy world, I would like to live in one. This one is old and in ruins and quite an impressive sight to see. We were here yesterday on our search for gas, just after checking into the hotel, and saw it from a far, all lit up at night. This time we got some pictures of it in the daytime from the same location. We decided not to go in or walk around the grounds - it was enough to see it from where we were.

The drive around the loch was beautiful, and though I never did glimpse the monster, we saw several rainbows. We stopped when we saw a sign the Foyer Falls. We had to hike a bit to get there - finally my hiking boots came in handy for something other than keeping my feet warm! - and the hike was beautiful. It was a very wet walk and there were two view points. Steve and I walked to the first view point and looked at the falls from about the same height as the falls themselves. Then I walked down to the second view point and Steve walked back up to the car to wait for me. His footwear was not ideal. The view from below was a bit wetter but just as nice. On the way back up, there was a network of trails to walk and I walked on one just for a couple minutes before going back to the car. It was beautiful and it made me happy just to be there.

Steve and I drove back to Elgin that afternoon and had a little bit of down time before we walked over to Donna's house for dinner. I was hoping to use the internet at the library but it was all booked up for that time, so instead we went to the grocery store to restock the fridge. We passed by the Elgin Cathedral, the structure that gives Elgin it's claim to fame. It is quite an impressive building, now in ruins, and I could kick myself for not having actually walked around to look at it more closely. Sunday would have been the only real possiblity, and I just didn't think of it.

At the appropriated time, we walked over to Donna's place. I met her 10 month old baby Ben, and he was super cute. Extremely easy going and friendly baby. She made us a lovely korma dish and we stayed for a few hours having a nice chat and playing with her two dogs and petting the two cats when they came around. She's a great person and I had a really nice evening.

After dinner we walked back to Steve's house and I packed up my bag for the last time. I would be flying back home the next day for the first time in almost eleven months. Although I was excited to see my family and surprise my mom for Thanksgiving, I was sad that my trip was coming to an end. I was also sad to be leaving Scotland, my new favorite country. I saw so much in such a short time, but of course there is so much more to see. I was also sad to leave Steve. He has become a good friend, one that I met in Africa and who came to travel with me in China. It was so nice of him to invite me to visit him in Scotland, and yet he did even more. Being that I am at the end of my trip, I only had enough money left to either fly home or to Scotland. He knew this and offered to fly me from Scotland to the States with his sky miles, if I could get myself to Scotland. And to top it off, he has done all the treating since I've been here - I have not seen a pound. He has been generous and thoughtful and I am so grateful to him for that. He is a real gentleman.

We ended the night with some tv watching to wind down but it was an early night since we had to get up the next morning at 5am. My last night in Scotland!

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