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Published: October 12th 2014
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We don’t do guided bus tours. Who really wants to sit in the back of a bus with 3 kids through bouncy Scottish highland roads for 13 hours? But, we were inspired by a Scottish ancestor who lived in the Highlands and were determined to see the area. So the bus tour was an easy way to see the Highlands on a short stay in Edinburgh.
On the tour, we drove through fields of purple heather and past huge lochs nestled in the mountains. It was fun to connect the sites we drove by with movies such as Brave Heart, Monty Python, and Harry Potter. The fog drifting over the hills helped us to imagine the fairies of the Scottish folktales we had studied. But the highlight was Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.
We were given an option to stop at Urquhart Castle and ferry across the loch, which we opted for and were not disappointed. We didn’t get a lot of time at the castle, but it was a great opportunity for the kids to get off the bus and run around the castle. The kids were able to see some historical exhibits such as a trebuchet, which
was part of our lesson on medieval history.
As much as the Loch Ness monster sounds like a fable, it actually has a lot of culture and history around it. One theory that we explored with the kids was that a marine reptile which looks a lot like Nessie called the Plesiosaur lived in this area millions of years ago. And, because of the extremely deep loch and dark tunnels connected to it, it is possible that Plesiosaurs survived in Loch Ness. We were also able to tie into St. Columba, who was the first to document a Nessie sighting in 565 A.D. The legend added a level of excitement to the tour for our kids. On the boat, they watched the blips - which
could have been Nessie - on the ferry sonar as we ferried across the loch, and they had fun running around Urquhart Castle calling “Nessie!”
We even snapped a picture of Nessie which we showed to our bus driver. He just chuckled and told us to get back on the bus.
Links and Teaching Resources:
•
Loch Ness and Highlands tour • Loch Ness Monster Books
• The Legend of the Loch Ness Monster by
Thomas Kingsley Troupe
• The Loch Ness Monster by Helen Lester
• The Luck of the Lock Ness Monster by Alice Flaherty
• Loch Ness Monster Movies
• The Water Horse
• Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster
• Urquhart Castle
• Medieval Castle design (Search library - tons of good illustrated books that kids will enjoy reading)
• Trebuchet (Various Youtube videos, such as
• Read book: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
• Read J.M. Barrie’s biography: Lost Boy: The Story of the Man who created Peter Pan
Sidd
non-member comment
Good pictures. Nice write up. Who is the brain behind all these trips? Do you pick a place with educational value and visit or pick a place and visit sites of educational value there?