View from the Battlements
Sometimes you simply have no words, and you send up somewhere you never thought you’d be. Even me, who has seen so much.
I’ve known of course that we were calling in Scotland for months now, it’s one of the reasons I was so thrilled to get this contract, but we didn’t have any specific plans for either of the two Scottish ports. Until – very early this morning – I was working immigration duty (think caffeine-fueled traffic control cop), I happened to glance at one of the guests’ shore excursion tickets and as soon as I was released from duty I grabbed a phone.
So you know how we didn’t know what to do in port today?”
Yeah.
Well, you know what this port is the gateway for? Loch Ness.
Well duh! That answers that question!
And since we already had breakfast, we can be out of here right after I finish class at 9:30
So cool!
I know right?
It wasn’t a cheap day, the tour cars are rented by the hour, but it was well worth it. Our driver – a fiery middle aged chatterbox named Sheena – was from the area of Loch Ness, so the hour long ride up to the site was filled with history and stories and folklore about everything from ancient battles (let’s just say there’s a reason for the enmity between Scotland and Britain and the resentment is alive and well), to the local distilleries. Occasionally she would notice I was snapping a photo and would slow the cab down because the road was nearly empty. The scenery in the highlands is beyond stunning. I have never seen so many shades of green! It looks like a carelessly dropped patchwork quilt out of a fairy story.
Eventually we wound our way through the a series of tiny villages and caught our first glimpse of the Loch
Whoa..
It’s huge, looking more like a small inland sea than a lake. And just looking at it you can tell that it’s freezing cold. This is not the kind of water you would want to go swimming in (although apparently people do try…crazy people I’d say!), and not just because of the legendary creature said to be lurking in its inky depths.
Nessie is everywhere in the surrounding town (seriously, there is even a Nessie Land) but she did not put in an appearance as we clambered around the ruins of the castle that stands on the Loch’s shore. I can’t really blame her, if I was Nessie, I would quite enjoy simply hiding in cave somewhere from all the crazy people trying to find me! Perhaps putting in an occasional far-off appearance just to mess with people’s minds a bit.
The castle itself has been long in ruins, but its been carefully maintained and there are paths and guide rails to protect against twisted ankles and damaged monuments. It’s been roofless and open to the chilly drizzle of the Scottish rain for ages, but if you listen careful you can almost imagine you hear the bustle of a medieval kitchen and the far off strumming of a Bard’s lute somewhere.
The rain started as we climbed up the battlements to what remains of the top-most tower,. The view was incredible. Standing there looking out at the water under the chill lashing of the Scottish elements, it’ easy to imagine how intimidating this place must have been in its prime. Even now there is a quiet pride in those tumbled stones. As though they haven’t forgotten that they were once part of something incredible.
As we made our way back to the visitor’s center the rain continued, coming in strong from just one direction, so one sid e of us was soaked and the other almost dry. Amras commented on his, which caused me to simply turn my face up to the elements and laugh.
I wish we could go down to the actual water
Well, the rain is water; it’ll be lake water eventually, that should count
Ha. Ha
We escaped the rain into the shelter of the visitor’s center, where I picked up ta book of Scottish ghost stories for two pounds One more for the collection! Before dodging the crowds to get back to the where our car was waiting for us.
Sheena asked us how we had enjoyed the castle and we happened to mention that all the paths leading down to the water had been closed. This is where we discovered how brilliant it us is to have a tour car driver who is a local
She wants to go down to the water? Aye’ll taker ‘her to the water, There’s lots of places
Which is how I ended up with a water bottle full of Loch Ness water (which is currently tucked safely away in the back of my closet to be avoided as far as accidental drinking, I have NO idea what I’m going to do with it). The path down to obtain that water was slippery and wild. The reason we even knew it was there was because Sheena knows all the fishing spots on the Loch. So now I have touched Loch Ness
Brilliant.
On the way back to the ship we also stopped at the Dalmore distillery, where we sampled a whiskey I actually liked (trust me this is unusual). Downside? It’s 145pounds a bottle! Needless to say I will not be bringing a bottle home!