I Found Nessie!

Hello everyone! Today was a really fun day.  We left the hotel this morning and headed up to Inverness.  Incase you were wondering, Inverness is at the Northern end of Scotland by sea.  It was about a 3 hour drive from Stirling to Inverness.  The drive was really pretty.  It was my first time in the official Highlands of Scotland and the landscape was beautiful.

Once we arrived in Inverness, we headed for Loch Ness.  Within 10 minutes of reaching Loch Ness (I think this is really talented personally) I found the Loch Ness Monster!  The mystery is now solved.  For anyone who doesn't know, the Loch Ness Monster (referred to as Nessie) is a dinosaur type monster that is said to inhabit the waters of Loch Ness.

Here I am with Nessie!

After enjoying the very touristy shop that sat along side Nessie, we continued around Loch Ness towards Urquhart Castle.  This castle is one that is ruins, but sits along Loch Ness and is really pretty.  We were lucky, because we got there right before all of the tour buses.  So, there weren't many people there.  Before going down to the castle, we watched an 8 minute movie about the history of the castle complete with dramatic interpretations.  It was great. (Note, at this gift shop I managed to convince my parents that I needed a Coo hat.  So, I am now the proud owner of a Coo hat.  See, I knew I would get one before leaving Scotland.)

Here is the castle!

Here we are at the castle.

This is from the top of one of the tower this.  And that's Loch Ness (sans monster) in the background.

After we explored the castle, we headed back towards Inverness.  Along the way, we stopped at another tourist stop to enjoy more Nessie paraphernalia.  Once, we got  back into Inverness, we went to the Inverness Castle.  It was really pretty and had great views of Inverness.  After looking around the castle, we got on the road back to Stirling since it was a pretty long drive.

This is the Palace in Inverness.

Tonight, I too my parents to my favorite fish and chips place for dinner, before coming back to the hotel.  Tomorrow, we're going to St. Andrews!

I also found another Nessie, but I somehow think this one may be fake...