Loch Ness weekend

After a long week of work Natalie and I set out for Inverness and Loch Ness this past weekend. I mapped out a very scenic drive through the Scottish highlands and up into Inverness. Once we reached Inverness we took a small back road (a one lane road with "passing points".. these are places where you literally have to pull over in order to allow oncoming cars to get past you) south down along Loch Ness. The sun was shining and it was a warm 37 degrees out so we stopped at one of the passing points and walked down the bank to dip our fingers into the loch. We were kind of hoping that 'Nessie' would pop her head out of the water just to see what we were up to, but no such luck... BTW, if you want to re-create the experience of putting your hand into Loch Ness in the middle of the winter all you have to do is fill your sink with ice water and let it sit for a couple of hours... now stick your hand in there, and presto... instant frostbite!

Once we checked in to our Bed and Breakfast we went out for a bite to eat ( we had our first Haggis!) and a few drinks before our big day on Sunday.

We hopped in the car on Sunday morning and set off to tour Urquhart castle (near the deepest point of Loch Ness, and coincidently where the most Loch Ness Monster sightings have occurred). The castle itself is mostly in ruins, but it is still a magnificent sight. It overlooks the loch and you can really imagine what it may have been like to live there when it was built in the 1200's. It was bitterly cold that morning, and the wind just cut right through us as we walked around the ruins. After a few pictures and some great video we hopped back into the (warm) car and drove down the winding narrow road and up into the mountains.

Our drive home was spectacular... the mountains, rivers and lakes all came together to look like something out of a fairy tale. Even our pictures cannot do the scenery justice. I took the "road less traveled" on the way back to Aberdeen and we were treated to a once in a lifetime drive. I will be working on the video over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, please have a look at our pictures from this weekend here.



Look for our next post from London this weekend!

Cheers!

-Brady