Nessie

Monday morning was an early one. I took a 6:40am train from Edinbugh to Inverness, with a change in Perth. Unfortunately, I was awake only for the first hour! That's what you get with four hours sleep. Anyway it all went well and I arrivedin Inverness with plans to head West through the highlands!
Upon arriving, I came upon the pink castle here made of sandstone. Its very beautiful, but has been turned into office buildings so you can't go inside. I also learned there is Ness River that runs out of the Lake: Scotlands shortest river.

For any of you who don't know, Inverness is most famous the world over for Loch Ness... ie. Nessie aka. Loch Ness Monster. I saw her. In fact I saw TONS of her! She comes in blue, purple, but mostly green... oh yes, she is alive and well in many a gift shop here. You can find her in a cage. You can find her on keyrings. You can find her being ridden by a scotsman in plaid from head to toe! I booked a boat tour on Jacobite to travel on the lake to Urquahrt Castle. On the boat I met a woman named Judy from Oregon, the grandma type. Travelling alone! We buddied up and explored the ruins of Urquahrt together. After that the bus took us to Loch Ness 2000 where we made our way through a buidling going from one stand up theatre to the next viewing clips of the history of Nessie. The gift shop was ridiculous. I bought 6 Nessies. Just kidding.

We then collectively decided to bus it to Culloden Battle Field where we watched a live skit about the battles for the throne between the Stewart Clan and uh-oh, King James V? Or Bonnie Prince Charlie?? I've already forgotten. Anyway, Scotland lost and England kept the throne in... England. Yearning for a little homeslice, Judy and I had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Does that make sense?
I've now just learned about a big music festival happening in Ullapool so if I can find a place to stay, I may just attend. I guess it is a big outdoor deal on Friday and Saturday... Here's hoping! I've half been invited to camp but I just don't really want to... we'll see. Its just that its SO damn cold here and I don't think I could stand to be anywhere colder for sleep than the rooms. Which are practically absolute zero. And of course, I'm getting "how can you be cold, you're from ALASKA!" Well I'm cold there too.
Oh! You should know that HAGGIS is made from brains and innards. And I love it.