Even Ruined Castles are Cool!!

06-12-2022

Our first order of business is to walk to the car park and retrieve our vehicle! Using Waze or Google Maps sure makes it easier to walk around in a strange city! We've decided to just head out and find food along the way, so we're on the road around nine and heading for Urquart Castle, a once-mighty fortress that changed hands several times before being destroyed.  It is right on Lock Ness and, of course, we do keep an eye out for our girl! 

We're on the right road for the Rose Street parking grage!

The ruins are fascinating and the views are magnificent.  I still can't keep all the history straight; but I know the Scots were the good guys!  :). The visit begins with an eight-minute movie about the history of the castle and I thought I had it;  but I can't reproduce it, so obviously I don't!

The movie screen and heavy curtains hid this view.  At the end of the movie, the screen withdraws
into the ceiling and the curtains part. Such drama!!

Trebuchet from one angle...

And another, for my guys who built one!

The signage is excellent.  

Prisoners were held here, awaiting trial.  One poor unfortunate spent several months in
this tiny, dark space, before being beheaded for the unforgivable crime of
falling in love with the laird's daughter!

We've been so very lucky with the weather!  And even today the light drizzle only 
lasted a few minutes intermittently during the day.

Scary stairs!

The footprint of the castle is quite huge, and has changed over time.

The thistle became a symbol of Scotland because the Vikings came charging through these
very prickly plants and were so hurt that they withdrew!

Back on the road and we're heading for Fort Augustus, a cute little town that exists because of the five locks that allow ships to cross the Midlands, saving several days' travel time! There are shops and restaurants and even a glassblower, and we make the right selection for lunch, the Lock Inn!  Marilyn's been looking for "cullen skink" which is an iconic Scottish fish chowder and they have it on special today!  She and I both order it and it's quite a delicious treat!  It's thick and creamy and filled with potatoes and fish with a smokey flavor.  YUM!

The tourists are fascinated!

We managed to avoid most of the Nessie madness;  but she really is everywhere, except in the loch!

Celebrating Victoria's Jubilee, 1837 - 1897

The roadway behind these boats is on a turntable and rotates
out of the way to allow them access to the lock.

We do some shopping and watch several ships moving through the locks and then are back on the road.   We have an apartment waiting for us in Oban.

We catch a glimpse of Ben Nevis, the highest point in Scotland!

And there are lots of other "highlands" all around us!

In case anyone thinks we're the only ones with high prices.

The directions aren't quite explicit enough and we find a blue door;  but I keep saying it has to have a 24 on it and others ignore me, so we try to break into 35!  And a local tries to help us!  Imagine our chagrin when he says it's number 35!  But he comes down the road with us to number 24, another blue door, and even when it's the right key box, it's still bloody hard to get into.  It takes him and me working together to make it happen!

We're victorious and Marilyn brings the car so we can take a few bags upstairs.  Our apartment is on the third floor, which really means four flights up, since there's a ground floor. That's a lot of stairs.  But the place is large and light-filled and quite new.

One of the windows opens and there are shades that pull down.

One of the sofas turns into a bed.

Our landlord left these out for us!

Dinner is served!

We look for a restaurant the delivers and come up empty so Ginger, Connie, and I walk to the Tesco to get groceries for dinner and breakfast. And carry them back and up the stairs.  Actually, Ginger carries all of them upstairs while I wait for Connie to get come things out of her suitcase in the back of the car.  We only have one set of keys and the front door locks automatically. Everyone else works on dinner while I figure out where we'll eat, and then set the table.  We have spaghetti with scallops, beets, and a big beautiful salad.  And wine for those who are indulging!

Marilyn does the dishes and everyone is settling in for the night.  We made reservations this afternoon for a two-hour cruise that will take us around the loch and show us wildlife and castles and such.  But it will be nice to have a leisurely morning and, maybe, I'll get some more photos posted!