Early
start today. I've got a tee time at Loch Ness Golf Club at
13:00.
The
drive should only be less than 3 hours, but there are some
battlefield sites along the way, and I'd like to dip my toes
in Loch Ness. Should be plenty of time - we'll see.
After
golf, it's a short drive into Inverness, where I'm staying
for two nights, and out on the town for dinner and my first
pub-hopping experience (...hic...).
Sorry for
the delay, but my plans didn't include the fact that Scotland mostly
closes down on Sunday. Saturday night, after I compiled this page,
I couldn't log on to the internet. My careful backup plan to use
one of the two cyber-cafes here in Inverness was good - except that
they were already closed by the time I discovered the problem on
Saturday night and they're both closed all-day Sunday. Hopefully,
I'll get this page and day 3 loaded on Monday.
Well, Loch Ness
Golf Club was a throw-away anyway. I am officially the victim of
jet-lag. At 02:00 this morning, I came full-awake. I couldn't go
back to sleep to save my life, so I flipped on the "telly"
(I'm a native already) and watched a show called "Yanky Panky."
It's a late-night send-off of america's sex industry (complete with
full frontal nudity - cool). Anyway, at about 03:30 I was finally
able to go back to sleep.
At 06:00, my
alarm went off faithfully...but I was UNABLE to get up. Now those
of you who know me, know that I am an early riser who (with very
few exceptions -sorry Will) never has a problem getting up. When
I opened my eyes at 07:00, the alarm was still screaming. By 08:00,
hunger pulled me out of bed.
By this time
though, getting to Loch Ness Golf Clup by 13:00 would have meant
some crazy-fast driving. Since my goals do not include wrapping
my civic around some Scottish tree, I decided to take a lesiurely
drive to Inverness and bag the day's round of golf. It was a "non-British
Open" course anyway - hardly worth my trouble (believe that?).
Well, driving
isn't what I expected. Remembering to stay left isn't really that
bad. The biggest thing is staying on the right side of the
left lane. Whenever I relax for even a second, my muscle
memory pulls me to the left side of the lane, trying to position
my body in the same place that I'd be in if the steering wheel were
on the left. If you know any pedesterians in Scotland this week
tell them to stay off the sidewalks. On the other hand, if you know
of a company that repairs shoulders and curbs - buy stock.
Rob Roy's
(Liam's movie) grave is in a little (I mean the road to this
place is smaller than most sidewalks in Denver) village called Balquhidder
- YOU figure out how to say it. If you're wondering why I found
his grave instead of William Wallace's (Mel's movie was a lot better),
that's because when the English got their hands on ol' William,
they had him drawn and quartered, and his parts shipped out of the
kingdom to different locations for disposal. Except, that is, for
his head which remained on a stake in London for many years, until
the skull was finally stolen (that's what the old lady at the church
said anyway).
The
Church Yard at Balquhidder.
Rob
Roy's grave.
I
could hear water running behind the church, where I found a
path and a very small sign that said "water fall."
I walked about 100 yards into a dense forest down a moss-covered
path and found this.
On up the road
to Inverness, I drove through Glencoe (glen means valley). This
is the sight of the massacre of the MacDonald clan planned by the
King of England. Seems the King sent his soldiers up the glen to
visit the MacDonalds. The soldiers were invited to stay, as the
highland law of hospitality requires. They stayed for several days,
playing cards and generally partying - untill the rest of the English
army had blocked the escape routes. When the army was in position,
they lit a fire at signal rock and the soldiers in the camp turned
on their hosts, salughtering 40 in their sleep.
Nice
place for some bloodshed, eh?
This
guy was set up on the side of the road at the entrance to the
glen playing for tips. His bagpipes were awsome echoing down
the valley. I stopped to take the picture above about 2 miles
down the road, and I could still hear him playing.
I was looking
for a place to get access to Loch Ness, when I came accross Urquahart
Castle.
I toured the
castle and went to the water's edge to wet my toes
and get Marmelstein
some water for his collection. No monster this trip.
