Loch Ness & the Scottish Highlands

Recently, I traveled to Loch Ness, of monster fame, with my roommates Laure and Corentin and our other friend Romain.  "Loch" is the Scottish Gaelic word for "lake." It's the longest lake in Scotland, spanning a great length of the country (kingdom?).  We set off at what felt like dawn on Saturday morning to meet our tour guide, Paul, who drove us around all day.

While we were crossing the bridge over to Dundee, Paul pointed out the railway bridge constructed in the late 19th century.  Apparently, the bridge collapsed a year after it was made, leading to a large inquiry.  He claims it holds the origins of the phrase "botched job," as the architect of the bridge was Sir Thomas Bouch.  Not sure if I buy it, but a good story nonetheless.

Our first main stop was at the Hermitage in Dunkeld, a beautiful wood with a splendid waterfall.  We had a nice hike enjoying the greenery.  All the trees and rocks were covered in moss.  As for the trees, there were the tallest Douglas Firs in Scotland.  Douglas Firs are of course native to North America, but  these trees were planted by David Douglas himself, the Scottish botanist from which the trees take their name.

We finally reached Loch Ness in the afternoon.  It was really pretty!  It was at the site of a castle, so we had plenty of ruins to meander through.  However, it started to rain, so it was a wet visit.  Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Nessy, the Loch Ness monster.

On our drive home, we went through Glencoe, which had the most beautiful scenery!  I really want to go back and hike there.  I could only think of Bilbo Baggins, trekking through the hills (can't wait for that movie to come out!).  It was also the location where the famous bridge scene of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was filmed.

Hogwarts Express!

And lastly, one of the biggest highlights of the day was seeing the bridge filmed in Harry Potter where the Hogwarts Express crosses when Harry and Ron fly by in the Ford Angela!! And then, we actually saw the train used in the movie as the Hogwarts Express!! It's an old steam engine! It was a really nerdy, exciting moment!

The whole trip was well worth it! It was a great day from beginning to end and gave me a wonderful overview of the Scottish Highlands and familiarity with the Scottish landscape.

An awesome bridge!

The Highlands in Glencoe! "What is your quest?!"