We checked out of the hostel and 7:30 on Sunday morning, and then walked up the street, grabbed some Starbucks to go, and arrived at Haggis Adventures Tour Co. to check in before eight. We were loaded on a small tour bus by our guide for the day, Stevie. Stevie was a Scot from a town in the Kingdom of Fife (known as just "the Kingdom" by locals, and also the region St. Andrews is located in). Not only did he have a great Scottish accent, but he could really tell a tale, which made him the perfect tour guide. Although the English might disagree with Stevie on some of the finer points of some of his stories, almost all of which contained an English villain, it was fun to have a Scottish perspective. Anyway, before I talk about the places we went, I figured I'd post a map with our tour route. We actually went up through Inverness on our tour, but otherwise, this map is pretty accurate: 
In case you don't know Scottish geography very well, the Highlands cover most of the northern part of Scotland, excepting a narrow strip up the eastern coast. They are, as I found out, characterized by their mountainous terrain and abundant lochs (or lakes, as we call them), with countryside unsuited for most crops except for cattle and sheep. Historically, the Highlanders were not only separated by their dress (the tartans, kilts, etc), but also by language. Most spoke (and still speak) Gaelic as their first language and English as their second. All the signs in the Highlands have both Gaelic and English translations on them, sort of a Scottish version of Quebec. Highland cattle are also different, very hairy and apparently have no body fat, because they have a double layer of hair on them to keep them warm. We met Hamish, the Highland coo, at a rest stop on the Highland border:
After crossing into the Highlands, we were met with the most gorgeous landscape. Although I was a bit disappointed not to notice any moors of heath and heather (probably because the heather wasn't blooming yet), the view was as spectacular as I imagined. On our journey to Loch Ness, we passed the William Wallace Monument, the castle where 99% of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed, many historic battle places, the countryside where Rob Roy lived before becoming an outlaw, and Sean Connery's "country cottage." Along the way, Stevie told stories non-stop about historical happenings that seemed to come right out of a swashbuckling adventure novel. I have to say that William Wallace and his rise from petty thief to national hero is a little more captivating than George Washington and his cherry tree.
We stopped for lunch in Fort William after stopping for pictures at places such as Glencoe (where the famous Glencoe massacre occurred). Apparently, the Campbells, the Highland clan responsible for the Glencoe massacre in 1692 (if you want to read more about it, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe), are still not served at pubs and hotels in Glencoe. So, basically, if you are a Campbell, avoid the area next time you are traveling in Scotland. About an hour later, we got to Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness. We were only given 15 minutes to walk around, but Laurel and I had Explorer Passes that would get us into the castle grounds, so we ran down the stairs, down the path, and across the footbridge to the castle, took a couple pictures, and ran back. Laurel got this lovely candid of our crazy plan in action:
Loch Ness, on the other hand, was a much more leisurely visit. It's a gorgeous lake, but besides Nessie, there is really nothing that separates it from the other lochs we passed, besides its size and depth. Apparently, if you take all the bodies of water in England and Wales, you could only fill half of Loch Ness. It's something like 1000 meters deep, which means Nessie may never be found. There is in fact a million pound reward for an authentic picture of the Loch Ness Monster, but no one so far has been able to collect the prize.
After a little Nessie watching time on a bench along the loch's shore, we headed on our way, passing through Inverness (the capital of the Highlands), before making the journey home. The drive back included a view of the highest Scottish whiskey distillery (single malt), a castle whose inheritor donated to the Scottish people after deciding he missed his cottage in South America, and a ride along the highest road in the U.K. We got back at 8 pm, waited for the next train, and then headed back to St. Andrews, exhausted but happy from our weekend adventure.
P.S. I will post some Highland pictures soon, as well, before I continue on to St. Andrews with Laurel and Stirling. Oh, and if you guys ever have any questions or requests to hear more about something, I'm pretty sure you can post comments on the blog, and I will be happy to answer you. I am pretty much a sponge when it comes to any sort of information of interest to me, which is basically everything over here, so really, I could go on forever if you asked. On that note, I will end with saying how much I miss all of you.
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