Tues August 7 - Oban to Inverness via Loch Ness

Had a restful night until my phone buzzed at 230am - who the heck called me from Las Vegas at 230am????  Must had been a wrong number.  Or telemarketer.  We over slept.  Breakfast was between 830 and 930 - we woke up at 815.  We hurried and got ready and headed to the lovely little breakfast room.  We had to fill out a little card with what we wanted for breakfast and pick a time from two the night before.  Good thing we chose the later.

After breakfast we headed in Oban again and went down to St. Columbus Cathedral.  However they were in mass so we got back on the road and headed to Dunstaffnage Castle just down the road.

 

This was so far our favorite castle.  It was a nice size but most of the castle was still in tack so you could envision how it was laid out.  Built in the 13th century, it is one of Scotland's oldest castles.  It is said that the Stone of Destiny was kept here after being brought from Ireland before moving to the Scone Palace in 843.  It was also an important castle for it's location as well.

Castle well above and below

Kitchen oven

View from one of the towers

Wall walk

Guards chamber

Me standing under the castle poop shoot

Just behind the castle was this little trail to the water

The castle's chapel was a little ways from the castle itself but was a quite a large one signifying how prosperous the castle must have been,

Meet our little Scottish hee-land coo (highland cow).  His name in Finlay and he will be guiding us the rest of the way through the highlands.

After Dunstaffnage we headed up a little ways to The Scottish Sea Life aquarium.  Here we made it just in time for the sea lion feeding.  They currently have 4 and 2 baby pups in the weaning pools.  They were quite lively and ready to be fed.

This seal pup is only 2 weeks old.

Turtles

Seahorse

From there we headed up the road to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.

Urquhart Castle - one of the most visited castles in Scotland.  Ya it was BUSY!  There was no room in the car park so we had to continue down the road to a dirt lot and hike 25 mins back to the castle. One of the largest castles in Scotland in area, it was built on medieval fortifications however the present ruins date from the 13th and 16th centuries.  There is speculation that this may have been the fortress of the king of the norther picts in about 563-ish.  The castle played a role in the wars of the Scottish independence and in 1692 was partially destroyed to prevent Jacobite use.  In the 17th century it was largely abandoned.

Prison cell just off the guard house.

Dipping the toes in Loch Ness

They called this the water gate as it leads down to the water.

The ruins were very interesting but there was a lot of people - ie mostly bus tours.  We had to be out of the dirt parking lot before they closed it at 6pm even thought the ruins didn't close until 7.  So Kels hiked back to the car and and I stood in line for some souvenirs and met him on the highway.  Bless the man for being so kind!  Onward to Inverness!  We arrived in town about 7pm and found our first hostel.  On a hill.  With no parking next to it.  So we circled a bit and found some 24hr street parking and decided it would be prudent to only bring our carry on luggage with us.  First lodgings with twin beds!  The view from the room however is absolutely amazing.  Hello Inverness...

Up tomorrow - swimming to a castle?!?! and Falconry