The Highlands of Scotland

Friday our ship docked in Invergordon, a town on the East Coast of Scotland, in the Highlands. The scenery in the area is beautiful, and to us seems mountainous, though the guide on our excursion bus mentioned that the heights only qualified as hills. Ken our guide also pointed out the main industries of Scotland, oil rigs in the sea and whiskey distilleries. The later enterprise is doing particularly well because of the expanding market in the world's two most populous countries, India and China. Our first stop was Urquhart Castle, a sad ruin on the edge of Loch Ness. The lake itself was the star, and is one of the deepest inland water bodies in the world, deeper than most spots in the ocean. Probably the monster ("Nessie") is a myth, invented by a newspaperman back in the 1930s. But it's a huge industry. We took a boat ride on the lake and then the bus took us to Inverness where we had a pleasant lunch at the Mercure. In the town I went in a music store and was surprised to see music for bagpipes, which I've never seen anywhere else. Our last stop on the day's tour was Culloden Moor where Bonnie Prince Charlie lost his last battle. Then our bus headed back to the ship. Today we're anchoring off South Queensferry, the port that will give us access to Edinburgh. -Dan