It's Thursday! Let's go to Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle, shall we?

It's a big day, lovelies! As you may know, we woke up pretty dang early today. And chances are pretty good that if we're getting out of the house around 7am that it is for a damn good reason. And it was!

Today was our group tour to Loch Lomond, The Trossachs National Park, Glen Coe & Loch Ness. In case you aren't aware, a "Loch" is the Scottish word for "Lake."

We zipped on over to the subway but first stopped off at Starbucks for coffee, since our good friend Santino's place wasn't yet opened. (We know... lame to go to Starbucks, but we considered this to be "emergency" coffee!)

Here's your morning shot 'o' Cindy:

:: Emergency Coffee on the Tour Bus ::

About an hours drive away is the famous Loch Lomond, situated in the lovely Trossachs National Park. It is delightfully beautiful!

 :: First Glimpse ::

:: So much to behold ::

:: Gorgeous Views! ::

:: Luna & Jenna, Tired but Happy ::

:: Fairy Child ::

After a brief stop at Loch Lomond, we headed out to Glen Coe. It is famous for a dark reason. An infamous massacre of 1692 occurred when the Campbell Clan soldiers (whoops - one of MommaRam & Jenna's bad ass Clans!) turned on their hosts, the MacDonald Clan. (Note: Neither Diana nor Jenna would ever turn on you when staying at your home. Please do not be concerned.)

We took many fine photos here. My personal favorite is one that Cindy had taken with herself and the lone piper that was eerily being played there. 

 :: Cindy & Piper ::

Jenna took many photos of the spot - we'll just throw them all at you at once...

The photos speak for themselves... it is a very quiet place, and yes, it is this green in Scotland! Despite the fact that such a massacre happened in this particular spot, it is still somehow peaceful and majestic. It is also interesting to note that one scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed here, and the third Harry Potter film was also filmed nearby.

As Cindy & Jenna now say, "Let's carry on now then, shall we?" (In our very best Scottish accents!)

Sigh... we got to see sheep today...

:: Sheep! ::

:: Typical Scottish Landscape ::

Today was a huge bus day... lots of landscapes and twisty roads... after a few hours we finally arrived at Loch Ness!

:: Urquhart Castle, Long View ::

:: Luna & Nessie ::

:: We even took a boat ride on Loch Ness! :: 

A short background on the Urquhart Castle for you, and we're super lazy tonight (so tired!) so we're literally lifting this directly from the literature we picked up:

"Perfectly placed to scan the length of Loch Ness in both directions, traditionally the occupiers of Urquhart Castle controlled the Great Glen. This strategic position ensured a lively history for the now ruined fortification which was finally abandoned to the elements when it was destroyed by departing Government soldiers in 1692. The site was originally settled at least 4,000 years ago and though there are indications that it housed an Iron Age fort and a Pictish settlement, the first written records of the existence of a castle on the site date from the 13th Century."

Of other note, Jenna totally fell in front of the castle. (She's fine, it's okay to laugh.) It was a classic Jenna maneuver. If Cindy wasn't so concerned about her welfare, she would have photographed this for you. There was talk of reenacting the incident, but it started to rain and it just didn't pan out. Sorry! (Jenna kept thinking of So I Married an Axe Murderer - the scene - "We have a piper down!" But we had a Jenna down instead...) Just showed clip that to Cindy and we are in a fit of giggles... YouTube it!

On the way back we stopped for a bite & some coffee. Little Miss Luna had herself an "American" style cookie...

:: It's not like it's red, white & blue or anything ::

Okay, to be honest... we did a lot of snoozing today. Let's just be clear about that.

:: Best seat in the house ::

That's the new addition to our menagerie,  Princess, which Luna acquired at Holyrood Palace. If you observe closely, you can see Zoe in the lower left hand corner, glaring at Princess for taking the best seat in the house!

Sorry we're so short tonight... but we are exhausted! It is after 11pm here and some of us have Indian head massages in the morning...

Our last piece of news: Bonnie has arrived! We are very excited because she is awesome and she is a kindred spirit indeed.

Until tomorrow, lovelies...

Jenna & Cindy & company...