HAMISH!!!!

Yesterday I took a tour up to Inverness and the Scottish Highlands. Yes, I admit it, I did join one of those accursed tour groups that I keep griping about but it was just far more economic to do it this way.

I was sadly plagued by all the problems associated with tour groups - I didn't get to spend half as long as I wanted at the places I wanted (1 hour at Urquhart Castle is definitely not enough) and just got jerked from place to place on a coach.

Never the less there are some important advantages associated with taking the tour group.

Firstly and most importantly I got to see Hamish (one of Scotland's most important citizens in my opinion). Now Hamish reinforced my love for all that is bovine and I felt like I could just wuffle him all day! He's so shaggy and fat and just adorable! (You can see a picture of me with him above) All ye hail Highland cows!

Secondly I had a tour guide who, throughout the trip, gave us random interesting facts about Scotland (and all those who know me will know how much I love random interesting facts). For example, I now know that the Loch Ness holds so much water that if you were to drown the entire population of the world thrice over in it the bodies would still not break the surface of the water (macabre but true). I also know that a lot of whisky is lost to evaporation in the maturing process and the Scottish call this evaporated whisky the 'angel's portion'. Now the idea of a whole bunch of tipsy/drunk angels tottering about Scottish skies I find particularly hilarious so I had a good guffaw in the coach at that one.

The Highlands themselves are definitely worth seeing. Majestic, carpeted with heather and groomed by the biting winds it feels utterly desolate but utterly beautiful at the same time. A eerie feeling that is exemplified by the ruins of Urquhart castle situated precipitously on the shores of Loch Ness. Visit it if you get the chance. Leave more than an hour so you can explore every nook and cranny and still have time to sit and find some inspiration in the area that looks so pristine and serene now but definitely wouldn't have been all those hundreds of years ago.

Today I visited Glasgow which is modern, industrial, not as touristy as Edinburgh but home to a lot of contemporary art galleries. Now the best part of Glasgow is that its patron saint is ... *drum roll please*... SAINT MUNGO!!! (GO MUNGO!) That's right, its patron saint is him who gave the name to my school house! I went and visited the St Mungo Cathedral and the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art and had a chat to the guides on hand about the remarkable life of St Mungo (whose real name apparently was Kentigern) and all the miracles he performed. :p

PS: Just so you all know the lack of internet access here means that often I am posting 2 entries at the same time (so do scroll down if you're interested, or just at work with nothing better to do!)