'Nips and Tatties of Trivia

'Nips (turnips, pronounced "neeps") and Tatties (potatoes) are a very common vegetable accompaniment to dinner, and oh so tasty! Those who said we wouldn't find anything good to eat here... well, you were wrong. I've found the food to be quite to my liking, maybe a bit too much... hmmm...

Scotland's patron saint is St. Andrew, the apostle who was crucified in Greece. He said he was not worthy to be crucified upright as Jesus was, so they put him on a sideways cross. Scotland's flag is blue and white (Greece's colors), the white in the shape of a sideways cross. Regulus had a vision that he was to take Andrew's remains (relics) to a "far off land", so off he went with Andrew's bones in tow. He eventually landed on Scotland, where St. Andrew's is, imagine that!

Scotland's flower is the thistle. I believe the story is that a Viking raiding party tried to surprise a camp of Scots, but they ran through a field with thistles in it. Many of them cried out as the thistles pricked them, effectively warning the Scotsmen. In reward for the thistle's loyalty, they made it their flower.

Today we set off from our hotel in Ft. William to the shopping centre of Ft. William. The last store we went into I could have spent several days and fortunes, but sadly I had neither. We were (-slightly-) late getting back to our bus and received a round of applause. I think we are getting a reputation. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. We're affectionately refered to as "the girls" though so I don't think its -too- serious.

After leaving the city, we stopped at Inverlochy Castle ruins. It seemed a small castle to me, but perhaps it was more imposing back when it had all its floors and buttresses. Michael, our tour guide, pictured here... gave us many bits of information today while we were driving. It rained, and the windows of the coach were so splattery I couldn't take many pictures. I instead kept up a constant narrative in my journal.

"Sometimes we are driving and I can almost forget it is 2007. How wonderful!"

"If I could live in the Highlands, I would never leave. I want to keep writing, trying to detail and describe each blade of grass, each petal and leaf of Heather, burn it into my memory... but as I've said, words fail me. Michael has put on some beautiful Scottish music to accompany our drive and it is doing a much better job at capturing my feelings than my words are. Surely this is where God lives. It is Heaven to me."

"There are remnants of old stone walls everywhere, covered with yellow-green moss, the stone black with age and moisture. A gate off to the side proclaims life is being sheltered even out here. The last house was almost an hour ago."

"Ahh... we turn a corner and the wilderness fades away as we enter a little port village. The mountains have stepped back now and on the left the land is nearly flat leading down to the Sound... Turn another corner and here lies the ocean. I love seeing the vastness of it stretching out into nothingness."

We boarded the ferry in Malaig for the Isle of Skye... is that not the coolest name? I think it is, and they have my favorite plaid as well. The ferry wasn't very long, I did manage to take a couple of videos, but I'm going to try my hand at putting them to music before I post them.

We landed on the Isle and made our way to the Kyle of Lochalsh where our hotel lives (lucky thing that). Our day consisted of quite a bit of driving and tidbits of information. We ended with a lovely dinner, which happens every night, and then we retired to our rooms. Anna and I watched a bit of a program on the 9-11 tragedy and then fell asleep.