Urquhart Castle

*



Right before the big marathon day in Scotland, we spent some time exploring Urquhart Castle, which sits overlooking the infamous Loch Ness.


The Castle was founded in the 13th century, and played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. After many attempts of being raided, abandoned, bequeathed, etc., it was eventually destroyed by it's occupants in 1692 to prevent the Jacobites using or acquiring it.

It has now become one of the most visited castles in Scotland. While it's always interesting to wander through the ruins of a once powerful castle, I can only imagine how much more interesting it would be to see it in it's full state.


Sadly, that's what's left of most castles after years of fighting. It's still worth seeing, especially as it's situated looking out on the loch. Such a great view.


Before actually wandering through the castle, we were encouraged to watch a video about it before venturing down to explore. In the visitors center, we watched an interesting video on the dramatization of the battles and history of Urquhart.

The reasoning for destroying the castle was sound, but still a tragic choice. The video ends with the castle being blown up.

At that point, the movie screen we had been staring at moves and curtains part to reveal giant windows. These windows look directly out to the castle. It was actually a pretty cool way to reveal the first view of the place.

So if you make it here, be sure to watch the video in the tourist shop first. It's a cool effect on the experience.

Of course, I had to buy an over priced souvenir.

This is Loch Ness after all.







So I bought a ring with my birth stone. And when people ask where I got it, I can say I got it at a castle in Scotland. Just makes me sound so much more interesting.

The Castle is about a 20 minute drive outside of Inverness. The windy two lane road leads through a few very small towns and shops along the way. There was a candy shop, a little bakery, and even a craft store.

As it was about lunch time, and most places close around 2pm for the afternoon, we really only had one option for food. While I needed pasta in preparation for my race, there wasn't really any to be found where we were. We ended up at a little pub type restaurant and had some pretty amazing hamburgers (angus beef) with chips (fries). I did get some cheesy, buttery, garlic bread on the side to help me load up on carbs. So wonderful. You just can't beat fresh garlic cheese bread.

Afterwards we wandered through a few stores,  and even  saw a replica of the castle made in flowers. So fun.