Day #5 Urquhart Castle and Cruise on Loch Ness

We had another amazing day in Scotland! We headed off around 9am for the Urquhart Castle which dates back to the 1100's! This little gem was so fun to poke around in and imagine how life was throughout it's 1,500 year history! Many took it over, blew it up and rebuilt it over the years and it saw a lot of battles! These mystic craggy ruins have quite the tale to tell! Then we headed on a cruise where we were able to warm up a bit inside the boat! We got to see some amazing scenery including more castles and estates and some beautiful fall foliage! Then we split off into a smaller Edward Jones group of about 10 of us and went for lunch at a beautiful little cafe there along the shores of the Lock Ness and then headed off for a bicycle tour starting at Dochgarroch through the gorgeous Scottish countryside. We followed the Caledonian Canal (Caledonia is the Roman name for Scotland) and stopped here and there for some information from our guides-- one at the front named Donovan and another at the back, whose name I can't remember. After about 4 miles our group split up again and those who wanted to go all the way to the end of the canal got to do so...we decided to do it although it was sooooo cold and windy! (And I was a little bit saddle sore!) However, the sun shone more today than any other day! Donovan led this group. In all, we biked 10.5 miles total and got a pretty good workout with some hills there at the end where all the locks were to control the flow of the water. At the end, it was a lot windier and colder where it opens up to the North Sea. We cycled back to the hotel through beautiful fall foliage and trees losing their leaves and were able to rest a bit! It was a fun day!!!  (Oh and as a side note: The legend of the Loch Ness monster is very real here-- she's female and they call her Nessie!)