European Middle Earth–Narnia–Whichever You Like

Congratulations to SC, who has guessed the correct location.  Good work!

Yes, I am in Scotland–for now.  Edinburgh today, but I haven’t been here long enough to have done anything worthy of note.  Well, except to see the city from the outside.  I’m pretty sure it’s built on a hill, and it has such varied, aged architecture as to make it seem cluttered–but I rather like it so far. 

Oh, and it has a Disney store. 

But, the past few days I have spent in Inverness, just up the river from Loch Ness.  In fact, just  yesterday I visited that pristine little lake (I had a great view from Urquhart Castle!) in the hopes of seeing everyone’s favorite sea monster–but to no avail.

If you’re practical, you’d probably tell me that there is no such thing as the Loch Ness Monster and that it has been proven time and time again.  Maybe you’re right–but it sure is fun, in a frustrating sort of way, to look for her nonetheless.  (I bet it would be even more fun to pretend to have seen her in the presence of earnest Nessie-hunters.  But I’ve never tried.    )

Besides that frivolous activity, I also visited Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, which was a good, educational two hours spent.  For one thing, I learned the right way to wrap the tartan. 

But this morning, I had the good fortune to discover a European Middle Earth–or Narnia.  Oddly enough, they seem very similar in my imagination.  See, before catching my train out of town, I had time to take a little stroll down the river, then over a bridge and onto an island with winding paths, well-placed lampposts, and rushing tributaries trying to find their ways back to the river.  I wish I’d found it earlier, really, so that I could have spent more time wandering.

But then I rode through those wonderful Highland mountains again, which was like yet another European Narnia, so my disappointment (which really wasn’t so much of a disappointment, of course) was somewhat abated. 

Be seeing you!