Excuse me – have you seen Nessie around here?

The theme letter for our ‪‎travel pics this week is X (Marks the spot).

Today, I have to ask: eXcuse me, have you seen Nessie?

Loch Ness in Scotland is a freshwater lake (or ‘loch’) near Inverness, and is famous mostly for its reputed denizen, the Loch Ness Monster.

There have been reported sightings of the beastie since the sixth century – but the widespread interest in the monster didn’t start until the 1930s – when a fuzzy, inconclusive image was published in a Scottish newspaper.

Since then, Nessie has entered into folklore – and even though she almost certainly doesn’t exist, that doesn’t stop tourists from heading to the loch, just in case 🙂

On the shores of the loch is Urquhart Castle, with its impressive ruins of fortifications built in the 13th century.

The castle’s origins date back even further, to around the 5th century – but the current ruins are from almost a millennium later.

There’s a great interpretive centre which gives a good overview – and then curtains open to show the remnants of the motte and baileys of the castle – which visitors are encouraged to explore afterwards.

In our picture, there’s also a replica trebuchet to the left … this was, after all, a working castle that came under siege plenty of times across the centuries.