Sadly, I cannot say the Lock Ness Moster exists :(

I don't know if the Loch Ness Monster exists, because even though I was there on Saturday and took a boat ride up about half of its 23.5 miles, I never saw it :(

I did see some absolutely incredible green hills and landscapes, breathtaking views of the city of Edinburgh from the Castle, and learned an absolute TON about Scotland's history from a really funny Scot who was the tour guide through the Highlands though! I really never understood what breathtaking meant until I was up at the Edinburgh Castle that's on a hill overlooking the city and the Atlantic Ocean inlet-- it was incredible how green and blue everything was-- my two favorite colors perfectly coordinating against brown buildings from as early as 1100 AD. The country even FEELS old-- it's weird, but you can just feel that it's been around since, well, forever!
Random facts about the Lock Ness: it's 23.5 miles long and 1 mile across. Deepest part is 800 feet, average depth is 600 feet. The first monster sighting was in 600 AD. During WWI a plane crashed into the loch and sank after the people escaped and was found in the 1980's 300 feet down and so perfectly preserved that it's now the only existing version of that particular plane and in perfect flying condition (the waters are so cold they apparently keep things really well). The Loch Ness is the most studied and most filmed area of Scotland.One of the jokes about England the tour guide said (they really like to Bash the English up there, which is funny since they like the Queen... but anyway...): So, when God was creating the earth, he called to the Archangel Gabriel and told him about this new land he'd created, called Scotland. "It has rolling green hills, tall beautiful mountains, deep lakes and rivers stocked with salmon and trout, beautiful blue skies that overlook wide, fertile valleys, hills loaded with sheep and cows and other animals for people to eat. It's the perfect place."
The angel replied back, "Don't you think it's too perfect for the Scots and that you're spoiling them with all these amazing things?"
God said back, "No, just wait to see who I've given them for neighbors!"
Other "funny" story:
When we were leaving Holland to come back to England, we had to show our passports every time we went through another person (checking luggage, going through customs, going through security bag checks, etc.) so when we finally got to the boarding gate (we had to actually go outside and climb steps into the plane), I, for some reason didn't think I'd need my passport yet again. So, I handed the lady my boarding pass and then had to dig my passport out of my backpack. When I pulled out my passport, she seriously flinched. I looked at her funny and she said, "Oh! I expected you do be Dutch. With a name like van Komen, I just figured you belonged here!" I laughed and said, "Well, my grandfather was from here, but I'm just from the States!" She laughed and said, "Wow! That's a surprise. I seriously thought you were Dutch!"

Thursday we went to York-- a city inside of a castle wall built by William the Conqueror. It's beautiful and amazing because you can actually walk on top of the walls all the way around the city-- SO COOL!!

Tomorrow we're going to the Lake District. Tuesday we'll probably go to that city the Beatles are from (the name is escaping me right now!). Wednesday we go down to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's hometown for a play by the Royal Shakespeare Company and for day trips to Bath, Oxford and whatever else we find down there!!