Fall Break for the SIS students began after theology class Friday, the 4th. We all spent that night celebrating the induction of Deacons and Elders and the calling of the Reverend Kenneth Stewart with the Glasgow RP Church. The next day, however, Graci and I pealed ourselves out of bed at 4:30 a.m. Why you ask...because we both had to be to the airport to pick up travelers arriving on the 6:30 a.m. plane from Newark. Yes everyone, Chris McFall is in the building...or country rather. Graci's friend Gerri also came over to spend the break and roam the UK with her. After getting back to the manse and some short naps, we all set out on a grand tour of Airdrie. Gerri and Graci had to leave us soon afterward. They were starting out their break in London and had another plane to catch in the afternoon. Mom and I did not do much that day and it was wonderful. We bummed around Airdrie and made carbonara pasta for dinner. The next day was Sunday which meant we went to church, of course. The church family extended an extremely warm welcome to my mother, including counting her travel among the prayer points for the week, announcing at the start of the service that she was there, and giving thanks for her in the prayer. After church, Grant and Yvonne hosted hospitality. Those of us who they were kind enough to feed were myself, my mom, Casey, Josh, and the Reverend David Karoon and his wife. Some of you will remember that Reverend Karoon was the pastor called to the Storonaway church from Singapore. Grant and Yvonne made us stuffed chicken and vegetables for lunch but we could not quite figure out what the chicken was stuffed with. Afterwards, I asked Grant what it was and sure enough, it was haggis. We attended evening service that night as well. Once we got home we went to bed early knowing that we had a full day ahead of us for Monday.
Monday morning, my alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. yet again. We had a train to catch at 6:30 and couldn't be late. The train ride from Glasgow to Inverness was timed by the Lord perfectly. It was completely dark when we boarded the train but as we journeyed north we saw the sun come up and uncover the Scottish highlands. The burnt oranges, reds and yellows of autumn competed with the white rigid frost that clung to the patches of ground that had not been touched by the sun yet. Even though it was about three hours on the train, it was well worth it. We even saw some highland cows on the way.
After trying for over two months to not look like a tourist, I gave up that facade in Inverness and walked around with map in one hand and camera in the other. We successfully navigated our way around Inverness to all the major sites and found some minor ones along the way. We visited Inverness Castle, Inverness Cathedral, and St. Mary's Church. Figures that my mom and I would travel across the ocean only to end up back in St Mary's. While taking pictures of the town I realized that the suspension bridge that I was standing in front of was the same suspension bridge that I had sketched in art class last spring. My mom asked me if I was sure if it was the same one to which I replied "That sketch took me two months, yes I'm sure."
As the day progressed we found ourselves unable to answer the burning question: How do we get to the Loch? We had bus passes but were at a loss as to which bus to get on where. Enter Jacobite Tours. Upon enquiring at the travel station as to how to get to the Loch, they pointed us to Jacobite Tours. This was a bus ride through town, down to the Loch, boat ride onto the Loch ending at Urquhart Castle and a return ride to town on the bus. We jumped on this opportunity. The bus didn't leave for a little while though so we ate lunch at Charlie's Cafe where my mom was asked the strangest question ever: "Do you want milk with coffee or coffee with milk?" Perplexed, she ordered coffee with milk. Finally it was time to head out to the Loch. On the bus with us were people from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Australia, England as well as some other Americans.
The first sighting of a monster in Loch Ness was in 565 A.D. by a christian group, led by St Columba, who had traveled over from Ireland to spread the gospel. Their boat had begun to drift from shore after they had landed and one of the men jumped into the water to swim after it. Before he could do so, he was attacked by a monster. St Columba made the sign of a cross and prayed to God and the monster relented then disappeared. Since then there have been countless sightings of the monster, supposed pictures taken of it and even some scientific expeditions launched to find out just what is under that black water (the waters of Loch Ness are indeed black because the peat from the hills runs off with all the rain water into it). Our boat was not one such expedition but was destined for Urquhart Castle. Like most of the castles in Scotland today, this castle lays in ruins. Ideally placed on the banks of the Loch amidst the surrounding hills, in its day Urquhart Castle must have been a sight to behold. It had once belonged to the Grant Clan of the highlands. However, when Bonnie Prince Charlie raised a rebel army to take on William of Orange and reconstitute a Stuart monarchy, Urquhart Castle had cause for concern. Among one of the prominent highland castles, Urquhart would no doubt come under Jacobite attack, if not control, at some point. After being ordered to hold the castle from the Jacobites at all costs but being ill equipped, the Grants saw no other option but to blow up the castle. Lighting the fuse, the Grants marched out of the castle for the last time. As we set out on the boat the sun began to set and by the time we left the sky was painted with oranges and pinks.
We boarded the train home at 6:43 and thought we would have an uneventful ride home. Little did we know that our train was running behind. We had to switch trains in Perth to get back to Glasgow but they could only hold the train for us for so long. The attendant took all of us hopping trains to the last car and explained to us that we would have two minutes to cross three platforms and catch the train. Once the doors opened in Perth, twelve of us ran into the station and frantically searched for Platform 1. After crossing over two platforms I may have had a heart attack. While standing over Platform 1 I looked down and there was no train. I knew that the next train wouldn't be for about forty-five minutes. None the less we walked on to Platform 1 and read the train times to see how long we would have to wait. Much to my relief, the train we were supposed to be catching was also running late and we had beat it by five minutes. At last we returned to the house in Airdrie at 11:15 p.m. Needless to say there were no alarms set for Tuesday morning.
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