Friday, August 17, 2007

many miles away...something crawls to the surface...of a dark scottish lake...


Up early today to for another mysterious trip up the river to Loch Ness. I was determined to see Nessie this year, and I knew that if I was really positive and hopeful that I would. I think I was even using the Secret.


The weather had turned drizzly this morning, but by the time we hit the Jacobite boat the sun had broken through. Here are some interesting facts I remember about Loch Ness:

1.It is 22 miles long.
2.It is 1.5 miles wide.
3.It is over 750 feet deep.
4.The water is black because it is filled with peat.
5.(and this is a direct quote) “There is enough room in Loch Ness to fill it with the entire world’s population three times over, with a little room left over for some mysteries and legends.” (read that statement a few times out loud. it gets more and more ridiculous.)


We trouped around Urquhart Castle, and I thought about how cold it must have been to live there. Mark and Jaclyn broke the rules by climbing down to the water. Even though there are signs everywhere saying not to. I wasn’t angry with them, just very disappointed.

Never saw Nessie, just lots of German tourists.

I hopped the bus alone at 1:10. I came back early because I had work to do in Edinburgh. The bus coming home was much better than going up, despite being on my own. I listened to my ipod and read my book, and the Scottish heather was purple and growing everywhere along the hills and fields. It was pretty stunning countryside.



Tonight we saw The Bacchae, starring the one and only Alan Cumming. I was nervous at first because his first entrance was him being lowered naked from the top of the proscenium. Classic bum shot. But after that there was no nudity (ala Poppea.) They had really jazzed up this version of The Bacchae, which is an old Greek tragedy. Alan Cumming was wearing a gold lame dress and make-up, because he was playing Dionysus. Then he had 12 black women in red dresses as his back-up singers. They were tight. There was wine pouring all over the stage, giant flames flaring at strategic moments, and this enormous wall of lights that flashed in our eyes every time Dionysus appeared. Pretty dramatic stuff, and pretty campy. We enjoyed it. It was also pretty short, so I think everyone was really happy. We liked the part when the mom literally ripped her son's head off, because it reminded us that sometimes moms really aren't kidding.