What Lies Beneath?
A family trip to along along Loch Ness took us to Drumnadrochit and, for a £15 family ticket, a peek at the official audio-visual experience detailing the various attempts to prove or disprove the existence of a monster in the Loch.
It's an interesting exhibition, maybe a bit heavy on the science angle and it encourages visitors to appreciate the rich natural history of Loch Ness, regardless of any mythical beasties in the water.
Yet, just as your head is buzzing with scientific terminology, you walk into a bright gift shop crammed with all sort of "Nessie" merchandise. I call that having your cake and eating it.
After lunch - including cake - we journeyed on to and, for the first time, toured the official visitor centre and watched another short film about castle's stormy history. One of the centre's officials was asking vistors just how far they had travelled.
"Boston in the U.S.," exclaimed one couple, "Staffordshire in England, " said another.
Then it was my turn.
"Inverness," I said, proudly but to much guffaws from the others. I'm not sure why they found that funny but the next time I meet a New Yorker atop the Empire State building I'm going to laugh right in his face.
