After too many bus rides, I am back from gorgeous Scotland. I was really glad that we booked a bus for our trip when all of the volcano drama was involved, but when I was on the buses, I was regretting it.
We left on Thursday night at 11 PM and arrived in Edinburgh at 8 AM. It wasn't too bad of a ride there, because I slept most of the way. We got to our hostel which was literally across the street from Edinburgh Castle, and then
we explored the Royal Mile a little bit. At one end of the Royal Mile is the castle and on the other end is Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. We didn't go into either the entire time we were there, but I wasn't too worried since I will be back there soon! Bailey, Rachel, and I decided to go on a little hiking adventure because the "hill" didn't look that steep, and it would be an amazing view. Yeah, that little hill ended up being called The Mound and it was not fun to climb (apparently I had some energy left to be jumping off of rocks). But, we did make it to the top and found out we were in Holyrood Park. There were more trails that went higher, but we wanted to go on a free tour later in the day, so we had to make our way back.
We made a pit stop at a children's playground and messed around for a bit...now when everyone asks what I did in Edinburgh I can say I played in the kiddie park! We made it to our free tour which was three hours of walking in the rain. It didn't stop raining the entire time, and it
was a bit chilly. We saw some pretty interesting things that most people wouldn't see...the cafe J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books, Greyfriar's Bobby, Lake of Poo...good times. Most of it was really random, but a lot of fun. And, it was free!! After our tour, we decided to warm up at the hostel. We ended up going back out for dinner...of course, we had to try something traditional, so I went with haggis, tatties, and neeps (mashed potatoes and mashed turnips). I was a little hesitant about the haggis, but it turned out to be really good! It was worth the money I spent on the meal because it was delicious! We did our tourist shopping that night, and I ended up with a very pretty plaid scarf. I wanted the cashmere one, but the cheapest one I could find was 20 pounds, so I went with wool instead.
We left on Thursday night at 11 PM and arrived in Edinburgh at 8 AM. It wasn't too bad of a ride there, because I slept most of the way. We got to our hostel which was literally across the street from Edinburgh Castle, and then
we explored the Royal Mile a little bit. At one end of the Royal Mile is the castle and on the other end is Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. We didn't go into either the entire time we were there, but I wasn't too worried since I will be back there soon! Bailey, Rachel, and I decided to go on a little hiking adventure because the "hill" didn't look that steep, and it would be an amazing view. Yeah, that little hill ended up being called The Mound and it was not fun to climb (apparently I had some energy left to be jumping off of rocks). But, we did make it to the top and found out we were in Holyrood Park. There were more trails that went higher, but we wanted to go on a free tour later in the day, so we had to make our way back.We made a pit stop at a children's playground and messed around for a bit...now when everyone asks what I did in Edinburgh I can say I played in the kiddie park! We made it to our free tour which was three hours of walking in the rain. It didn't stop raining the entire time, and it
was a bit chilly. We saw some pretty interesting things that most people wouldn't see...the cafe J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books, Greyfriar's Bobby, Lake of Poo...good times. Most of it was really random, but a lot of fun. And, it was free!! After our tour, we decided to warm up at the hostel. We ended up going back out for dinner...of course, we had to try something traditional, so I went with haggis, tatties, and neeps (mashed potatoes and mashed turnips). I was a little hesitant about the haggis, but it turned out to be really good! It was worth the money I spent on the meal because it was delicious! We did our tourist shopping that night, and I ended up with a very pretty plaid scarf. I wanted the cashmere one, but the cheapest one I could find was 20 pounds, so I went with wool instead.The next morning, we got up early and went on our tour of the Highlands! I was so excited, until we got to some of the more hilly roads. Again, a miserable bus experience, and we spent most of the day on a bus. It took us a bit, but we made our way to Fort Augustus which sits on the mouth of Loch Ness. We bought tickets to go on a boat to do some Nessie huntin'. The Loch was amazing; the sun was out and the mist had cleared. Not only did I get to cruise down Loch Ness, but we spotted Nessie! And, she's even procreated...not sure how that one happened, but it did. Take a look for yourself!
Totally believable picture. Might send it in to the papers. Well, after a brief visit to Loch Ness and Nessie, the tour took us to see Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in the UK, and Glencoe, a gorgeous valley with a bloody history. The highlands really were not a great place to live back in the day with all the clans fighting one another, but now there is hardly anyone living there! I would love to live somewhere as beautiful as the highlands. Here are some extra pictures since words just won't do it...
On the way to Loch Ness
Bailey and me with our scarves
Me on Loch Ness
Hamish the Highland Cow, the most photographed animal in the UK
At Glencoe
Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK
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