Goodbye Scotland....

Well, it is over. I am back in the USA. It is hard to believe that I was even in Scotland at all sitting here in my kitchen. The flight was very painful. When we started to pull away from the gate I started to cry. I was so upset that I was leaving I couldn't stand it. I am enjoying the heat, I am enjoying having someone else feed me, and I am enjoying my family, but I miss Scotland. That country changed the course of my life, I know it. I cannot wait until I return. Goodbye Scotland, till we meet again.

Edinburgh- Round 3

On Thursday I got up super early in the morning and got on a train to go to Edinburgh one last time. When I got there I was very happy to say I managed to navigate myself to the Scotland National Museum without too many difficulties :D The museum, my first stop, was free entry! I started out in the Scotland section, looking at the pre-Pict kingdom level. The "Early Inhabitants" section, as it was called, was very interesting but painfully full of Roman artifacts. I know this is because most of what we know about these people comes from Roman records, but come one, IDC about the Romans, they stink -_-. Anyways after that I didn't go to any of the other Scottish sections because I wanted to take a look at other parts of the museum as well. My favorite section was the animal section :D

 They had so many different animals there! And their dino skeletons were mixed in with the modern animals! (As can be seen from the T-rex) All the sea animals were hanging from the ceiling. The great white shark was almost the same size at the t-rex!!!

 There it is again

 That skeleton is of a ancient giant deer. It was pretty darn cool. Note the lion family in the corner :D

 After that I took a quick side track to the Egypt exhibit because I had heard how amazing it was. Yea... I wouldn't jump straight to amazing. It was really tiny actually. One cool thing though was this, a copy of the Narmer Pallet. The real one is in Cairo. For those of you who dont know, this is the first documented evidence ever recorded 9this survived) of the unification of the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. I have studied this thing IDK how many times, written essays on it, ect. It was really cool to see even though it wasn't the real one.

 Back to the animal section for A DODO BIRD!! They had several extinct animal remains like this weird sorta zebra thing and that Tasmanian tiger. After I left the museum I needed to eat lunch. SSOOO I went to The Elephant House!! Birthplace of Harry Potter! It was so nice! You ordered your food then they sat you down at a table. I ordered tea and got my own personal pot! (yes, I drank the entire pot). The food was delicious too. BUT, I was in the room where some of my favorite characters of all time might have been born. I was in the room that helped inspire a story that changed my life. IT WAS SO COOL.

 This is the view JK Rowling famously looked at while writing Harry Potter. You can't really tell, but that is Edinburgh Castle outside the window.

 Inside the bathroom, all the walls where completely covered in fan notes to JK Rowling. It was incredible.

 One thing that struck me about Edinburgh was the street performers. I have never seen so many in my entire life! Like this woman. (I think it was a woman). Covered head to toe in mirrors!!!

 This was on the Royal Mile after I left lunch. I was heading for the castle! I fully intended to go inside but...the line was like a mile long. I didn't have that much time and I wasn't going to spend it standing in a line! So I went as far as I could without a ticket, which was about up to that gate in the picture below.

 So instead of the castle, I walked down the Royal Mile and watched all the street performers, like this bag pipe player. There were tons others. There were two little girls, one playing the violin and another playing the accordion. There was an entertainer doing a show and making jokes. He was really funny. There were street venders everywhere! It was so much fun.

 But of course, I also had to take a stop in the cathedral. And I am so glad I did.

 It was stunningly beautiful, of course.

But the reason I am glad I went in was something different. There was a young men choir doing a performance. They were singing completely in Scottish Gaelic. It was so overwhelming beautiful, and powerful, and just stunning, I almost cried! I stayed and watched the rest of their concert and even bought their CD!!

 After I got back, I had like an hour to relax and eat before we were off to the goodbye ceilidh!!! For those of you who don't know, a ceilidh is a traditional Scottish dance party :D. They had a band come play  and people to teach us the dance steps. It was so much fun! I was twirling and dancing and flying all over and everyone was laughing and having a good time. It was an amazing experience! I wish they had had one every single week! Well Now it is my last day in Scotland, and I am going to go try to soak it up as much as I can (and eat the rest of my food ;) )

The Highlands- Day 3

My last day in the highlands was bittersweet we saw a lot of amazing things but as we left the highlands I felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow.

Our first stop was Eileen castle. We couldn't go inside because it was not open yet, but those of you who saw that horrid movie "Made of Honor" might recognize it. This castle is actually stilled used as a vacation home by the head family of a clan. It is fully furbished and suitable to live in.

 This is the view around the back of the castle. It was positioned on a small island in the middle of a loch. It was very beautiful and mysterious :D Our next stop was one of the most famous placed in the world, Loch Ness.

 Here it is! The waters of legend! No, I did not see the monster. It was cold and raining so I did not going swimming in the loch either, although two of my companions did.

 There were TONS of tourists from all over the world and I struggled to take a photo without anyone in it! On the way driving to the loch there was an entire building museum thing devoted to showing how there is no possible way Nessie is real. Seemed a bit over dramatic to me. Our next stop was a battlefield. It was the location of the last battle to take place on British soil ever. It was between the Jacobite rebels versus the British army and its supporters. The British creamed the Jacobites if you didn't know. The Jacobites were a rebel uprising, the last legitimate stand the Scottish took for freedom in history before recent times where they have been going about it in a more diplomatic route. After we left the battle field we drove for a LONG TIME and eventually stopped at the waterfall walk, which lived up to its name...

 Below was the entrance to the cliff next to the water fall :D

The water was the color of ale. I am not sure why but it was very strange. Me and the others had a great time climbing all over rocks and going through the woods. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time there and did not get to see all the water falls. We stopped and ate lunch in a town where I bought a very nice, very expensive, wool sweater. This thing was worth every penny. I am completely in love with it. It is so warm and snuggly. I am sure I will be using it a lot this winter. Anyways after that we headed back to the University. Leaving the Highlands left me with a strange, empty feeling. I was leaving my favorite place on earth, newly discovered, and I did not know when I would ever return. 1 year? 5 years? 10? 20? I do not know. Maybe I will never go back (which would break my heart). All I know is that the places I saw, and the places I didn't see, are going to be calling to my heart for a long time after I return to the US. Who knows when I will be able to answer that call and return to that amazing place

The Highlands- Day 2

Day two of the highlands was an incredible experience! We went to the Isle of Skye that day, also known as The Misty Isle. It certainly lived up to its name as the island was so covered in fog we could barely see it!

 This was the bridge to get onto the island. Our tour guide told us how it was built. Apparently Bank of America financed it then put the most expensive toll in the world on it. It irritated me, and my friends noticed this too, that whenever our tour guide told a story it was an American as the bad guy. We were not amused by it. Anyways the bridge is now free to cross in case you were wondering.

 This was the picturesque little town we first drove into. All the towns looked like this. Extremely beautiful and very small. The total year round population of the Ilse of Skye is 9,000 people. But during the summer this swells to 200,000 people.

 Here is the bridge at the base of the Cúchulainn mountain range (which we couldn't see because of the mist). Our tour guide gave us a very long tale about Scáthach, a female warrior from the Isle of Skye who was the greatest warrior in the world and ran a training school. She trained a man named Cúchulainn, a famous Irish folk hero. Now the story she told was very horny and didn't sound right to me. So I looked it up and true enough the story she told us was not accurate to the actual legend. Maybe she heard it wrong, or maybe she just elaborated it, or maybe it was just a local variant, who knows.

 After that (and after lunch and shopping) we headed to the mountain named The Storr. At the top of this mountain is incredible and unusual rock formations. You can look it up online because the fog was so thick at the top of the mountain, I never saw them. Well I saw one, but my camera died. Anyways The Storr mountain is 718 meters tall. The climb up was not very difficult as you can see from these paths.

 After you got above the tree line, however, things got a lot more rugged.

 See? Not great visibility. I got in trouble on this climb. The tour guide had said that you could try to get to the top if you wanted to, and so I tried. I kind of get overtaken by the desire to reach the top when I do stuff like this, and everyone else was moving so slow, so I went on ahead. I thought we would meet each other at the top. Well I kept going higher and higher. Every once and I while I would wait for them to catch up to me but they never did. Eventually I made it to a part where giant rocks loomed out of the fog. The one I could clearly see looked like the top of a cathedral. (later on I realized I was actually at the top of the mountain, but I couldnt see). The wind was blowing so hard and the fog was so dense, it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Again I was overtaken with emotion and the desire to explore. I ended up climbing up the side of the cathedral rock. I only made it so far before I could not longer climb up it sideways. It was a straight down cliff. I made it probably 20 feet up and just sat there, staring over what I could see. I waited for a while for someone to appear, but no one did. Well, begrudgingly, I turned back. By the time I found the rest of the group they were headed back down the mountain. The tour guide and some others had gone looking for me. When the tour guide came back and flipped out on me. She made me apologize to her like 5 times and to the entire group for making them worry. She lectured me about how I should have stayed with the group and I put myself in danger yada yada. She really kind of pissed me off actually. But I got over it and the day continued. She was not going to taint that amazing experience I had up there.

 When we got back to the hostel we were treated to a boat ride on the loch with a local fisherman! We were fishing for scallops!

 The below picture is our catch. The tide was coming in so it wasn't a good time for fishing. We didn't really catch much, but I learned a lot about the marine life....more than I wanted to.

We ended up with something like 15 scallops, which the captain of the boat had us all eat raw. I didn't want to because I hate sea food and I take issue with eating something still alive, but they made me do it. It didn't taste bad but the texture and the still living thing made me feel sick. But the boat ride was fun. Unfortunately we didn't see any otters, which I have kind of developed an obsession with. They are just SO CUTE! Anyways dinner was authentic fish and chips that night (a burger in my case because I don't eat fish) and then afterwords we had the great pleasure of introducing the smore to the Europeans! They were a bit wary of it, but it was good fun. I went hunting for sticks in the woods and we showed them how to properly make a smore. The Spaniards liked them, but the Italian women did not particularly care for them. The Italian man however, Julio, LOVED them. He had to have eaten 6 or 7. He kept going until we ran out of supplies. Eventually everyone trickled away from the fire to go to sleep. I stayed out and talked to the couple that owned the hostel and one of their neighbors. It was a very in depth and deep conversation. We talked about Scottish nationalism, alcohol and cigarettes, the world view of Americans, the Scottish view of other counties. We talked about places we had been, jobs we had had, the hair styles we used to have. We talked about what it was like to live in the Highlands and the man, Alan I think his name was, gave me advise about life. It was a conversation I doubt I will ever forget. I learned so much and I really enjoyed it. (Although I think I will ignore his advise about how alcohol and cigarettes help you live longer). I went to bed that night smelling of campfire smoke but extremely content. 

The Highlands- Day 1

So this past weekend I was on a three day tour of the Scottish Highlands. This trip has seriously been the most amazing experience of my life. I did and saw things this weekend that I likely will never see or do again.

Day 1 had a rocky start. The tour guide was a half hour late and it was pouring rain. After that, however, things got better. I was there with four other girls from my program so I was in good company. The rest of our group was made up of 6 Spaniards and 3 Italians. Our first stop was Doune Castle. You may remember I have already been to Doune Castle, so that was not particularly exciting especially since we didn't stay very long.

After that we headed north. After picking up lunch we stopped to eat at Loch Lubnik, which was gorgeous!

 We stopped again after driving more into the highlands. We were driving for hours but it felt like minutes. The scenery was so gorgeous it was hypnotizing. We finally stopped to take a picture of this stunning view. There were quite a lot of walkers and hikers around. It is THE LAW in Scotland that you are allowed to walk and hike anywhere you want, even if it is private land.

 We kept traveling north with our tour guide providing us with little stories the entire way. She was kinda crazy...and horny. She talked about sex a lot. She was also very dramatic. When she told stories about tragedies that happened hundreds of years ago she worked herself into fake hysteria. It was...interesting. Anyways we were headed for Glen Coe. This mountain here is called the Dark Shepard. It is the mountain that guards the entrance to Glen Coe.

 And here is the magnificent place itself! I was blown away by how amazing and beautiful this glen was. I wanted to set up a little house there and never leave it.

 These three peaks are called "The Three Sisters". The two on the left hide a "secret" glen where cattle thieves used to hide stolen cattle.

Our tour guide told us a very sad story about what happened to the MacDonald clan here. The English King of the time (possibly James 6th, don't quote me on that) wanted to control the people of the Highlands, and so he offered them a deal: money for loyalty. Unfortunately clan MacDonald did not sign the agreement in time. Therefore the king ordered clan Campell to slaughter clan MacDonald...which this did in this very glen after the members of the clan MacDonald had given them shelter from a storm. The anger and hatred for the clan Campell for their betrayal continues into modern times. She told us a ridiculous antidote how, in Glen Coe village, there was an Inn that had a sign that said "No Campell's allowed". (This is in the last ten years btw) One day an American was hiking and a horrible storm blew in and he went to the Inn to get cover, and when they discovered his last name was Campell they refused to serve him and threw him out into the storm! WTF He could have died! So naturally he sued and the Edinburgh court THREW THE CASE OUT! Seriously? It happened hundreds of years ago, get over it. I thought that was so stupid.

 Anyways after that depressing story she brought out some whiskey and had us all take a swig (which was disgusting btw) and then after that we lay on your backs on this rock looking upsidown at the glen. This is what the camera saw, this is not what I saw. What I saw was an entirely different world. Not exaggerating. It looked entirely different. It was like the clouds were the ground and the mountains stretched out forever.  It was incredible.

 After the rock I lay down in the grass and just stared at the sky and listened to the wind blow...

 Don't judge me, but I just love ferns, and they were everywhere! So....I went and sat in them.

 After leaving the Glen we stopped briefly to see the tallest peak in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. It is that peak in the middle. It was very far away. The mountain is 1344 meters tall.

 This next spot was to see Loch Gary, which from above looks like Scotland. Seriously, it does. I was skeptical until I saw it.

 By this time it was nearing the end of the day and we finally made it to our hostel. This place was gorgeous. It was in a small village named Stromeferry. Population: 18. Isn't that insane!! I couldn't even get my mind around it! The hostel was an old house that had been converted and it was ride on the edge of the loch.

 This is the hostel. Isn't it stunning? I loved staying there.

 That night the Spaniards and Italians did the cooking, which was spectacular. They literally cooked us a feast. I hadn't eaten that good in  LOOONNGGG TIME (sorry mom). Of course the American girls got stuck with dishes but it wasn't bad. By the end of the day I had learned everyone's names. When I fell asleep that night I was so excited for what the next day would bring.....