Scotland Round 2 - Highlights

Hello my loves! I am sitting on my couch visiting with Quirk having returned yesterday from a weeklong adventure in Scotland. I took about 200 pictures and did so many things I can't remember all of them, so instead of trying to hit everything I thought I would give a brief highlights summary of our days there.

Last Sunday we took the bus up to Edinburgh. After a frustrating adventure with Google confusing us as to the location of our hostel we got settled in and went out for a nice dinner at Nando's, which they don't have back in Canada but I was introduced to last time I was here. We didn't do much else, having an early night from travel exhaustion.



Monday morning we grabbed breakfast and explored went off for castles. We did a tour of Edinburgh Castle followed by some exploring on our own. From there we walked down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace at the other end.

 After some more exploring and lunch we made our way up to one of the theatre areas in the city to enjoy a play about the life of Albert Einstein. It was really enjoyable! Scientifically speaking it was sound, it was quite funny, and all around I had a blast. I even got to meet the star before going in!

 

In the evening we went to a pub where Katherine met some very nice fellows from Glasgow. We met up with them again later at a live music place called "Cowshed" which was basically a hoedown. It was a blast!

 

 

 

Tuesday morning we got up for another day of adventures in Edinburgh. We attended another play, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, after seeing the troupe singing while walking down the Royal Mile. From there we went on to do a little shopping before our tour of the historic vaults of Edinburgh. I find the vaults very interesting - they were formed when South Bridge was built (completed 1788). They were originally meant to be used by merchants but were also used for other purposes such as illegal stills and squatters. The tour gave a really interesting view of the history of Edinburgh and what life in the city would have been like. Because of the geological boundaries (and man-made ones) Edinburgh historically was actually a very small area. To make up for it they built both down and up a lot - buildings are up to 12 or 14 floors. The bridge was built to give better access to an area being developed at the time, called "New Town" as the city expanded.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday we began our tour of the Highlands. I was thrilled to discover that we had the same tour guide that I had for the one-day tour we took on my first trip to Scotland. This is where my memory becomes all out of order and I can't even try to tell you what happened in what order.

 

One big highlight was taking the chair lift at the Glencoe Ski Centre to see the views. I have a moderate fear of heights, so this was one of those "do it specifically because I'm scared to" things. I ended up riding with a girl named Cheryl who is originally from Scotland but living in England - chatting with her was a good distraction from my fear. The views were absolutely amazing and completely worth the fear.

 

We also got to walk right into the valley of Glencoe to hear the story of the Glencoe Massacre. It was a really interesting experience and much better allowed me to picture the story.

 

That evening was a lot of fun as well. I had a delicious dinner of haggis stuffed chicken with whiskey sauce. That's right, haggis. It was actually delicious - and as someone pointed out it's really no grosser than what goes into hot dogs and sausages. I enjoyed it a lot. I took off for a while and had some alone time in nature sitting along the side of the canal in Fort Augustus, and then walking up the canal to the edge of the village. After that I returned and had fun with the party-crazy Aussies in the bar. They were very silly (and some of them were very drunk) but I had a blast.




Thursday was day 2 of the tour and up to areas I had not been before. The main focus of the day was going up towards the Isle of Skye. Sadly the clouds were very low so we could not see as much as hoped, but we still got to see plenty of beautiful sights.

One of my favourite parts of the day was the river we stopped at. We walked down to the water's edge where we were told a story which involved a legend - that if you stuck your face in the water for 8 seconds it would "restore all natural beauty". Our tour guide asked for people who were willing to do this and I was one of those who volunteered. However I am me, so when I went to lean into the water my left hand slid out from under me and I fell face-first into the river. Other than being a lot more soaked than intended and having a couple bruises I was fine and had a lot of fun with it.

I also quite enjoyed a show we got to attend in the evening where we got to learn about life in the Highlands, see how tartans were actually put on, and see real, battle-scarred weapons. It was amazing and very informative!



Day 3 of the tour, Friday, took us back down towards Edinburgh. We passed through Inverness and then went to Culloden Battlefield, which was a very interesting experience. I have read many things that involve the history and aftermath of the battle there so have long been curious to see it. I actually didn't take many pictures (just one of the sign) because I felt I needed to respect the place in my own weird way. I walked from the flags marking the British side to the flags marking the Jacobite side and did some meditating and praying. It was an intensely emotional experience for me and took quite a while to process when it was done. However I am very glad to have seen it and been able to experience the place for myself.

A more fun and uplifting experience was a tour of the Blair Athol distillery and a whiskey tasting there. It was really neat to see the process of how whiskey is made, and after having tried a few whiskeys earlier in the trip I really enjoyed theirs. It is a sweeter whiskey which is aged in sherry casks. Very nice.

Our return to Edinburgh was a bit rocky - it turned out we were in our hostel's secondary location which involved quite a schlep across the city. With Fringe being going on it was a little overwhelming and I was pretty grumpy by the end (unfortunately). However by the next morning I forgave the city and loved it again!


Saturday we took a train out to Glasgow where we were able to explore a bit of that city. We spent some time at the Glasgow Science Centre, as well as exploring the Necropolis - a very interesting and beautiful Victorian cemetery. After getting all dolled up we went out for an evening on the town and got to experience a bit of local Glasgow life. It was a lot of fun.



Overall the trip was amazing. My connection with the Highlands only grew, and I miss it there already. I realized how much my country girl heart misses being out in nature and all it's beauty - something I will have to be more careful about. Attending the Edinburgh Fringe was a great experience and something I highly recommend to people. Glasgow surprised me by being much more enjoyable than I expected (having had various people warn me to not go there). However it is the Highlands I love and will keep with me.