The Highlands: land of faries,giants, and kilts.

Our three day tour of the Highlands has been the best part of this trip, by far. The tour took us around the east side of the Highlands visiting various war memorials, castles, etc. The tour took us the the Isle of Skye which is the northernmost island of Scotland. We spent the night at the town right on the other side of the bridge that connects Skye to the mainland. We woke up early enough to see the sun coming out over the water and mountains and it was absolutely beautiful. The next day we were taken around Skye and stopping at the places unique to the little island. We spent one more night at the same hostel and took the tour down the west side of the Highlands and back to Edinburgh. It was a lot of time on a bus, but our tour guide Niel was hilarious. He had so many stories about the history and told many old folktales, being from the Highlands he was very passionate about his homeland. I really enjoyed listening to all the things he knew.

                                                 

There is so much to tell so I will tell you some of my favorite moments and stories of the trip.

                                                                    our tour guide

Lochness was incredibly beautiful, and incredibly cold. I didn't end up going for a full swim because it was freezing and rainy outside but I did take off my shoes and sock and went almost knee deep. The water was very very cold, and because of the volume of water in Lochness the temperature barely fluctuates temperature. (This is one of Niel's arguments to why the Lochness Monster could possible exist) Speaking of Nessy, sad to report we didn't see anything.

Sligachan River in Scottish tales is named after a beautiful Scottish warrior who battled a Irish Warrior
and when he couldn't beat her ended up falling in love with her. The river is named after her and the mountains that surround the river named after her Irish Warrior. It is said that if you stick your head in the river for 7 seconds or 3 consecutive times you will be eternally beautiful. I went with the 7 seconds.

We also climbed ANOTHER mountain Old Man of Storr.  We got to hike through woods and then a steep climb up to the ginormous rocks at the top. Absolutely amazing scenery at the top made it all worth it.

Another place in Skye was the fairies palace. The Scottish believe that the land and palace is run by faries, and that if you sing, whistle or yell in the place the fairies will come take you away. It was a very mystical place. Also there was another tale abut the spiral of rocks that are right outside the palace. If you walk through the spiral and think about the traits of your personality you don't like and when you get to the center and walk back out thinking about the personality traits you do like about yourself the fairies will take the bad and let you take the good traits with you.

One of the last highlights of the trip was visiting the Wallace Monument, for all you braveheart fans it was very cool. They claim to have his actual sword and the leather on the handle is made from the skin of a British General Wallace killed. All the stairs were spiral and looks over the whole town. Definitely worth going to, and to make my Dad jealous haha.

 The Highlands were such an amazing thing to experience I learned so much more about the culture and history of the country and had a blast!

 We are off to Ireland tomorrow for 5 days: Dublin, Galway, Cork, and then to Wales.

Glasgow:Home of Gerard Butler :)

So unfortunately I didn't meet Gerard in Glasgow and runaway with him! (just kidding Jordan) But on a serious note the city of Glasgow was an awesome place to visit. There was so much to see, both new and old.

Glasgow University was amazing. It is the second oldest University in the UK (its the first building pictured) It is beautiful and filled with history and are known for their different museums ranging from medical to art. The Kelvin Art Museum I have pictures of was huge with a lot to see, including originals from many well known artists. My favorite museum which unfourtunately couldn't take pictures in was the Macintosh House. It is a replica with some original pieces of a home a Scottish design/artist power couple constructed. It was so unique and inspired art back in there time, and even modern art today, it was incredible.

Our second day in Glasgow we decided to do a city bus tour. It took you from both ends of Glasgow with guides that told you about all the history behind the city and all the current and future things Glasgow is doing. Places we went to were the Glasgow Cathedral and Cemetery which was so beautiful. Its hard to imagine how they built such amazing things with all the beautiful detail. We visited other museums around the area, a shopping center, and multiple botanical gardens which had awesome flowers and plants! They also had the second biggest shopping strip in the UK behind London and we got a taste of that as well as all the historical sites. We had a great time, and we are off to the Highlands for the weekend! I hear the scenery is unbelievable there so I will have a lot to blog about I am sure! Enjoy the pictures of Glasgow. Missing my friends and family and still have a fabulous time!

Breathtaking...

Here are the pictures of the valcano we climbed in Edinburgh a few days ago, Aurthur's Seat....as you can see in these the views were absolutely amazing! it was verrryyy windy though!