Hello everyone!! I just had the most wonderful weekend of my life in Scotland with the rest of my group! There is way too much to write about so I'm just going to hit the main highlights of the trip. Basically, I had the time of my life :)
On Thursday, our entire group met at the train station around 3pm to take our 5 hour long train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland. The ride seemed long at times, but we were all so excited to arrive that it barely seemed like we spent any time on the train. We arrived in Edinburgh around 8 and then had to walk with all of our luggage to our hostel about 10 minutes from the station. This was my first time staying in a hostel and it was a very interesting experience!! It was nice that we knew everyone in our room. I could not imagine being in there with complete strangers. All of the hostels could usually fit 6 or 8 people, so there were bunk beds, a shower, and a bathroom. Not very exciting but very cheap :) Our hostel had a bar downstairs so most of us hung out there for a while. Sam, Kari, Erin, and I decided we wanted to explore Edinburgh since we were only there for a night. We walked for a bit and stopped in a local pub and talked with a professor that was originally from Seattle but was teaching in Edinburgh for a year. It was so interesting to talk to him and be able to relate to someone from the states! Then we made our way to Edinburgh castle!! It was closed since it was so late at night but we were still able to get some pictures and see it from the outside. We had a great night!
Early on Friday morning, our group was split into two as we were about to start on our journey through Scotland. We had two buses (each of them called Wild & Sexy) and young Scottish tour guides that stayed with us the duration of the weekend. As you might infer from the name of the buses, it was a crazy weekend. Our guide, Scot, cracked jokes and told hilarious stories throughout the whole trip. He made everything a lot more relaxed and fun! The tour guides here actually go to school for it so they know a ton of information about absolutely everything. Our bus had so much fun learning new facts about Scotland (some real and some fake) and playing the white horse game (every time you saw a white horse you had to scream "WHITE HORSE WHITE HORSE WHITE HORSE" as loud and high-pitched as you can.) Our first stop on Friday was to the William Wallace Monument. Everywhere we went in Scotland was so stunning!! I have never seen more beautiful landscapes and scenery in my entire life. The pictures I got on my camera will never be able to do it justice. The other places we stopped on Friday include: Tyndrum
, Kilmahog, Black Mount, Glencoe, Spean bridge, and Glen Garry viewpoint. Each place seemed to be more amazing than the last. Another fun thing our tour guide did was to make the people that were late to the bus do jumping jacks and push ups in front of our entire group. After being late once, I never was again! We stopped at a place for lunch and oddly met a couple from Stillwater there! Patrick is from Stillwater and he talked to them for a while and realized his brother is friends with their daughter! SMALL WORLD! We couldn't believe the odds of meeting them there, at a random little cafe in the middle of nowhere. It's always nice to hear people are from the United States, especially Minnesota :) Another highlight: I finally got my macaroni and cheese!! I was very excited to see that on the menu :) Friday evening we made our way to the Isle of Skye and stayed at a hostel called Saucy Mary's. We had a group dinner at the hostel of lasagna, chips (french fries), and chocolate cake! Saucy Mary's also had a bar and live music so our group danced the night away to some Scottish performers! It was a great time after an already amazing day.
Saturday morning we got back on our crazy tour bus to continue driving around Scotland. One of the highlights of this day was stopping at the Sligachan River. Scot told us a story about a princess having an accident and losing her eye near the river, which of course made her ugly. A fairy told her to dip her entire face in the river for 7 seconds in order to gain eternal beauty. Of course, a few of us on the trip were brave enough to stick our faces underwater in the freezing cold river for 7 seconds! Patrick and I both were courageous enough to do this! :) We also got to see the Eilean Donan Castle, which is the most photographed castle in Scotland. It has also been in numerous movies. The castle was absolutely stunning and I could definitely understand why it was the most photographed castle.
Sunday we made our way to Loch Ness. Scot made our entire group do this ridiculous dance and chants in order for the Loch Ness Monster to come out of the water. It was pretty entertaining seeing the guys on our trip do this dance! The lake was beautiful and very cold as well! We also stopped at the Culloden battlefield and heard stories about the battle that took place there as part of the Jacobite Rising in 1745. It was a great way to end our trip to Scotland!!
This is only a brief summary of the great things that happened in Scotland. I can't wait to go back someday and revisit some of the amazing things we were able to see. Here are some pictures of my amazing adventure :)
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Edinburgh Castle |
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Beautiful Scenery! |
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Patrick and I :) |
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Emily, Ashley, and I dipping our faces in the river for eternal beauty! |
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Anna and I in front of Loch Ness! See any monsters? :) |
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