Ello, Scotland!

Oh boy, so many posts to write and I am already back home! But for now, let’s just pretend I’m still abroad as I wrap this all up.

So, picking up where we left off; I got back to the flat in London the night of the 16th, and then left at 5am the next morning, Edinburgh, Scotland bound!

“Why Scotland?”, you may ask. Well, the question should be something more like “Why not Scotland?!”. With Edinburgh being a simple one hour, £35 flight away, I just could not justify returning home to the States without venturing up to the homeland of kilts. So after arriving in Edinburgh and dropping my stuff at The Hostel, I headed out to explore the beautiful city, all while the sun blessed the normally overcast city with its presence!

Edinburgh Castle, definitely something to stare in awe at as it is perched on a random cliff in the middle of the city

the view of part of the city from the Castle

kilts and bagpipes- classic Scotland!

After I spent my first day exploring the city of Edinburgh, I dedicated my second and last day in Scotland to the Highlands, as a I booked a 12 hour, 360 mile bus tour! With an 8am departure on an unfortunately dreary day, I boarded the bus with my fellow shutterbug tourists for the high road….aaaand fell back asleep till our first stop for breakfast.

“Welcome to the Highlands”, and yes, that is Gaelic it is translated into underneath

*please ignore any window glares in pictures, unfortunately there is so much landscape to see and so little time to stop for a decent picture

A (tone deaf) lad playing the bagpipes infront of The Three Sisters in Glen Coe (only the middle sister is visible)

the middle and right of the Three Sisters

One of the main stops on the bus tour was a stop in Fort Augustus, or as it is more commonly known for being the home of Loch Ness, and it’s monster, Nessie! I’ll admit, the majority of my knowledge of all things Scotland, Loch Ness, and Nessie comes from Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster movie, so bear with me here.

After a lunch break in Fort Augustus, we hopped on a Cruise Loch Ness boat and see what we could find on the radar!

on Loch Ness, with it’s deepest point being 755 feet, making it deeper than the North Sea between Scotland and Norway

See that odd horseshoe shape on the hillside? According to legend, Nessie attempted to escape the Loch by throwing itself up the steep hillside, but was unsuccessful, with gravity and the lack of legs taking over and the poor creature went rolling back down the hill and into the water

and of course, gotta have that Red Nose solo pic!

Watching the radar through the window in the captains bridge. Unfortunately Nessie kept hidden in the depths of the Loch, as she tends to do, but I was reassured by staff members that she is indeed real and the last sighting was 11 months ago. Guess I’ll have to keep hunting!

Eilean Donan Castle, on of the most famous and iconic castles in the country, built in 1220

Fourth Bridge (sorry for the horribly rainy window picture) runs just over a mile and a half long and holds third place on the list of top ten bridges in the world!

After returning to Edinburgh that evening, I packed up my belongings in preparation to leave at 4am the next morning with the destination of Dublin, Ireland in mind! So, next time I will be seeing all you readers is in Ireland!

For now,

Michelle x