"Loch Lomond" - Runrig

"You take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before you. But me and my true love will never meet again on the the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond"

(This is a super famous Scottish song that was played during our Highlands Tour)

Finally here it is, what I've been building up for so long....My blog about Scotland, the world's best country besides 'Murica! (and maybe Italy)

A view of King Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Day 1:

Train Ride: The train ride was only 4 hours or so from London and such a pretty trip through the countryside! With a couple rounds of cards and some other games we were there in no time!

Side note: The train station we left from was King Cross Station (Harry Potter Fans?) and the had a   little memorial to it's part in the books. It was super cool!

King Arthurs Seat: Right out of the middle of Edinburgh there's a huge park with hills (which are actually extinct volcanos!) and walking trails. After being in cities for the past 3 months straight you can bet my vote was to make this the first place we went. We hiked to the top and spent some time at the top just looking at the view and I even sat in a little nook on the face of the cliff, legs dangling down and everything ( I felt like a rebel!) . This place was gorgeous and definitely the perfect way to start our time in Edinburgh!

One of the hills of the park (It's a lot taller than it looks).
The first picture is also the park and has a shot of Kind Arthurs seat in it.

"Edinbughs Disgrace" : After lunch we kept touring Scotland and made our way to Calton's Hill to "Edinburghs Disgrace" , an unfinished replica of the pantheon perched on a high peak in the middle of town. We had seen it from the top of the hill when climbing and decided to check it out. Unfortunately, I had yet another ungraceful moment and fell off the monument which happened to be about over 5 feet off the ground with broken glass below but I pulled out a solid landing and made an unforgetable memory!

Witcheries and cadies tour: This was probably the most fun tour I've been on duringmy time in Europe. It looked at the history that Scotland had with witch craft and witch trials. Not only was it interesting but it was led by 2 younger Scots that were HILARIOUS! 

Day 2:

Scottish Highlands Tour: This tour was GREAT and I would highly suggest it for anyone that wants to go to Scotland. We started the morning in Edinburgh went over to the west coast to Fort William, hit the highland, then went up to the top of Loch Ness and then back down into the lowlands past Perth to end in Edinburgh again. A full day with lots of driving but fantastic views and scenery! (You can kind of follow the route by looking at the middle yellow circuit on the map)

Douene Castle:

Stirling Castle:

Glen Coe - Three Sisters: The history of this place was great! I'd try to tell the story but I would fail miserably. Check out this link for the story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe

Loch Lubnig

Loch Tula

Loch Ness: Yes we found Nessie!

Day 3:

Royal Mile: a stretch of shops and restaurants that was really fun to walk around!

Edingburgh Castle: Seriously the coolest castle ever! Located on the top of the Royal Mile it is one of the only castles that has never been taken by force!

Train fiasco: We were hoping to get back to London a little early to see a little more of it and get to bed on time so we tried to catch an earlier train. Unfortunately, we didn't check to make sure that we were allowed to do that. With about 30 seconds until the train left we realized we weren't allowed to catch that train. After rushing out, Max and I turned around to look back and make sure Ashton and Zach were right behind us. They weren't.... The doors had closed on them and the conductors were no help with getting them off the train. Looked like we had another couple hours in Edinburgh!

Shopping for Clan Stuff: My family goes back to the Scottish Clan Matheson, so of course I had to pick up some of our clan plaid! One scarf later and I was ready to go!

Finally it was time for the train ride back to London to wrap up spring break with a flight back to Germany the next morning. Spring is long past, but the memories of Spring Break 2013 will never be forgotten!

So yeah, the trip was awesome! I already want to go back to Scotland and it hasn't even been a month since I left! And the trip also left me with another item on my bucket list! : The West Highland Way, a 95 mile hiking trail that winds through the Scottish highland. One day it WILL happen...

Next Blogs to look forward to!

1. Easter Break with my parents

2. Alghero, Italy ( Sardenia)

3.  Berlin, Germany