Hiking through the Highlands!

Well not really, we were mostly on the bus :P But it was quite the adventure! And I can't stop thinking in a Scottish accent thanks to our awesome bus driver Ewen (we never did find out the spelling, but it sounds like you-in).

Where to start...We started out by heading to the hostel that was doing this trip. It's through MacBackers. Our tour guide was fantastic and hilarious. He was extremely knowledgeable about seriously -everything-. He talked a lot and told us funny stories and old legends.

I'll be updating later with photos and way better descriptions and names of places we went. There was too much for me to remember!

So the gist is: we went on a guided tour with a tourguide named Ewin. We stayed in a small town on the Isle of Skye. We stayed in Hostel for 2 nights. There were Bluebells -everywhere- on the hills. We had a great time.

On the first day we saw the Wallace Monument. That was quite the trek up the hill it was on! But it was a great view and there were bluebells all over the hill.

Next we saw the famous "hairy coo" (hairy cow) Hamish! He's 17 years old and one of the oldest male Highland cattle living. Usually the males are turned into tasty meat around the age of 3 (I guess that's when they taste best). Hamish somehow got lucky. His girlfriend was also there too! I was able to get better photos of her because everyone was crowding Hamish.

We also saw -many- different lakes (lochs) including Loch Lochy and Loch Garry which is shaped like Scotland.

We also drove through Glen Coe which is where I believe a giant massacre happened that gave the Campbell clan their bad name.

We also saw the Commando Memorial. It was dedicated to those I think in current and previous wars.

We arrived at Skye going over the Skye Bridge (of course). The town we stayed at was called Kyleakin. It was a cute town with two Pubs and a great view of the water. The hostel was rather nice and even had free breakfast!

That night we played a drinking card game called Presidents and A**holes. I didn't drink but it was still fun. After so many rounds of being the President you get to make up a rule. The President gave us all nick-names. Katie was GPS because she has a bad sense of direction, Ashley was Misplaced because she loses things then finds them later or finds something else, Jill was Lumber Jack Jill because of an inside joke I wasn't there for, Kelly was Squeakers because her camera bag and flip flops squeaked all the time and I was Bear Bait and that's a funny story. We were walking to the bus stop after seeing Craig Millar Castle. I told Kelly to not worry about the bears, because of me being the slowest one I'll distract them so they can all run to safety. So that was the joke of the night. We went out to the bars later. One of them was having a special so I got one drink and then left for the hostel.

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We went to the Sligachan River to dip our faces into it to bring us luck, beauty and fortune. I did dip my face in I have photos to prove it :P

We stopped at Bridal's Veil waterfall and got photos. It was super pretty and we were able to get close to our first sheep!

We then stopped at a little town called Portree. I got a Peatbog Faeries CD and something for my mom :)

We stopped at Duntulm Castle sometime after that. There were sheep on the hill nearby so we were all happy to get pictures of a couple of lambs. One had a hurt leg so we named him "Gimpy".

Kilt Rock was another destination. It was really cool to see the rock sediment from Prehistoric times. Apparently the smallest dinosaur ever was found in the area. The rocks are meant to look like pleats on a kilt.

We had a random stop to this place Ewen randomly found when camping years ago called Macurdie's Barn of laughs. You went in and it had random fishermen jokes and play on words and phrases. We also walked down to the beach nearby. That was a tricky climb.

We stopped in the town of Uig for a bathroom break. The harbor view was beautiful. They have a distillery there as well.

Last part of the day we stopped at Faerie Glen. It was a magical feeling place. I left a pebble and made a wish for the faeries. I thought a mama sheep was going to charge me because I was taking photos of her with her baby and she just kept staring at me. That's another thing, there are sheep -everywhere-. The world is their pasture!

That night we played more drinking games and headed to the pub. Ewen danced with me a bit and that was fun. I had a great time hanging out with the girls. I didn't stay out for nearly as long though :P

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Third day we packed up and left Skye. We first stopped at Loch Ness! I went in! Or at least my hand did!! :D We looked around the town a bit as well. Then went to a castle on the Loch called Urquhart Castle. I was hoping to see Nessie but that didn't happen :(

We also stopped at Ruthven Barracks where I was nearly charged by a Highland bull. That got the adrenaline going! I'm ok so no worries! Just another story to add to my list :P

We stopped at the Battlefield of Culloden Moor. I don't quite remember the whole history behind it so linked is the Wiki page! Have fun!

We also went to The Hermitage, a park where there was a beautiful waterfall. Then we pretty much headed home and said our last goodbyes.

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Some fun legends that I remember:

Kelpies: Or Water Horses. Chestnut mares that wait on the banks of a sea loch, waiting for unsuspecting victims. They're beautiful and charm you over to them by shaking their heads an showing off their flowing manes. If you happen to get on the mare her eyes will burn a fiery red and she'll take you into the loch, never to be seen again.

Selkies(sp?): The Seal people. These seals emerge onto the shore and take off their skins, revealing beautiful people that love to dance in the moonlight. Legend has it that a fishman was walking home and saw these beautiful people. He stole one of their skins and went home and stashed it. The next day he saw a beautiful nude woman curled up on a rock crying. He put his jacket around her and invited her into his home. The two grew to fall in love. They got married and had two children. Years later while the fisherman was at work the children found an old chest in the attic and found the seal skin in it. They showed to their mother who was furious. She took her two children down to the shore, dawned her seal skin and swam away with her kids. The fishman was devastated, but not nearly as much as her having found out he was the man that stole her life from him.

If you see 30 white Highland horses in one place at the same time, the next person you see will be your true love. Our other tour guide said that if you counted 30 total during your time in the Celtic countries that it counted. I don't know which to believe :P

That's all I have for now. I'm off to Ireland in the morning! Tata!

Some-what free day

Today was a rather interesting day. We sat around for like 3 hours in class, people gave Pete our photos and then he displayed them on the screen. We all felt a little jipped of our time. We got up early for the purpose of getting done with class early so we could get to Edinburgh to actually see things before they closed. The hours are driving us all nuts. Most places seem to open somewhat late-ish and close insanely early. It's even worse then Menomonie!

Anyway, we were going to see this photo gallery. Someone ended up not feeling well so Pete stayed behind with him for a while and told us where to get off. We ended up getting off and sent on a wild goose chase trying to find the place. We all ended up giving up and splitting into groups and going separate ways.

My group started out by going to the birthplace of Harry Potter: The Elephant House. They have really tasty food. I had trouble with the service because we all ordered together, but my food came out 15 min late. My friends were practically done by the time I got my food! In Scotland, you can't complain about the service and get free stuff in America, you just deal with it and they tell you "oh sorry about that". I got a really tasty sandwich though: Brie with Apple slices and Redcurrant Jelly. It was really good! I'll have to use Brie more when I get home.

We then headed towards Calton Hill. On the way we passed through Princes Street and I finally got my Swatch!!! So happy!!!

Calton hill is the 3rd volcanic hill in Scotland. The other two are Arthur's Seit and Edinburgh Castle. So I've been on 3 volcanoes. The view was gorgeous and there were some ruins on the top of it.

Lastly we went to the Grey Friar Kirk (?) Graveyard. That was an interesting place. We were surprised how well the tombstones have held up of the hundreds of years they've been there.

After that we left for home. On the way it started raining and hailing! Luckily we were only about a block from the bus stop.

We got back and chilled a bit and then headed out for supper at the Blacksmith. We saw a rainbow on the way!

Again I somehow managed to have terrible service. Pete and the other student happened to be there. The other student and Pete ordered the special about 10 min before we got there. Right as we sat down the student got his meal, Pete did not. We all went to order our food, me first. The other 3 got their meals and the waitress told one of them that it was unavailable. Pete still got no food. Then the 3 I was with got their meals, not me and Pete. Then they were done and we -finally- got our meals. It took them an -hour- to get us our food! It was outrageous! I ended up getting the Fish and Chips special (came with a glass of tea). We then set out for home. On the way back we heard a couple rolls of thunder, which I guess is very very rare to hear in Scotland :)

The majority of the students ended up watching a movie called "Snatch". I didn't watch the entire thing because I wanted to pack up a bit. It was rather interesting, I'll have to catch the rest later.

Tomorrow I'm heading into the Highlands!!! So excited! We're leaving bright and early. Also I probably won't have internet access so this will be the last you hear from me until Sunday!

Have a great weekend!

Castles Galore!

Today was an interesting day. Started out early with going to class. We chatted more and watched two more still-photo documentary/photojournalism "movies" called 9th FloorandBloodline. 9th Floor is about these Heroine addicts living together on the 9th floor of an apartment in New York City. Bloodline is about how AIDS is affecting people in Africa. Both very emotional. We also discussed out research papers and who was going to edit what.

We headed into Edinburgh to see Craigmillar Castle. That was a really cool place. Pete said it's one of the most intact castle in Scotland. It was rather big, lots of places to explore. My hip was really hurting me so getting up and down the stairs was a bit of a challenge, but I did see most of the place. the view was great too! Pete also got us these neat passes that are good for 3 days and we can see any castle we want for the most part. We also get special stamps for visiting the places :)

We then headed to Edinburgh Castle after that. That place is huge and very tourist heavy. We actually got to see the change of the guard! I got a video of that I'll have to upload. I later got a picture with one of them :) But back to the Castle, it was big but I felt like Craigmillar had more to look at. I did get to see the Crown Jewels which was really cool. You're not allowed to take pictures so I can't show you the real deal :( Lots of buildings to look in. Me and another girl went into the History Museum on the grounds. The most notable thing for me was seeing an old war uniform when they still wore kilts! Pretty sweet.

We headed out of the castle and headed down the Royal Mile to the bus. We stopped at a church on the way back called St. Giles Cathedral. It was cool on the inside. We had to pay to take photos (they charged 2 pounds for all 4 of us which was nice). We also got to see the Thistle Chapel. Such beautiful woodwork in there!

After that we headed back into Dalkeith, got some supper and headed back to the palace to work on photos.

I'll add photos and whatnot later :)

Cya!

First Real Day

Today was rather interesting. Me and my roommates headed into town for breakfast. We stopped at a little bakery that actually had a special where you got a meat-filled pastie, a doughnut and a drink for 1.85 pounds. Then we headed back for class.

Class we talked about the differences between Photojournalism, Photography and Journalism. It was a really interesting discussion. We also watched a still shot movie made about a family in MN where the little girl suffered from AIDS, then the mother and then the father. It was really emotional and sad.

We headed out for lunch after class. The four of us went to a cafe because none of us were that hungry and got beverages and small food. I had a coke and a bagel.

We then headed into Edinburgh where we walked down the Royal Mile a little bit (I have to return to the Queen's Gallery shop, they looked like they had a bunch of Corgi stuff!). We saw the Palace of Holyrood (just the outside) and also the Parliament building. Next was the big part of our trip.

We climbed Arthur's Seit. Holy god I thought I was gonna die! It was steep, and tall and rocky. But I made it! And that's the main thing!!! I now have a sore hip and sore feet but it was worth it!

Close to the beginning of the hill.

This is the Gorse flower. It grows in bushes, it's pretty and has thousands of 1.5 inch long thorns.

Almost at the top!!!! The end is near!

At the top!!!

On our way down the hill towards Sheep Heid.

This is the last photo I took behind the hill.

After we climbed down the mountain/hill we stopped at the Sheep Heid which is the oldest pub in Scotland. Established in 1360! I got a Shepard's Pie and Strongbow hard apple cider. Delicious!

Me with my Shepard's Pie and Strongbow Hard Cider!

Interior shot of the Sheep Heid (and the cute barkeep *teehee*)

Old George: If you touch him he'll butt you back!

We then trekked back into town. The majority of the group went off to this Ghost Tour which is essentially a haunted house in the underground. I went back to the Palace with my prof and two others. My prof later told us that he went on it last trip and it was rather hokey and wasn't that great for the price (about $25 American dollars). So I don't feel too bad that I missed out on it.

Now I'm sitting back in my room typing this :) I'll edit some photos and post them! I think I took some great shots today ^_^ but because they're shot on my nice Nikon D90 and shot in RAW format I can't just upload them onto here.

Laters!

I'm a Zombie...

After lots of flying and spending time in airports I have finally reached my Scottish destination!

Started out with leaving from Minneapolis to Paris. The Paris Airport is gorgeous! They had some really neat architecture! Then we went from Paris to Edinburgh.

The city is so cool! Old buildings and stuff everywhere! All the houses were really well kept and clean.

We sat around Princes Street to wait for the others to join us then headed off on a bus to Dalkeith. It's a really nice town and we're actually staying at Dalkeith Palace. Only people that are allowed to stay there are allowed on the grounds, so it's really safe. I had my first Scottish meal of a seafood platter and it was rather good. I had Brown Sauce for the first time. It's rather tangy and sightly sweet.

Since most of us are in a zombie-state we called it early for the day.

Take Care!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

So I leave for Scotland today! So excited but nervous! I leave in just a few hours and will be gone for 3 weeks. I'm taking a Photojournalism class for my minor. There's about 10 of us I think going. We'll be spending most of our time in Scotland and a couple days in Ireland. I'm getting back on the day of my best-friends' wedding so that'll be crazy!!! Cya on the flip side!

Getting ready to go!

So I went through and packed -everything- I had currently and it amazingly fits into my carry-on-sized suitcase and backpack! I'm really packing light! I'm really looking forward to going. I still have to write some research papers on the places I'm going. I'm going out shopping tomorrow to get more batteries for my camera. I'm also going to my friends' grad party since he doesn't live too far away :) Also, I've lost a bit of weight so I'm rather happy ^_^

First entry!

So I'm not quite done with classes yet and I still have a lot to do before I go to Scotland and Ireland :P But please keep checking back! I'll make updates when I can! I leave on the 23rd and come back on the 12th of June (the day of my best friends' wedding!).