Weekend in the Highlands!

Hey everybody,

I'm going out of order but here's a post about my weekend in the Highlands! For my Scottish Culture class we have to blog about our semester on an academic page so here's the post I recently wrote!

A couple of weeks ago I spent an incredible weekend driving through and exploring the Highlands. What an experience! To see all the natural beauty that Scotland has to offer is truly a gift. Studying in Edinburgh is fanatastic. Only a short bus ride away you have the historic, bustling city and a couple hour drive brings you to magnificent lochs, glens, bens, state parks, and more. 

I remember a couple years ago, as I embarked on a cruise, I realized that you never know you get seasick until you've been on a boat. Well, you never know if you get carsick until you drive through the Highlands! The roads were windy and twisted and turned around beautiful lakes and between mountains. I think the drive itself could be an amusement park ride, only much more beautiful.

A majority of Scotland's population lives in the main cities which leaves the natural scenery practically untouched, with a few small towns scattered about. I went on this tour with a tour group and guide so I would really be able to see many things in only two short days. My two favorite stops were Glencoe and Loch Ness. Glencoe was simply spectacular. I was torn between wanting to take as many photos as possible and just leaving my camera in my pocket and breathing in the fresh air and taking in the nature around me. Edinburgh is a magnificent city, but quietness is a rarity. Standing before these massive mountains and valleys the only sound was nature, and the occasional click of a camera. I spent this moment considering the great tragedy that took place in this beautiful area so long ago. The beauty is astonishing, but also haunting when you stop and think.

Loch Ness was pretty amazing. Because I'm a student here and feel so at home here in Edinburgh, I absolutely hate labelling myself as a tourist. But let's be honest, the moment I stepped out of the van at this massive, incredible body of water, my camera was out and we were posing with the Nessie stuffed animal our tour guide brought along. While there are many beautiful lakes in Scotland, this is definitely the most well-known so I was so excited to be able to see it in person instead of pictures! 

This tour, among others I've been on, taught me that Scotland truly has it all when it comes to nature, and even better, it is all so accessible. Scotland has historic cities with beautiful architecture, incredible mountains, valleys, and lakes, coastal towns along its borders, magnificent islands up north, and herds and herds of sheep visible on any drive outside the city. Really, what more could you ask for?

We stopped at so many lochs, I cannot remember which one this one was. It was our first stop and absolutely beautiful.

Glencoe

Nessie!

Loch Ness

PLEASE READ! It's currently 7:30 in the morning and I planned to go through and edit this post and add pictures. I'm about to leave for a trip to the Highlands, but I wanted to get a blog post up before I left. Sorry for any errors and the lack of pictures! Check back next week for some more edits and photos!

So sorry for the delay in postings! Between a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad, and the increasing amount of classwork and traveling, it's been hard to find the time! Next post will be about my weekend in Ireland, but this one will just fill in these past few weeks for you all!

Here's what I've been up to!

Loch Lomond trip:
A few weeks ago I went on a day trip with the Edinburgh Napier Senic Club (trips for International Students) to Loch Lomond, Aberfoyle, and Stirling. Loch Lomond is the largest loch (meaning "lake") by surface area in Scotland and sits at the southern edge of the Highlands. It was absolutely stunning. It's hard to describe its beauty and pictures simply do not do it justice, but here are a few anyway.

We stopped in Aberfoyle for lunch. It's a small little town with a main road of a few shops and restaurants. There was a big yard of sheep near where we ate. They were really fun to watch. In New York, when you're driving through the country side, you're likely going to see some cows and horses. Here, you're going to see large herds of sheep grazing in the fields. It's pretty cool.

The last stop was Stirling, where Stirling Castle is located. The castle had some spectacular views, but was very empty inside. There were also many renovations, so it didn't have that medieval feeling.

Edinburgh Castle:
At the beginning of the month, my Scottish Culture and Society class went to Edinburgh Castle! I was super excited for this, especially since the castle can be seen from many points around city centre, but I've yet to see the inside! It is easy to see from all over Edinburgh because it was built on a cliff, in order to use as a fortress and protect itself from any potential attacks. It was a fun combination of castle rooms as they once were long ago and museums. My favorite part was the 1pm cannon. A long time ago, a cannon was set off from the castle, overlooking the city. This cannon, which goes off every day exactly at 1pm, would alert people all over the city and fishermen out in the sea. They'd set their watches to this cannon so it was crucial that it was done precisely at the same time each day.

Glasgow:
A couple weeks ago we (Kat, Quynh, and I) spent a Saturday in Glasgow! Bus fare back and forth between there and Edinburgh is extremely inexpensive, 8 pounds (around 13 dollars). Glasgow has the largest population in Scotland, Edinburgh has the second largest. Glasgow reminded me much more of a city back home, though not as large and crazy as New York. It was much more metropolitan. The buildings were very modern and similar to Edinburgh, there were some areas that are specifically for pedestrians, except this city is not nearly as beautiful. Shopping is very popular. The malls are incredibly fancy and there are plenty of stores along the streets. We ate lunch at a neat little place called WokWay. I had a chicken and peanut noodle dish with sauce. Yum!

A funny thing about Glasgow is that despite its modernity, there are an incredible amount of men walking around in kilts and the full Scottish outfit than in Edinburgh. Since Edinburgh is an older city, I would have expected more traditional kilts there! The Scottish accent is also much stronger than in Edinburgh. We could definitely tell there was a bit of a difference.

Mom and Dad came to Edinburgh!
I loved showing them around this beautiful city! It was fun seeing them have the same reactions to this incredible city and all the sights that I had when I first got here. We spent a day in St. Andrews with stops in Fife, Falkland, and the Forth Bridge. It was neat to see all of these coastal towns in Scotland. St. Andrews is the oldest university in Scotland, founded in 1413! This is also where Prince William and Kate met! It was neat being in what felt very much like a college town! We also visited ruins of the castle and the St. Andrew's Cathedral. It was mind-blowing to consider how old all of these places are.
I was definitely excited to have them try haggis but the next day we all tried black pudding, another dish considered a Scottish delicacy. If you would like the description, feel free to google it. But I promise you, it's most definitely not related to chocolate pudding.
A few days before their arrival, I had climbed up Calton Hill, a beautiful hill at the end of Princes Street that is home to multiple monuments and spectacular views of all angles of the city. I went up there for the sunset and I can't imagine being there any other time, though I'm sure it's always beautiful. After returning from our day trip I brought them to see the views. After climbing Arthur's Seat and then also going to the top of this hill, I realized that these were the moments where I could take in the entire city from above, where there were no bus or taxi horns and other city noises. The peacefulness of these two hilltops allowed me the breathe it all in and be truly thankful to be in such a beautiful place. So, of course, I had to make sure Mom and Dad had this experience as well.
We had a fantastic few days and I was so happy to play tour guide for a few days!