04 August 2009

Loch Ness Monster: Fact of Fiction?

24 July 2009

We had to be at Kings Cross Station very early in order to catch our train to Edinburgh, Scotland. It took us longer to get there than it was supposed to because the train was not able to communicate with the station and I think they were worried about our train crashing into another train - it was for the best I suppose. When we got into Edinburgh they put us onto a bus and made us go on perhaps the most boring tour EVER. It was led by an official Scot and he kept telling us every single famous person to have been born in Scotland. We didn't know who half of them were. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant and then split up for a bit. Kaitlyn and I went souvenir shopping and Mel and Christie went back to the room to shower and rest. By then it was time for dinner, so we went to a Chinese buffet.
25 July 2009

On Saturday we got back on a bus and took a 12 hour tour of the Scottish Highlands. We started in Edinburgh and went north seeing every loch and mountain. We stopped at
Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness and then went on a boat tour of Loch Ness. Unfortunately, Nessie was on vacation so we didn't get to see her, but it was a lovely trip anyway. When we got off the boat we saw a woman who kept a tortoise in her backyard - it was really exciting.
26 July 2009

Sunday was our day to explore Edinburgh. Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle - the worst 13 pounds I have ever spent. It was extremely disappointing. Every other castle that we've seen the gift shop and the information center have been located outside. Not at Edinburgh Castle - they had built everything into the castle. It destroyed the integrity of this beautiful historical landmark. In the afternoon before we caught the train back to London at 17:00 we went to Elephant House - a cafe where JK Rowling wrote a majority of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - and finished up our souvenir shopping.
Sorry this blog isn't very exciting...we didn't actually see that much except on Saturday, but I don't actually know what most of it was because I couldn't understand our bus driver.

You can see all of my pictures on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124875&id=185002852&l=13157ee96d