Scotland!!

In Oxford, outside of the dining hall that was the inspiration for the one in the Harry Potter films

Edinburgh Castle

View from the top of a hill in Edinburgh

Lock Ness

One of the many mountains in the Highlands of Scotland

The famous cow Hamish

One of our hostels

On the train at Kings Cross, ready to go to Scotland

I left for Scotland on Friday and returned on Monday. It is so pretty. I went to Edinburgh and up through the Highlands to Inverness (which means the end of Ness, because it is located at the end of the Ness river or Lock or something).

Friday I had to get up super early to get to the train station so that we could start to make our journey to Scotland. It is only a 4 and 1/2 hour train ride to Edinburgh from Scotland. I still managed to fall asleep on the train. I managed to fall asleep on the bus as well, I guess any mode of transportation I can fall asleep on. There were 39 of us who were on the trip from Kingston. When we got to the train station in Edinburgh, we met our tour guide. His name was Mike and he wore a kilt everyday! He was not a very nice man at times. He was super sarcastic. I like sarcastic comments, but he took it to the extreme. But the trip was still really nice.

When we got into Edinburgh we did a walking tour of the new town and old town. Personally I like the old town better. After that we had some free time to go around. Two of the guys on the trip decided that they needed kilts, so they went out a bought some. Then decided that they should wear them out to the pubs. It was quite hilarious to see the reactions that the locals had.

Then we had to get up on Saturday for breakfast which included yogurt, sliced deli ham with cheese, small baguettes, and cereal. It was quite the combination of breakfast items. But we boarded a bus at 9 am for our big trip up to the Highlands. We stopped at the Braveheart memorial, we saw a famous cow named Hamish, stopped for lunch, and the three sister (which were 3 amazing mountains that were right by each other), then again at Lock Ness. Sadly I did not get to see the monster, but the water in the lock is really dark. I've never seen water that was so dark. It was really creepy. After Lock Ness we got to Inverness around 7 that night. We stayed in another hostel. The hostels were 8 people in one room (girls and guys were separated) with one bathroom. 8 girls and one bathroom went better than I expected. It did help that the bathrooms weren't the best or cleanest. I am glad that I'm a little bit of a germ freak and brought flip flops to wear in the shower. That night we went out and got some dinner and watched a little of one of the world cup games.

Sunday we had to be on the bus 9 again. Our first stop this time was at a battlefield that commemorated a battle that occurred between the Highlanders and the government. We stopped again at rock formations that were 1000 years older than Stonehenge (which I am visiting on Thursday), we then went to a Whisky Distillery. I got a free sample of Whisky and it was gross!!! It burned on the way down and I only took a little sip. But I couldn't leave without buying something. So one of my flatmates and I went in and bought some whisky truffles. The taste was masked by the chocolate, so they were really good! After that we stopped at a Blair castle and made our final journey to Edinburgh. We arrived around 4:30 or 5 that afternoon. Some of the girls and I decided that we wanted to climb a hill that was close to our hostel. We had heard that you can see all of Edinburgh and you get an amazing view from the top. When we made it, what we had heard was right. The view was amazing!!!!! You could see really far. And of course later that night we watched a little of the world cup game.

Then Monday we got up and headed to Edinburgh castle. I really like the castle. It was all made of stone and you had to go outside to get to the other buildings. Some of the exhibits were really cool. I liked one that was about the prisoners of the castle. They had re-done what the prison would have looked like and explained what it was like to be a prisoner in the castle. I also liked the crown jewels and the stone of destiny. After the castle I did some shopping and then we all got back on the train to head back into London. We got back to our dorms around 8 that night. It was a really long and busy weekend, but Scotland is amazing. It is so beautiful. I am much more of a Highlands girl though. There were towns that were right by the mountains on a river and I decided that I could have a house there and just stare at the incredible mountains.

Yesterday my class went to Oxford. Not the university (because the University is actually made of of about 38 different colleges), but the city. The city is very cute. It is small with a lot of pubs and history. Our tour guide was really good and told us a lot about the city and showed us an amazing cookie place. After the tour I had to go get a cookie, and it was one of the best cookies I have ever had. It was still warm and the chocolate was still all melty. It was really good. Then Thursday we are going to Stonehenge and Bath. I'm super excited to see both.

That is what I have been up to since the last time I updated. And today marks 2 weeks in England. I can't believe the it has already been 2 weeks. Only 2 more and then I start my backpacking adventure with my wonderful cousin Kendra.

**Please refer to Facebook for more pictures of my Scotland trip and for pictures of London**