Yesterday(Sunday 17 May 2009) I went on a day tour. It was called "Western Highlands Lochs and Legends." Obviously,it went to the western highlands of Scotland. We left around 8:45 in the morning. I was
so worried that my alarm clock would not work. well not work because it does work but I was worried that it would get accidently unplugged by the other girls who are sharing the room with me. I woke up so many times during the night and checked to make sure it was still properly set. Nothing happened to my alarm clock. however, one of the girls in the room snored the last 1-2 hours so I was not fully fully asleep so I did wake up about 10 minutes before the alarm. I went out and bought a box of jaffa cakes(the most amazing cookies in the world...they are chocolate mixed with orange, a combination that is so so good!) and a chocolate muffin(that I never ate) and a coke. Then I went to check in at the tour office(which is right across the street from my hostel) and we left around 8:45am. the picture to the left is the bus we were on! isnt it cool? there were only 5 of us, which I found nice. plently of room on the bus and very relaxed ride. The tour guide was named Dan and he was so so cute! I wanted to take a picture of him but I did not have the nerve. He had long hair, which I am such a sucker for(if the guy can pull it off of course) and these increably light blue eyes....they were almost clear. plus he had the thickest scottish accent! think of the sterotypical scottish accent...that was his accent. so...hot! LOL :) He was a good tour guide though. He really knew his material and it was obvious that he was interested in the things he was talking about. It made it so much more interesting.
so worried that my alarm clock would not work. well not work because it does work but I was worried that it would get accidently unplugged by the other girls who are sharing the room with me. I woke up so many times during the night and checked to make sure it was still properly set. Nothing happened to my alarm clock. however, one of the girls in the room snored the last 1-2 hours so I was not fully fully asleep so I did wake up about 10 minutes before the alarm. I went out and bought a box of jaffa cakes(the most amazing cookies in the world...they are chocolate mixed with orange, a combination that is so so good!) and a chocolate muffin(that I never ate) and a coke. Then I went to check in at the tour office(which is right across the street from my hostel) and we left around 8:45am. the picture to the left is the bus we were on! isnt it cool? there were only 5 of us, which I found nice. plently of room on the bus and very relaxed ride. The tour guide was named Dan and he was so so cute! I wanted to take a picture of him but I did not have the nerve. He had long hair, which I am such a sucker for(if the guy can pull it off of course) and these increably light blue eyes....they were almost clear. plus he had the thickest scottish accent! think of the sterotypical scottish accent...that was his accent. so...hot! LOL :) He was a good tour guide though. He really knew his material and it was obvious that he was interested in the things he was talking about. It made it so much more interesting.
Our first stop was Loch Lomond(to the left). It is 23 miles, so it is big but not as big as Loch Ness. however, Loch Lomond is the 2nd largest Loch in Scotland. BTW, "Loch" is a Gael(ancient scottish language that is now dead sadly. when the tour guide told us that the language was deas I felt like crying) word and it means, of course,"lake." We were only there for 30 minutes. that is the only bad part about doing tours like this, you see a lot of interestin things but dont stay at one for very long. there is this beach type area on the shore and it was so beautiful! Here is a a link to a video of it that I shot to this blog: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=100064831517 I highly recommended you watch it. not very good quality, I will admit but it should give you a slight idea of what it was like. at the very least give you a picture of what I am talking about. It was the first Loch that I had seen and that made it special for me. The day was so good: sunny warm with a slight cool wind. of course, being that close to water it was a bit more breezy. anyway, it was so so beautiful! I stood on the shores and I even put my hand in it! I took a picture of my hand in the water. that water was COLD!!!!!! as I stood on the shore, I was so...amazed by how so many aspects of creation were present, were connecting: water, sky, clouds, animals(there were seagulls),people, wind, sand, hills, trees...I know this will sound silly but I felt like it was a tiny little bit(as small as a neutron compared to the size of the universe)preview of what Heaven will be like. just think: in Heaven, everything will be together and connected. lions right by lambs, mountains right by oceans...cold right by hot, and of course, all people together, all religions together, angels and humans...wont that be great? I always knew this of course, but I guess that it really hit me when I saw that Loch. it was in the highlands, so the loch was surrounded by these grassy, green hills, and above there was sky, with animals, humans...it seemed like so much of creation was present. dont mind me: I am a new Christian so I am finding that I am seeing God everywhere! lol...Loch Lomond was so beautiful! I really loved it!
Our next stop was called "the rest and be thankful." it is this place in the Western Highlands where the ancient military in Scotland 
would rest. the picture to the right is the road. you see, back then, this is the road that the military would use when going through the highlands. as you can see this road does not go straight but it curves and zig zags, and when you thrown in the hills(trust me, Scotland has a lot of hills) and the fact that it gets windy in Scotland, and let's just say that those soldiers would get tired and fast! so when they would get to this spot in the highlands, they would Stop, and be Thankful for the rest, ie, rest and thankful. our tour guide told us that in scotland, the mentality when naming is: name it as you see it. :) we were only here for about 15 minutes and ut was nice. I actually saw the sun moving across one of the hills. it was in shadow except for the bit of sun that would shine through the clouds and as the cloud moved so did the spot where the sunlight would be on the hill, and one time I looked at the hill and saw the sunshine moving across it. it was a beautiful sight!
would rest. the picture to the right is the road. you see, back then, this is the road that the military would use when going through the highlands. as you can see this road does not go straight but it curves and zig zags, and when you thrown in the hills(trust me, Scotland has a lot of hills) and the fact that it gets windy in Scotland, and let's just say that those soldiers would get tired and fast! so when they would get to this spot in the highlands, they would Stop, and be Thankful for the rest, ie, rest and thankful. our tour guide told us that in scotland, the mentality when naming is: name it as you see it. :) we were only here for about 15 minutes and ut was nice. I actually saw the sun moving across one of the hills. it was in shadow except for the bit of sun that would shine through the clouds and as the cloud moved so did the spot where the sunlight would be on the hill, and one time I looked at the hill and saw the sunshine moving across it. it was a beautiful sight!Ou
r next stop was our lunch stop and it was at the village of Inverary. The town's main attraction was Inverary Castle(to the left). what happened was that we would spend about 15 minutes at the castle then go back to the village for lunch. however, if you wanted to stay at the castle you could but you had to walk back to the village(it was 1 mile so it was not bad at all and the walk was through the castle grounds so it was beautiful). I decided to do that, along with about 3 others. The castle was so beautiful! like the tour guide said, it is right out of a fairy tale. I have seen en
ough castles to know that they are NOT what fairy tales make them out to be at all. however, 2 of the ones I have seen are: Leeds Castle and this one. as you can see from the photo(that I took lol) it does look like your stereotypical castle in a fairy tale. couldnt you just see rampuzel letting down her hair from the top of one of those towers? I did not go inside the castle but just walked around outside. The grounds were stunning! not as beautiful as the grounds at Leeds Castle but still gorgoeous.there were these flowers everywhere that were so alive and full of color! I included a picture of some of the flowers that I saw. it was in a private garden, so I could not go in so I took a picture throgh the gates. arent they gorgeous?!so much rich color!
r next stop was our lunch stop and it was at the village of Inverary. The town's main attraction was Inverary Castle(to the left). what happened was that we would spend about 15 minutes at the castle then go back to the village for lunch. however, if you wanted to stay at the castle you could but you had to walk back to the village(it was 1 mile so it was not bad at all and the walk was through the castle grounds so it was beautiful). I decided to do that, along with about 3 others. The castle was so beautiful! like the tour guide said, it is right out of a fairy tale. I have seen en
ough castles to know that they are NOT what fairy tales make them out to be at all. however, 2 of the ones I have seen are: Leeds Castle and this one. as you can see from the photo(that I took lol) it does look like your stereotypical castle in a fairy tale. couldnt you just see rampuzel letting down her hair from the top of one of those towers? I did not go inside the castle but just walked around outside. The grounds were stunning! not as beautiful as the grounds at Leeds Castle but still gorgoeous.there were these flowers everywhere that were so alive and full of color! I included a picture of some of the flowers that I saw. it was in a private garden, so I could not go in so I took a picture throgh the gates. arent they gorgeous?!so much rich color! Our next stop a
fter our lunch break was the ruins of another Clan Campbell castle(the first one was Inverary Castle). It was a farther that it looked and the ground was all grass. We did not go right to it but just to the bank across from it. as you can see from the photo the left it is abandoned and destroyed. it was a little strange, knowing that what is now ruins for us was once a home and a castle for a clan of people.
fter our lunch break was the ruins of another Clan Campbell castle(the first one was Inverary Castle). It was a farther that it looked and the ground was all grass. We did not go right to it but just to the bank across from it. as you can see from the photo the left it is abandoned and destroyed. it was a little strange, knowing that what is now ruins for us was once a home and a castle for a clan of people. Our next stop following this was The Falls of Dorchart. they are not "falls" they way we 
would think of falls; they are small. however, they care...colored I would say. as you can see from the picture to the right, the water looks like it is a dark green/yellowish color. may sound silly but that is why they are a big deal. they are better in winter according to the tour guide, when there is more water but I still thought them beautiful.
would think of falls; they are small. however, they care...colored I would say. as you can see from the picture to the right, the water looks like it is a dark green/yellowish color. may sound silly but that is why they are a big deal. they are better in winter according to the tour guide, when there is more water but I still thought them beautiful. Our last stop was to see Hamish,who is what the Scots called a highland cow. he is more like a b
ull,actually. as you can see, he is huge! you can buy bags of carrot to feed him, although I did not do that. a few years ago there was this disease spreading through cattle, so the goverment was killing all cattle under 7 or something(Hamish is now 14 years to by the way) to keep it from spreading, so poor Hamish would have been killed! but this farmer lady who lived nearby took up a petition to save him, and she did! the conditions were that he never leave that pen and his reproduction organs removed. I LOVED him!! He was so cute(in a strong bull kinda way) and I felt sorry that he was there all alone, although he is fed a lot because of all the tourists that come through. He was so beautiful! his hair was so long that you cannot see where his eyes at all! I kept looking for his eyes, even a glimpse, but no go! lol...he is adorable and I totally love him!
ull,actually. as you can see, he is huge! you can buy bags of carrot to feed him, although I did not do that. a few years ago there was this disease spreading through cattle, so the goverment was killing all cattle under 7 or something(Hamish is now 14 years to by the way) to keep it from spreading, so poor Hamish would have been killed! but this farmer lady who lived nearby took up a petition to save him, and she did! the conditions were that he never leave that pen and his reproduction organs removed. I LOVED him!! He was so cute(in a strong bull kinda way) and I felt sorry that he was there all alone, although he is fed a lot because of all the tourists that come through. He was so beautiful! his hair was so long that you cannot see where his eyes at all! I kept looking for his eyes, even a glimpse, but no go! lol...he is adorable and I totally love him! That is the end of the tour. we drove by Sterling Castle on the way back to Edinburgh,but I did not catch a very good glimpse of it. It was a really good tour and I enjoyed it! :) :)
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