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Published: April 2nd 2013
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Highlands
Eaun, Tour Guide After one day of relaxation, I was off again to travel! My mom, sister, brother, aunt and grandma all arrived in the morning after flying for 12 hours. We then got on another plane, which they were not too excited about. We arrived at Edinburgh and found our way to our hotel, the Jury's Inn. We had a bad experience there. We were trying to contact some family what live in Keith. Apparently, they had called our hotel and the person who answered wasn't accommodating and we never knew that they called us. Because of that, we didn't get to meet up with our family. So I wouldn't recommend that hotel. By the time we got in town it was pretty late and time for dinner. That was nearly impossible to navigate. Every pub seemed to be completely full and there was no room for us to eat. We stopped in a few shops and I picked up some shortbread, which is what Scots have with their tea. We finally found this little whiskey bar. I ordered bangers and mash for the first time and a hot chocolate with Bailey’s. They completely forgot about my mom and brother’s orders. Another not
Highlands
Doune Castle so happy experience, but we made it through the day and to our beds at last.
Early the next morning, we walked over to the Rabbie’s Travel Office to catch our two day bus tour through the Highlands. On our walk there was a lot of commotion. There was a Red Bull Downhill Mountain Biking Race going on. When we found our bus, we met our tour guide, Euan. He was a character. He has an opinion about everything, but he is humble enough to say he is wrong. He was very knowledgeable about the history of Scotland and I learned a lot about the extensive history of the country. The first day we made our way into the highlands. We stopped by a castle called Doune Castle. They actually filmed part of Monty Python at this castle. My brother loved this because for a year he ran around our high school with coconuts because of that movie. One we really got into the Highlands, I cannot even express the magnitude of majesty. There were mountains in the distance and Loch’s everywhere. A Loch is literally just a lake. We stopped in little towns in the highlands and stopped
for little things to remember Scotland by. We stopped at a ruined castle called Inverlochy Castle, The Commando Memorial, Loch Ness, and the Falls of Foyers. At the Commando Memorial my mom made a clever comment about them not wearing underwear (going commando). We then got dropped off at a little Bed and Breakfast in Inverness. We ate at The Room and my grandma, aunt and I went to a pub called Hootananny’s for live music. I danced a traditional Scottish dance with some Scots. It was a lot of fun. I went back to the bed and breakfast and ate ice cream and watched TV with my mom and sister. Then we Skyped my Dad and told him all about our trip.
The next day we started off with a nice drive to a little secluded hiking area by the River Affric. It was beautiful. There were just fields of heather and running water. The area just reminded me of Lion King. It felt like I was in a Disney movie. After we hopped in the bus we stopped by a monument called the Corrimony Cairn. It is kind of the Stonehenge of Scotland. It was a memorial
for someone well liked. There was a hole in the center which the sunlight shines out of at a certain time. This was symbolic of the moving on to another world. There are also stones in a circle around the memorial. Amidst all this we stopped in a town on the Loch Ness. At lunch, my mom pulled out a Chocolate egg to celebrate Easter. In this town, we got to watch a ship go through the canal with the locks and got to go through a little farm with Highland Cattle, sheep, donkeys, Shetland Ponies, rams, goats, and chickens. As we were walking along the river to catch the bus, there was a military drill going on for the seamen. It was really cool to see. As we drove down the road heading home, I got some better pictures of some Highland Cattle. The next town that we stopped in is where I finally found the thistle charm and Heathergems earrings that I wanted. Heathergems is jewelry that is made of heather that is pressed and made into a sort of rock that they put in the jewelry. Now I will always have a little bit of Scotland with
me wherever I go. We had one last stop before we got back to Edinburgh and at the stop everything was closed besides the pubs and coffee houses. We found one that was named Mackenzie’s just like my sister’s name! This concluded our trip in the highlands. That night when we were back in Edinburgh we at dinner at Deacon Brodie’s because we are descendants of the Brodie Clan. Deacon Brodie was hung near the pub right on the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile connects the Edinburgh Castle and the Cathedral. When a King or queen is crowned in Scotland there is a processional down the street from the Castle to the Cathedral for the crowning. We stayed the night at the Jury’s Inn again.
The next day was our last day in Scotland. We visited the Edinburgh Castle as soon as we woke up. A few things we saw while we were there include the War Memorial, The Crown Jewels, St. Margaret’s Cathedral, and the Prison. The War memorial is for every branch and for every war. There is the name of every soldier that died in the many books in the memorial. The architecture inside was fascinating
too. The Crowned Jewels were kind of a letdown after the English Crown Jewels but it was very interesting that they were hidden so many times and still exist today with little damage. St. Margaret’s Cathedral was so little and cute. It is on the highest point in the Castle. You can get married there if you want. It is open to the pub because it is open to the public. It is also the oldest building on the grounds because the castle has been damaged so much over the years. The prisons were the last stop for us in the castle. They had them set up like they were when they were in use. The rations were pretty good, in my opinion. They did get two pints of beer a day. After we exited the castle we finished off our day with shopping down the royal mile. One of the shops was a mill and you could actually see the wool being made into the fabric. I gave in and bought a kilt a few shops later because it was on sale. At the same shop, my brother bought a kilt because he is going to wear it to
Highlands
Kenzie and Corbin prom. He sure is a character. I then helped my sister find this particular scarf that she wanted. It was the MacDonald print and she wouldn’t have any other. We finally bought it in this shop where they were also selling wool blankets for 15 pounds. My mom and I each bought one and the owner gave us free shortbread with it. That was the best deal of the day! We then headed to the airport and came back to Ireland. My mother drove for the first time in Ireland. She did very well, but that was probably just because I was navigating! I stayed the night in their house which is quite nice, even though grandma thinks it is too cold. I hope my family enjoys the rest of their visit!
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