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Published: July 10th 2007
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We arose in Edinburgh, bright and early.. and that is in the truest sense. It was 6 AM when we woke up and it had been light already for 2 hours, and the seagulls made sure we knew it! After a lovely breakfast we hiked over to the Royal Mile and found our tour start. Our guide introduced himself as "Mac" and was in full kilt regalia, which we later learned are his mother's colors because his father is a bit more racy of a background...
The only way to describe the day trip out into the highlands, is to say that is was stunningly beautiful. Just an hour outside of Edinburgh and the hills begin rolling, the sheep dot every hillside, and the trees were very interesting. The trees, primarily evergreens, are actually itroduced to Scotland, and tree harvesting is a big industry. So they were scattered around in all sizes, the larger ones were ready to go and the smaller ones had just been planted. The tour consisted of lots of driving, with great scenery but we desired so much more in terms of getting out and enjoying it. We drove by lots of castles and wished we
could get out to see them.. but I guess that will have to happen on another trip. We did hear more about Scottish history than we ever knew existed, and it has made us both yearn to read up a bit and know more. We talked about this aspect, and feel like we'd heard about lots of these people before, way back in classes in high school or something, but when you actually go to the places they lived and battled, it makes the connection so much stronger. So I think a Scottish history book from the library is in my future. Our guide was really wonderful in his knowledge, but unfortunately told us so much that we barely remember anything! He did inform us that Robert the Bruce is actually more important than William Wallace, but Braveheart went with WW instead. We drove through Glencoe and learned all about the MacDonald clan and their big massacre. It really is a sad story to know that they were hosting people one night and getting killed by them the next. What I didn't realize is that some of the books make it sound like the MacDonald's were virtually destroyed, but only
in that area, and some 40 or so people. So while it was awful, the MacDonald's really had lots of other areas they lived in.
There are a number of hiking trails through the Highlands, and it would be a really neat thing to someday conquer a few of them. You just go and find a place to stay at the end of the night in whatever village you come upon, and this is still the norm today! When we got out for pictures around Glencoe, it was remarkably colder, and we learned then that we were in an area on the same latitude as Moscow, but due to the island status of the UK, it doesn't get as cold. Still, we saw a bit of snow at the top of some of those peaks!
We finally did get out for a while at Loch Ness. Angela and I popped into a pub for some soup, bread, and a quick pint, and then headed to the water! We rode the Nessie search boat, and you'll have to judge by the pictures whether we did see her or not. Still, it was nice to feel the wind on our faces and
see the area by boat. We also had a funny little incidence. This Chinese family was rustling a bag, and I looked over to see the man pull out a bottle of some "..... Grouse" whiskey. Well, they also had a packet of little plastic cups, and started pouring away. They offered us each a taste, and that was really our biggest experience with scotch whiskey that day. It was rather funny and international! We also learned that the revenue from Loch Ness is something like $60 million a year! I'm pretty sure that was dollars, but may even be pounds and then double it!
We worked our way back down to Edinburgh a different way, and had two really remarkable moments on this jaunt. We stopped somewhere for a very quick hike to find this little waterfall, and on the path up were wild blueberries which we picked and nibbled on. Meanwhile, our guide, Mac, was playing the bagpipes. We really felt like we were in a movie or something. Another stop led us on a walk to see if we could spot any salmon jumping, which we did not, but the river was still quite beautiful. We also
stopped and tasted a few whiskeys, but neither of us bought any... probably cheaper to order online at home and ship it over! Not my favorite taste anyway, but interesting.
The other travelers on our tour were Yemeni botanists, so that was another bit of international flavor for the day. They were studying in Scotland at one of the royal botanical gardens.
By the time we made our way back to Edinburgh, around 8 pm, we had truly had an exhausting day and seen almost everything there was to see in the whole country. But it only made us hungry for so much more! We really want to go back, and who knows if we ever will.
Back in Edinburgh, we had dinner at a pub, some real fish and chips for me, and Welsh Rarebit.. hadn't ever had that before, but had heard of it. It was yummy brown bread with a mustard/worcestershire sauce mix and melted cheddar cheese! YUMMY! I would definitely eat that again.
home to sleep after all that excitement! Great day!
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