Last day of Scotland Tour

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😞 Our final day of the Wild in Scotland tour. We piled into the bus and began on our way. We fist stopped at a random shore line. We saw mussel nets and a still gorgeous view of the highlands of Scotland. From there we went to Culloden battlefield. The very last battle on the Scottish soil. It was between the Jacobite Army and Bonnie Prince Charlie verses the British Government. Like most Scottish stories, this was very gory. Obviously, since Scotland's still pledged loyalty to England, the Jacobite Army lost. It was a slaughter fest. The British army of 10,000 - fully equipped - was no match for 4,000 Jacobites. Neil explained the Highland Charge to us and how the British finally learned how to counter it. He also pointed out the poor choice in battlegrounds made by the Jacobite Army. It's flat. Why choose flat ground for a Highland Charge? By the sound of things, Bonnie Prince Charlie broke down. He panicked and had no idea what to do. After the battle wass over, normally civilians from both sides could collect and bury the dead. After this battle the British Army wanted to make a statement and ordered its soldiers to survey the dead, kill any injured, and brutally cut the bodies into pieces so that they can't be recognized. I saw the graves of the tons of unrecognizable Jacobites. There was way too many. It's incredibly sad. The recognizable Jacobites were buried in mass graves according to their clan. The Jacobites that retreated were sought after and murdered. Anyone even suspected of being involved was killed. Its estimated that only 1 in every 10 killed after Culloden battle were actually involved in the attack. Ouch.
We wandered the battlefield for awhile and then got back on the van. It's funny, but the Scottish turned the British control land for the battle into a dog park... so the dogs would shit on it. Haha
We were now on our way to Tomatin Whiskey distillery. We had an overview of how Whiskey was made and got to taste test 😊 Culloden (drink that's a lot like Bailey's) is amazing. We all sipped our shots of whiskey to make them last longer. Then were back into the van. I bought some whiskey fudge that I shared with the bus. It was so goo! 😊
We then stopped for something to eat and saw the Carr-Bridge Old Packhorse Bridge. Funky thing built in 1717 to make it easier to bring bodies to the graveyard across the river (Scotland's so pleasant)
Our last stop before driving back to Edinburgh was the waterfalls. Absolutely beautiful waterfalls witha cool hunting lodge allowing visitors to enjoy the falls without scaling the rocks. Lol, but I decided to scale the rocks anyways. It's a lot more fun. We saw the 2nd tallest tree in all of Britian. I fell so cool now.
And were on our way back to Edinburgh. Neil organized a game of TV/Movie trivia on the van. My team won! I only answered one of the 15 points we got though. I knew the Inspector Gadget theme. I knew Pink Panther too, but I was too slow! (I'm sorry Pops, I feel like I let you down...)
We went thought Perth and dropped off Basel and then finally arrived at the Royal Mile. I slept almost the whole way home.
Dave was staying at Castle Rocks with me and Kyle sill needed a place for the night so we were hoping there were some vacancies, especially since it's a bank holiday. (In the UK they feel they don't have enough holidays in the summer months so they make some up so they can have time off. We need this in the states!) Luckily, when we got there, there was a free bed for Kyle and we all checked in. We still had all the beers that were left from the night before, almost a case of Carlin, so we headed to the pool tables and started the night. I lost to Kyle and Dave. How embarrassing, because none of us were any good. They were the longest games you could imagine.
Our stomachs started growling so we went out to the local diner/ city restaurant and I ordered a cheeseburger (it was cheap, and I craved one!) It was too well-done, but it filled me up regardless. We went to the White Hart Inn and the guy singing hurt our ears. My bad. Last time I was there it was awesome.
We then headed to the bar/club I went to with Keith and Michael and danced the night away. Kyle eventually went back because he was tired. Dave and I stayed out and to my surprise he started opening up and danced. We were there until it closed. IT was a lot of fun. After, we wandered back to the hostel, had a cup of tea and went to bed.

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Comments

[Merryn]

Thanks
Hello I went on a tour of Scotland and ended up living back in Edinburgh for a few months on my holiday via in the UK (I'm from Australia). My tour was a different company but we did a lot of the same things. Thanks for typing this up and letting us read it! Brought back a lot of memories and I can remember the stories the guides tell, they are amazing... Thanks xx