Scotland & The Highlands

This last week has been crazy. We celebrated St. Patricks day, went out for Varsity, and I ended the week with a 3 day trip to Scotland and the Highlands. Tuesday Emily, Caitlynn, Deanna, Toni, Chrissi, Jo, and I went to the SU for a few drinks in honour of St. Patricks Day.

Me, Toni, and Chrissi

Me & Deanna

Deanna, Emily, Me, & Caitlynn

Friday morning I had to leave early to catch a train into London where I met up with a tour company to take me and 40 other study abroad students to Scotland. The trip started with a four hour train ride up to Edinburgh. Once we arrived a tour guide met us at the station, and took us to our hostels to drop off our bags. Next was a tour of the city. The guide took us through the city explaining the history and significance of certain places. We ended the tour at the castle and then we had the rest of the afternoon and night to ourselves. A group of us then decided to explore a bit more, eat dinner, and head back to our hostel. That night me and Rachel decided we had walked enough for the day, so we went and saw Insurgent. The next day we had a long day of traveling to the Highlands, little did I know how amazing it was actually going to be.

Hogwarts

Where Harry Potter began

Street in the city

Castle in Edinburgh

Saturday was probably the most amazing day of traveling I have ever experienced. We started by visiting Stirling castle for a while and then started our trip into the Highlands. It was pretty cool having the opportunity to explore around a castle, but the best part was yet to come. A couple hours of driving and we were surrounded by mountains. The views were amazing, pictures will never do it justice. I definitely think everyone needs to visit the highlands once in their life. We were able to stop a couple of times to take photos and look around a bit. We ended the days traveling in Lochness where we stayed in an new hostel. Once we arrived we were taken to a shop where a man explained how highlander people use to live and what their houses would look like. Then we got all checked in and Deanna, Rachel, Jess, and I went into town to eat dinner. After eating we decided to walk down by the water and sit for a while just talking. This is when I finally realised how amazing this experience is and how much I am gaining from it. 

Stirling Castle

Never want to leave

In the Highlands

The tour guide had brought flags for us to take pictures with, this is me & Deanna

Rachel, Me, Una, Deanna, & Jess in the Highlands

Just a view out the bus window

Sunday would be the longest day of travel yet. We had a long drive back to Edinburgh and then the train ride back to London. On the bus ride back we made various stops so it was not as bad. We first stopped to see cows, which I thought was pretty stupid. Next we stopped off to take some pictures of Lochness, it was crazy windy, but another amazing view. One of the last stops was The Hermitage, which was a wilderness park with various hiking trails. Once we arrived in Edinburgh we hopped on the train for another 4 hours, at this point I was so sick of traveling. I arrived back at school that night around 11:30. This trip was definitely one of my favourite ones that I will always remember. I have class this week and then two weeks off where I will do more traveling. 

The highlander cows

Me & Lochness

A waterfall at The Hermitage

Sunset on the ride home

Me & Rachel on the train home