Edinburgh and the Highlands

I write from a desk in Nottingham, England - the same desk I wrote my previous post at - but there have been many travels in between these desks. The largest part of those travels was spent in Edinburgh, Scotland. A while back, I posted about my two-day trip to Edinburgh with my friend, Ben. We were fortunate to stay for free at the apartment of a fellow Luther student and friend, Lisa, who kindly offered me a share of her dwellings again for this break.

A bit of background about the whole Edinburgh deal? And a history leading up to it? In the Nottingham program, we students are kicked out of the house for our two breaks. Not wanting to spend much money this spring and knowing the amount of work I would have to do over the break, I looked for options that involved staying in one place for relatively cheap. I spent the first 10 days traveling Ireland with my friend Aaron Rosell (more on that when I get the photos). The remaining two weeks were contested until Lisa, studying for the semester at the University of Edinburgh, (famous for its beautiful campus and its past, shady dealings with bodysnatchers) offered to let me sleep and eat in her flat. A lady with an unquestioning idea of hospitality, she and her friends tolerated me enough to let me live with them for the remainder of my break.

While I was there, these photos were taken:

I hiked Arthur's Seat again several times - it was a great place to go while I was staying in Edinburgh

The views are always great

The flat is right next to the Royal Mile...

...which leads to Edinburgh castle...

...which had some cool exhibits and monuments inside. Here is a sort of Scotland equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I took a nine-hour day trip through the Scottish Highlands with a small, but really cool tour company called "The Hairy Coo." Pictured is Russell, our driver, in the first foggy hours of the trip.

The first big site was the William Wallace monument, who, through the info provided by our tour guide, I learned to admire and also be uneasy about (he had a big stomach for violence)

While the fog was thick for the first few hours, the scenery was beautiful

And when the mist cleared, even more so

The hard-to-mistake orange bus, some of our 20something crew, and the woods

One of the lochs we visited. Scattered fishermen completed the Minnesota feel.

These are Hairy Coos - Highland Cattle - coming up close to eat some bread provided by the driver

Some were more eager than others

Doune Castle - famous for being the site of three different scenes from the incredibly low budget "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Inside is the courtyard where the film's happy wedding turned into a confused, bloody mess. You will recognize these walls in this video.

Coconuts were provided.

This was one of the last things we saw: the giant Forth Railway Bride.

That's all for now, uploading photos three times a piece. Hope you enjoyed! It's nice to be back in the 'Ham, relaxing, taking my daily change of clothes out of real-life drawers, writing my final paper and prepping for finals which will be in the 20s of this month. Next up I'll be posting pictures and stories from my time in Ireland.