Submitted by Kristen Dempsey on the 2012 spring semester program in London, England…
Scottish Highlands by Kristen Dempsey
This weekend I traveled to Scotland! Excuse me if I have too many exclamations in this next paragraph, but over the course of two days the country literally became my favorite place in the world! We entered Edinburgh (which, despite its spelling, is actually pronounced “Edinburrrrah”) by train from King’s Cross Station, and nestled in the city at a delightful hostel complete with a pub. Our tour guide then took us around the city for a short tour, which included a castle view(!), and then let us go for the evening.
A couple of friends and I decided to try travel around a bit to see the sights and get some souvenirs. While we were doing so, we passed a street player playing the bagpipes. It was magnificent because I had never seen anyone on the streets play bagpipes before. We ended that night with supper at a quaint pub called “The Last Drop” where I tried my first portion of Haggis complete with a genuine Scottish ale. It was a perfect first evening.
The next day we traveled from Edinburgh to the Highlands. This was my favorite part!! The drive was spectacular because we passed so many wonderful castles, mountains, and not to mention lochs! It had been snowing/raining for most of the day so the mountain views were foggy and epic which made them even more enjoyable. During the bus ride, our tour guide played Scottish music so the view plus the music was very movie-like which made me love it even more!
Once the tour was over, we settled for the evening in the town that held Loch Ness! We literally could walk from our hostel to the loch (fun fact: a loch doesn’t even mean a lake; it’s any body of water surrounded by land), which is what we did. It had gotten really dark out, but it was worth seeing because it was so beautiful. Behind the loch, there was a restaurant that we went to for supper. My Nessie Pot Pie was a perfect ending to my Loch Ness journey.
All of this being said, Scotland is the best place ever!
