Holiday: Scotland

Again, the weather was awesome, except for the last full day, when it was really rainy and windy. We stayed at the Cherry Tree Villa Bread and Breakfast, I highly recommend it. They cooked haggis for us for breakfast. I have to say it tasted like really salty fried liver pate. Haggis is normally boiled, and server with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes), so I have to try that the next time I go to Scotland. My sister also ventured to try black pudding. Urgh.

See Photos

Day One

• Fly into Edinburgh.
• Mary King's Close - really cool look at how people lived hundreds of years ago.
  

Day Two

• Edinburgh Castle
• Museum of Childhood
• Museum of Edinburgh
• Princes Street Gardens
• National Gallery of Scotland
• City of the Dead ghost walk. Read the write-up of the poltergeist. I was ready to pee in my pants! Good times!
  

Day Three

• Palace of Holyrood House & Queen's Gallery - yes, the Queen really lives here!
  
• Scottish Parliament building - it's an eyesore, and a thorn in the Scottish people's side, for more than one reason.
  
• Museum of Scotland & Royal Museum
  
• Greyfriars Bobby's grave
  

Day Four

• The Georgian House - how the rich people used to live in the 1800s
• People's Story
• Arthur's Seat - great views of Edinburgh
  
• Royal Mile, bought whiskey from the the Royal Mile Whiskey shop.
  

Day Five

Loch Ness and Highlands of Scotland bus tour

I have to say that this was the first bus tour that I didn't feel ripped off. Yes, it was 12 hours, and it was very tiring, and yes, I was on the bus most of the time. Plus, it started pouring rain, and I had to buy a baseball cap to keep some of the rain off.

We got to see Loch Ness, and tour the loch a bit. The captain of our boat was actually a marine biologist, and his research was on the Loch Ness monster. He even showed us some evidence as he had sonar and radar equipment on his boat. Pretty cool.

Other things of note on the tour: Urquhart Castle and lots of hairy coos and sheep. And we heard lots about William Wallace and Rob Roy and Mary, Queen of Scots (actually, we heard about them all over the place!) Our bus driver was very funny and told us lots of Scottish history and tidbits, which made things more meaningful.

***
All in all, it was a splendid trip. The next time, I would love to do a driving tour around Great Britian, and see some of Ireland.