Scotland the Brave!

So when we get off the plane in Scotland, the first thing we see are little sample shots of whiskey being given away. EVERY vacation should start like this. Other than that, since we got in so late (8pm), we didn't really do anything in Edinburgh Wednesday night.

Thursday was our Loch Ness adventure. We drove 4 1/2 hours through the Scottish Highlands. Words cannot describe their beauty, and pictures cannot do them justice. I fell in love with Scotland you guys.

Bridge used for Harry Potter--awwww yeah!

Me with the highlands in the background at one of our bathroom stops.

After a drive through the highlands, we arrived at Fort Augustus--home of Loch Ness. We had about an hour to walk around (it was a tiny town so I spent most of that hour in a gift shop getting my mom some spoons). Then we boarded a little ship that took us out onto Loch Ness. It was really neat. There was a guy there who was really knowledgeable about Loch Ness and showed us pictures of weird things he'd seen on the Loch.

Nessie's real. Found her.

Officially at the banks of Loch Ness.

I tripped and fell on my butt trying to get this shot. This is why I am not a photographer.

Loch Ness is MUCH bigger than I thought it would be.

View from inside the boat on our boat tour.

Then Nessie showed up. :)

After Loch Ness, it was a long drive home, but still beautiful scenery to look at.

The next day we got up and did a free walking tour of the city through Sandeman's New Europe Tours. Our tour guide was amazing--really funny and knew his stuff. He was Australian, actually. Moved to Edinburgh after falling in love with it almost 2 1/2 years ago. We got to see lots of cool things, and he told us many cool stories about the city. I cannot recommend these tours enough. It was absolutely amazing.

That middle window is where JK Rowling once sat to write Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

This cute little dog sat next to his master's grave for 14 years. He's now a legend.

The café where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel.

After the tour, we went to get lunch with our tour guide. I tried haggis. It was surprisingly delicious. Maddie and Angela decided that they wanted to do a pub crawl later that night. Needless to say, paying someone else to get wasted is not exactly my idea of a good time. Besides, pub crawls can be done anywhere in the world. So, I decided to take a haunted ghost tour instead. It was so worth it. The views of the city were absolutely spectacular at night, and it was fun hearing all the different myths and legends.

On my way to the ghost tour, I saw this statue--with a traffic cone on its head.

Beautiful view from a cemetery in New Town (looking toward Old Town).

Another view from the cemetery.

This was the view from the top of Calton Hill (the entrance to the realm of the faeries).

The next day was time for Edinburgh Castle. We were all pretty tired, though. So we really didn't get our money's worth out of the castle visit. It was pretty spectacular, though. The position of it up on castle rock is incredible, and it's really a sight to see.

At the entrance to the castle.

Don't make me angry; I have a cannon.

Every day at 8 seconds to 1pm, they fire this cannon off. It's not as loud as I was expecting it to be.

After the castle, we went to Greyfriar's Cemetery where JK Rowling used to walk to get inspiration. 

The inspiration for a certain beloved Hogwarts professor.

This school is really close to the cemetery and was supposedly part of the inspiration for Hogwarts (the other part being Edinburgh Castle itself).

He Who Shall Not Be Named.

Mad Eye Moody

After Greyfriar's, we hit up The Elephant House cafe for a bite to eat. In the bathroom to this magical café is a whole bunch of Harry Potter themed graffiti. I like it.

(Weasley) is our king.

Once we were properly fed and watered at the Elephant House, we headed over to St. Giles' Cathedral to find the wooden carving of an angel playing a bagpipe.

This carving is only one of TWO in the world of angels with bagpipes.

Next we made our way toward Hollyrood House (all in being silly-ful).

My imitation of some writer or another.

Holyrood House itself. The queen's official residence in Scotland.

In front of the gates of Holyrood House.

 Over to the side of Holyrood House is a lovely huge hill that one of the other guys staying in our hostel suggested we climb. So we decide that we're going to climb all 251 meters of Arthur's Seat. The climb itself was absolutely gorgeous and rewarding (even if I am deathly afraid of heights).

Giant rock/hill overlooking the city.

Finally made it to the top of Arthur's Seat.

Climbing to the top of Arthur's Seat was probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. 1. I am terrified of heights. There was one part where there was only a tiny narrow little path *right* next to a pretty sheer cliff drop. I took about 5 minutes mentally preparing myself for that one. And 2. I am freaking lazy (not to mention that I picked up someone's illness in London, and was then sick from Edinburgh on). To climb all the way up without giving up is a pretty big accomplishment. Plus the view was spectacular. Here's some video of the view.

Early the next day, we headed to the airport for our final stop of the trip--Dublin!