And Ah'll be in Scotlan' afore ye

I went to Scotland last week for 5 days. It was good craic!

Destinations: Glasgow, Highlands, Edinburgh

Glasgow:

Me and Haley in Glasgow

Tried couchsurfing for the first time and it was a great experience! Couchsurfing is kind of weird when you first hear about it. Basically, people with a heart for traveling open up their homes to anyone that needs a place to stay while traveling. On the website, you just type in where you want to stay and it matches you with people that are offering their couch. It is completely free to stay with them and very safe.

We went to a few museums, a cathedral, City Chambers, and the Christmas Market in Glasgow... and met a lady named Georgia at the market. I have the weirdest story about my first night in Glasgow, but it's a story that is needed to share in person... so ask me about it!

Glasgow is all ready for Christmas! 

Highlands:

From Glasgow, we went on a day tour around the Highlands of Scotland. SO BEAUTIFUL. 

Bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

Haunted Drovers Inn

The Glencoe Mountain region.... Seriously, so beautiful! 

Found Nessie, the Loch Ness monster

Loch Ness, not as cool as I though it would be

Edinburgh:

Edinburgh was old, and really pretty. Lots to see too. We stayed in the High Street Hostel, which was right in the midst of the city centre (downtown), 16 steps off of the Royal Mile and 35 steps away from a thrift shop!

Nighscape of Edinburgh from the castle... can you see the ferris wheel??

Lucky for us, we arrived in Edinburgh on a national holiday... AND the ONLY day of the year where entrance to the Edinburgh Castle is completely free. That's right, FREE. (Normally it's just under £20) ...So that's what we did for the afternoon. Also, we stood in the queue (line) for what seemed like 3 hours to see the Scottish Crown Jewels. Worth it? Ehh, it was free.

The castle glows at night

Again, we went to the Christmas Market in Edinburgh to eat and eat and eat. I had some German potatoes called bratkartoffeln and crepes with nutella, of course. We topped it off with some mulled wine, hot with spices and goodness.

Fortunately, while in Edinburgh, I got to meet up with an Edgewood friend, the one and only John Mleziva, for a pint at an off-the-beaten-path pub. It was great to see a familiar face and talk some Edgewood talk for a while. We also figured out that he studied abroad with my cousin in Scotland while they were in college... SMALL WORLD!

On top of the world

Edinburgh

One of the highlights of my time in Edinburgh was the hike/walk up Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park. From the top, you can see a beautiful panorama of the city-- it was sunny too! It was so pretty and so great to be at the top of the world!