Scotland!

Vacation is a wonderful thing. It's relaxing and rejuvenating. I spent a week in Scotland enjoying the sites and sun and amazing weather. Although it was rather windy and chilly up north the sun was out everyday and made for amazing photos.

We began by taking a train to Edinburgh and spent a few days in the city. When we got there we went to Holyrood palace which is a working palace (where the queen stays while she is in Scotland) so I only have photos of the exterior. We also had the best Hog Roast ever at Oink. Oh. and our Hostel was pretty cool we stayed in the room Titled Gothem City and my bed was "Batman" (I am the night!). Our room was a co-ed room and we had some pretty interesting roommates... Let's just say boys are gross.
The next day was amazing weather so we Climbed Arthur's seat (and the smaller one in front of it). It was VERY windy and there were a few times I wondered if I was going to blow off the edge of the cliff. But it was totally worth it for the view, even if I was freezing. Day 3 we spent at Edinburgh Castle. That took all day, a lot longer than we thought it was and we were pooped and tired of walking. On top of that we had to get up at 5:00 am to catch our train to Inverness.
Inverness is up more north in the Highlands, meaning the train ride was beautiful! So many amazing views and mountains. Once at Inverness we got a rude awakening... it is... I would call it a dying city. there is NOTHING to do in Inverness except use it as a hub to get to Loch Ness. Which is exactly what we did.
Loch Ness was amazing! so beautiful. and we had perfect weather. We went to Urquhart Castle and then went out on the Loch in search of Nessie! I didn't find her but I did fine two ducks! I turned around in the boat to take a photo and this duck was flying right at my face! I thought it was going to run into me but he was just trying to land on the back of the boat and get a ride. I did scare me though. After two days in Inverness we returned to Edinburgh and explored the city some more. One of those days we took off to St. Andrews which is on the coast! So we saw a beach, had the best fish and chips ever, and went to the castle and church (we like castles and churches apparently). The beach rejuvenated all of us, even if we couldn't go in the icy water.
Over all the trip was amazing. There isn't much to say about it, because it is one of those you had to be there things. I hope my photos help give a sense of how great it was though!

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO SEE A SLIDESHOW OF SOME PHOTOS!!!!

http://www.photosnack.com/FE76F6FEFB5/pdz9w333