Highlands of Scotland

This morning we packed up and said goodbye to the beautiful Isle of Skye. Loaded on the bus, and took off on our last day of our Scotland tour...we saw LOTS of BEAUTIFUL and SPECTACULAR views!!!And we heard lots of fun stories. There was a cool story about this place...the body of water is actually in the shape of Scotland, which is why I am holding up a map with the water in the background. See it! cool eh?! There is a legend that goes along with this picture for the reason why it is in the shape of Scotland...once again I wish I had a better memory so I could tell you the cool details.
And in the true spirit of the Scotts-
there was a man in full Scottish garb playing the bagpipes!

then we went to....
there was this really cool statue there...
We stopped off here...and got out of the bus...
down to...Here! look at how beautiful! and look at how clear the water is! Ewin told us that it is completely clear and pure the water is!
This is me filling up my water bottle! The water was SOOOOO good!

Kieren decided to go for a swim...
We stopped by the store before we got out into the country and picked up some food- this is probably the BEST strawberry that I have EVER eaten!!! Oh man!!! SOOOOO GOOD!!!!

We did a lot of driving today! but it was SO beautiful I really couldn't mind much.
Plus we made a lot of stops too. We stopped to see Hamish McKay Denovan, He is a Highland Cow.
He is so Cute!!! and Really BIG!!
Our next stop was the National Wallace Monument
It was a bit of a hike up to it- but it was nice, and what a view!
Info on the monument
and the monument from farther away - on the bus.
I also saw a lot of fields that looked like this...
So I got this shot while on the bus. So pretty!
I've got to say that I am INCREDIBLY blessed in SO many ways!!! the weather in Scotland has been amazing for me! the whole time that I have been here! I actually got a bit of a sunburn on my neck, from being out in the sun and my hair was up! HA! how often do you hear of that!? Someone who goes to Scotland and gets sunburned!? Usually you just hear how rainy and cloudy and dreary it is...NOPE! not for me!!!

Back in Edinburgh we were dropped right back off at my hostle. I went on a walking tour with some friends that I had met on the highlands bus tour.



I LOVE the Streets and Architecture here!!!

Our tour guide told us about this place in front of the church where people were punished and publicly humiliated and even executed for breaking the law.
and this heart
in the ground was built where those who were waiting to be executed were held...so it is bad luck to walk on the heart, and its good luck to spit on the heart as you walk by. Our tour guide told us that once she was giving a tour and they saw a couple walk right into the middle of the heart and the guy got down on one knee and proposed- in the middle of the heart! hummmm....bad luck to start off a marriage?...lol
So on the walking tour we heard all kind of fun and scary stories...

they brought us into a room that had all kinds of old torture devices.
the scary part was when they took us underground...
In Edinburgh they have underground passageways and rooms. They were built for farmers to store their crops, but the crops were getting ruined because it rains so much in Scotland and the rain would go right into the underground passageways and rooms. So the farmers pulled all of their crops out and didn't want to use it. this is what the passageway looked like...
Edinburgh, back in the day, was full of crime and filth. There was a law passed that there were no homeless allowed in the streets - so by the hundreds they sought refuge in the underground, so they would not be arrested. Because of all of the crime and whores and filth in the underground it was not safe and the police would not go there.
Then during WWII there was a bombing in Edinburgh and many houses caught on fire. Hundreds of people ran to the underground to find refuge from the bombs and fires. There is one big problem with this...if you notice from the pictures the walls and ceilings of the underground are make of stone, so they turned into an oven and many many people were baked alive and died down there.
Now - it is haunted, per-say. and there is paranormal activity that happens there now...
because of this there is also a Wicken sect that hold their meetings in one of the rooms this is a picture of the room that they practice in...
they hold meetings about once a month or so.
This next picture is of the room that they used to practice in...
...the Wickens set up a protective circle in this room because this was the room that they used to practice in but there were bad things that kept happening in there, like members of the sect getting strangled by un-seen beings etc.
So the leader decided that one night he was going to stay in the room....over night. He was abruptly awakened in the night by loud banging sounds around the circle and going up the wall. He did a spell that reversed the purpose of the protective circle and trapped the being inside of the circle...it remains there. Apparently whenever people step into the circle only bad things happen. Our tour guide said that anyone could step into the circle if they wanted to but she wanted to leave the room first. Everyone in the group edged around the outside of it and left the room without touching the circle.
After the tour was over went to a pub with my friends...once again I am not a drinker so the 'fun' of pubs wears out pretty quickly for me. I decided to head back to the hostle to get some rest.

Beauty of Skye

The Isle of Sky is ABSOLUTELY beautiful!! Ewin our bus driver tells us fun and amazing stories constantly- I wish I could share them all with you – but it’s a running commentary that is constantly going and I don’t have a way of recording it…but I do have pictures!!! Hahah! Of course I have pictures….I will show you some things that we have seen and done on day 2 of our backpackers trip through the Highlands of Scotland….
Like I said before – there is a great story that goes along with this…but I don’t remember all the details- but what the moral of the story ended with this river- and if you wash your face in the river by holding your face in the stream for 10 seconds then you are blessed with beauty and attractiveness.
So of course…had to stick my face in! =)

We were also told to go ahead and drink the water- it is really pure and good!

Another stop in a little town – this town has a really nice view out to the water and lots of little sail boats. there was also a cool boutique where I got a cloth bag and also a GREAT pastry shop! Oh MAN!!! YUMMY!!!! And the food there was really inexpensive!



this is a picture of me in front of the “man of...something" Waterfall- haha I don't remember the name, but it was beautiful there!

I went up to my friend Kierian and he was looking at the ground and bouncing up and down – I went up to him and said, “what are you doin there friend?” he said, “Bouncy soil!....its bouncy! We don’t have soil like this at home.” LOL oh so funny! Kierian is from Australia and he was amazed at how much water there was in the soil, granted we were right next to a waterfall, but I loved how entertained he was by bouncing on the “bouncy soil”.
We then went to Kilt Rock – it’s called that because the cliffs look like the pleats of a kilt.
This is a picture of my friends- Andy, Sean, me and Kieran. Andy is from the States but has been living in Edinburgh for a year going to school, Sean is from Canada and Kieran is from Australia.

Ewin then took the time to explain more about kilts to us and reasons behind them- he demonstrated how his Scottish ancestors would make their kilts / fold their kilts out of a long/big piece of fabric.
He also picked the quite one in the group to dress him in the kilt to demonstrate- Ewin was really a funny and entertaining guy! It was really neat, and very educational.

We got to see a LOT of very beautiful sights!!!
This was at the top of an Amazing look out point!
Incredible rolling hills and green mountains...

Then we went to some castle runes that was built right along the coast on a hill above the water.

of course- once again there were some fantastic stories to go along with this...I just cant remember the details.

we got to explore a bit - the tides were lower so we were down on the rocks playing around and looking at the little sea creatures
I was jumping around down on the rocks near the water...and I slipped...oops!
I scraped up my leg a bit- it was pretty sore, but I was fine.
Oh! and there were also cute little sheep!
Then we went to one of my favorite places!!! This is called the land of the fairies...

Our whole tour group -
me and the bus driver/tour guide Ewin-

We had time to hike around a bit, and take pictures, and take time to enjoy the beatuy and serenity, and spirit of the area. I don't know how someone can see these georgeous places and not believe in God. With all that He has made for us. This is one of those places that I just sat alone for a bit and could feel closer to God. His love for me was very present! I was so happy to be there!
this was my favorite! I was the first in our group to hike up to the top- and just sit and enjoy the magnificence of it all!

Ewin told us that this place is where pagan rituals of sorts and etc were/are performed- so there were some cool circles and such made on the grounds.


Even the hills themselves were really cool and had a very interesting natural circular motion in them.

It was quite a magical place to be!!!
Ewin suggested that we all had a barbecue together for dinner- turned out to be a GREAT idea!!!
So GOOD!!! The lighting we pretty cool so we took some pictures
Sean...
Keiren...
This is the hostle that we were staying in called Saucy MarysAfter we ate most people headed to the bar so they could start drinking. I decided to take a walk.
I got some gorgeous photos!

the sunset was Beautiful!!!

There was even a bridge and a lighthouse...
Sadly my camera battery ran out of power...but I am glad I got the pictures that I did. I really enjoyed walking around and enjoyed the sunset, even though I was by myself. I wished that george was there to share it with me. I sent him a text message and he actually called me! i was so excited to get to talk to him for a little while!
I was starting to get eaten alive by the little bugs, so I decided to head inside with all the drunkards. haha! oh man! a plus though- There WAS live music being played!!

the band was Great!! lots of fun! we danced and laughed and had a good time!
This is what I call a good time! good live music and real dancing!

wow Such an AMAZING day!!!