Marissa Visits the Highlands

  On Thursday, our house took a trip to the Scottish Highlands. We drove to Stirling to pick up our Globalization professor, Gerry, because he was our bus announcer. After he boarded the bus, we drove the the Doune Castle. The Doune Castle is famous for its appearance in the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie. It's in the scene where the French taunt King Arthur. I was feeling especially shitty that day, so I was in no mood to explore. My stomach has been playing games with me lately and I really need to see the doctor once I'm back home to see what my problem is.

Me being miserable at the castle.

The entrance of the Doune Castle

What the inside of the castle would've looked like

The castle family lineage

Cute Monty Python allusion :)

Creeper Picture of me & Katlyn

Me in front of the Doune Castle

After the castle, we drove to Glencoe. There were mountains there, everywhere. It was beautiful. We stopped at the visitor center there to stretch our legs and snap some photos. Then we climbed back on the bus and drove to a scenic lookout point where we took some absolutely breathtaking pictures. I think those mountains were the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life. They're nothing like the Rocky Mountains in Colorado; they are covered with grass and trees, but they have snow on top of them, and there was a mist covering the top. Extremely brilliant.

At the Glencoe Visitor Center

The Glencoe Visitor Center

The mountains in Glencoe

Me and my Globalization professor, Gerry Mooney

I look so tiny compared to my surroundings!

                                   

Katlyn, Courtney, Whitney and myself

                                    

Me & Jordan, my seat buddy and roommate for the whole trip :)

                                    

Patty, me, Gerry & Jordan in Glencoe

Jor, Patty & Me

We packed up the bus again to drive to Fort Williams, where we went to buy groceries to make dinner that night. We went to Morrison's, a store even better than Tesco! It was very similar to American grocery stores, so I think that's why I liked it so much. Fort Williams was a very cute town. It is located on the edge of Ben Nevis, the tallest point in the whole UK. We were lucky enough to stay in a hostel that was literally across the street from Ben Nevis. The view was amazing. That night, we made dinner in the hostel's kitchen, and then Katlyn and I walked around the foot of Ben Nevis before going to bed early.

My new temporary roommate, Billie, and her bunk at the hostel

The stream outside of our hostel

Ben Nevis

                                    

Welcome to Ben Nevis (written in both Gaelic and English because Gaelic is widely spoken in the Highlands)

Kiaya, my roommate for the weekend, before checking out of our hostel

The next day, Friday, our first stop was at the Glenfinnan Monument & Viaduct. The Glenfinnian Viaduct is featured in the Harry Potter movies, it is the bridge that the Hogwarts Express travels over. We took a bunch of pictures and hopped back on the bus. I was feeling considerably better than I had the previous day, so I was in a better mood. After the Viaduct, we boarded a cruise on Loch Ness! Loch Ness is 1,000 feet deep (though not the deepest in Scotland), and the home to Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Nessie, but who knows what lives in the bottom of that loch. After the cruise, we had the opportunity to go for a dip in the loch, but I chose not to. Some people said that it was even colder than Lake Superior! I bought a few souvenirs for some special people before we left.

Me at the Glenfinnan Viaduct

Me & Karl at the Glenfinnan Monument

A majority of our group is in this picture

Kiaya, Shay & me on our cruise across Loch Ness

This is as close as I got to Nessie :(

                                               

Loch Ness

The view of Urquhart Castle from the cruise

Gabby, Karl & me

Jor, me & Whitney on the cruise

We had some spare time in our itinerary before our next event, so we stopped at an ancient cairn. It is rumored to be about 3.5-4 thousand years old. It was a neat structure, so we decided to climb it. We got some pretty nice group photos on top of it, actually. Then we became bored with it, so we left. Our next stop was Urquhart Castle. It lies on the banks of Loch Ness and we had seen it during our cruise earlier. In all reality, the castle is really just a bunch of ruins. I would have survived without touring it, but I saw it. The thing that was really neat about it, though, was that they showed a short historical film about the castle's past and once the movie was over, the screen came up and curtains opened to show a spectacular view of the castle. And also the sleet that was coming down from the sky. I guess when you're in the Highlands, you must prepare for anything to occur. We walked around the castle for an hour and then we left for Inverness.

The sign at the cairn

Our group picture at the cairn

Me at the gloomy Urquhart Castle

                                   

Urquhart Castle

We did not have cooperative weather!

Posing like a princess

This is where they used to keep the pigeons!

At the entrance bridge of the castle

                                     

The view of Loch Ness from the castle

Inverness is pretty much the capital of the Highlands. They have a population of about 56,000 people (it seemed bigger than that to me, though). This reminds me of a fun fact. We learned that the sheep population is about 8 sheep to 1 person (Scotland has a population of 5.3 million). So that's a lot of damn sheep. Inverness reminded me a lot of an American type town. It had some historical parts to it, but there were shopping complexes and restaurants and stuff that reminded me of home. Upon our arrival in Inverness, we were dropped off at our hostel and then Katlyn, Jordan, Whitney and myself went to dinner at a sports bar called "The Auctioneers". It was very similar to the bars in Dalkeith that I'm used to, so I didn't really go out of my comfort zone there. Then we went back to the hostel, and Katlyn and I chatted until we fell asleep. While I was in Inverness that night though, I found out that my grandma's health has been quickly declining and that I may be hearing of her passing in the next few days. That was some unpleasant news that I am still dealing with, but it brings out my fond memories of our time spent together.

Me with a unicorn statue in Inverness! Later that night I saw a rainbow, too! :)

On Saturday, we went to the Culloden Battlefield where the Jacobites fought the government to keep the Scottish royal line alive. However, the Jacobites lost that battle, and the Scottish line came to an end. It was pretty sobering to walk across the field where men fought so passionately for their beliefs. After our tour there, we drove to the Beauly Firth to look for some dolphins. The firth connects to the sea, that's how the dolphins get into that part of the land. We did not get the chance to see any dolphins, but it was very relaxing to sit at the beach for a while. After that, we had free time, so Katlyn, Shay, and I decided to check out the mall downtown. I bought a new skirt and earrings at the H&M (original, I know), and then we sat at a bookshop for a while. It was nice to go somewhere without any time constraints. Then we went to Morrison's again for groceries and made dinner at the hostel. Katlyn read to us from her new book, The Descendants, for a while and then we went to bed. I know I sound like a real Grinch, going to bed so early during vacation, but if I could show you how terrible I've been feeling, you would understand. And hopefully empathize, too.

Me & Jor on the bus

                                     

Shay & me posing with the mountains, hehe

Culloden Battlefield

A cottage on the battlefield

At the museum, there are 1,500 bricks sticking out of the wall to symbolize the 1,500 Jacobites who died in the war, and on the other end of the wall, there are 50 bricks to symbolize the 50 government men who died in the battle

At the Beauly Firth

Checkin out the rocks at the Firth

On Sunday, we had a busy day ahead of us before heading back in Dalkeith. Our first stop was at Fort George, an old military fort. We didn't appreciate it for its historical aspect, necessarily, but because it had a beautiful sealine on the firth. Again we watched for dolphins, but didn't see any. I wonder how much of our trip was lost to the hopes of seeing dolphins. Sad day. After soaking up the sun, we got on the bus for a short ride to Pitlochry. Pitlochry is a small town with lots of charm. I got some ice cream with the Ginger Twins (Gabby and Hannah) in a small shop before we left. Next, we went to the Aberfeldy Whisky Distillery. I did not partake in any drinking of it, but it was cool to see how it was made. It reminded me of the Miller Brewery in Milwaukee or the Coors Brewery in Colorado. While we were at the distillery, our tour guide told us that J.K. Rowling had a summer home right across the street, so naturally, we took some creeper photos of her house. Our last stop before Dalkeith was at a nature site called the Hermitage near Dunkeld. It was a beautiful place with a waterfall. It was so nice to sit on the huge rocks by the water and just think. It turned out to be a very enjoyable place. I think that the weekend was very successful and it was a lot of fun!

At Fort George

The view from Fort George

Me & Jimmy

We did a little photoshoot outside in the sun :)

Jimmy planking and Songe admiring his effort

Me & Jor enjoying the sunshine!

Me & Chelsea

The cute town of Pitlochry

Where I got ice cream with the Ginger Twins

The Aberfeldy Distillery

Outside of the distillery

                                     

Why am I here? I can't even drink this!

Dewar's Whisky Label

                                      

J.K. Rowling's house?

The map of the Hermitage

Enjoying the waterfall

Enjoying the last day of the Highlands with Jor

Beautiful waterfall

Some quirky pictures of the stream :)

Now I have 10 days until I leave for home! Oh, and another fun fact, people here say "AL-OOO-MIN-EE-UM" instead of "ALOO-MIN-UM" like we do in the states. Funny, but true! Also, I have only 7 more poems to write! I'm on fire! And I got an "A" in my Globalization class! 96%! Can you tell I'm proud? :) Ha, now goodnight!