We're Back!

I know this post is seriously delayed, but ya know the saying "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation..."? Well it wasn't that I was stressed or tired from our trip, I just seemed to be lacking enough time to catch up on things since our trip! lol! :)

Scotland was AMAZING!!! Probably my second favorite vacation EVER (Denmark last summer being the all time #1 vacation of course!) The landscapes were beautiful, and the people were so incredibly nice and helpful and welcoming. I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering going. And on that note I thought I would give you a list of my top 10 favorite things from our trip instead of recapping the entire thing. :) But they aren't in any particular order, it was hard enough narrowing it down to just 10 things we liked let alone deciding which we liked more! :)
***Warning: LOTS OF PICTURES and EPIC-LY LONG POST!!!***

10) CASTLES! We started our trip in Edinburgh and went to visit the castle! I love castles in general and this one did NOT disappoint! :) We actually got to go in 2 castles while we were in Scotland so this actually covers both of them!

At the Edinburgh Castle
It was REALLY rainy that day!

Absolutely beautiful view of Eilen Donnan Castle

9) City of Edinburgh- or actually the difference in Old Town vs. New Town as well as the contrast between the city and surrounding area. It was stunning to see the different architecture styles so closely seated next to each other. Apparently when the city of Edinburgh became too crowded and disease ridden the rich people, instead of trying to fix what they had, decided to build a brand new city right next to the old town. Also the fact that Edinburgh itself is fairly small and the change into the rolling hills and vast fields is very striking. I loved each different area, but it was really neat to see them all almost on top of one another.

In "New Town"

Along the Royal Mile in Old Town

Also in Old Town

Just outside Edinburgh

8)Arthur's Seat- Our first hiking adventure in Scotland. We spent the better part of a day hiking up and around Arthur's Seat (It is possible to do it in less time, we got to the top and back down in about 2 hours but then spent the rest of the time exploring other areas in the park) It was so nice to enjoy the fresh air and spend some time away from the tourist traps for the day. Make no mistake though- you will NOT be avoiding the tourists, there were TONS of people hiking around the park, but it is much nicer than when you're trying to shop or make your way thru the city. :)

At the top!

View of Holyrood Park from our hotel

7) FOOD!!!!  We had a LOT of really yummy food while we were in Scotland. Because of the gluten intolerance thing it made it a little tricky for me to try all of the local favorites, but that doesn't mean that we didn't eat well! :) There were too many good restaurants to mention all of them, but our top two favorites were a small local pub in Edinburgh called "The Last Drop" and a fantastic Indian restaurant in New Town called "In Touch".  The Last Drop got its name from the story about bringing the prisoners here the night before they were to be hanged for their last dram of whisky or their "last drop" :) Klaus tried a traditional Scottish Steak Pie while I tried a dish called "Minced and Tatties" which was mashed potatoes and ground beef. Both were VERY good! In Touch was recommended to us by a friend and we were also very impressed! :) Wonderful service and very yummy food!

Slightly creepy story but really cool pub!

Very nice dinner and good wine! Can't go wrong with that!

6) Mercat Walking Tour- while we were in Edinburgh we took an hour and a half walking tour called "Secrets of the Royal Mile" which was a lot of fun and also really informative. We heard a bunch of stories about the history of the Royal mile and the people that lived there. The tour also pointed out a lot of really cool and significant things that we would have probably missed out on. It is definitely worth the time and small cost to go along on one of these tours! :)

Mercat Cross (where they read all royal proclamations...
 3 days after they're read in London!)

Deacon Brodie - the real life inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Midloathian Cross- where they used to hang the condemned and
 to this day locals still spit on the heart as they pass

5) Gilmerton Cove- while we're talking about tours in Edinburgh we should mention our fabulous tour of Gilmerton Cove. This was a cute, quirky, unique and just plain fun tour of an underground cove just south of the city center. Not much is actually known about the cove, but the tour guide does a good job of explaining the different theories and legends surrounding the cove. :) AND we got to wear cute hardhats! lol!

One of the 7 rooms in the underground cove

Aren't we stylish?!?! lol!

4) St. Andrew's- venturing out of Edinburgh we made our way to St. Andrews to have a "wee wander about" and take in the impressive ruins of the castle and cathedral. We were both surprised to see how massive the ruins were. I have seen pictures in the past, but it didn't really register just how BIG this place was! I also snuck onto the golf course and the famous bridge at the 18th hole to take a quick picture! :) Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time here and it was raining for most of the time we were, but I think it was totally worth it!

Part of the cathedral

YAY!!!! :)

3) Aberdeen: the city of random coincidence!  So we ended our trip in Aberdeen which is a very pretty town, lots of neat architecture and everything but what stood out to me was that in our two days here we had two very RANDOM events! #1 was actually probably the coolest thing for me- I got to carry an Olympic torch!!!! :) OK, so it was just around the running shop, but still I got to hold a REAL Olympic torch on the day of the opening ceremonies!!! I totally felt like a rock star! :) Basically what happened was that I wanted to buy a new pair of running socks (aka I ran out of clean socks with one day left on our trip...) and while we were in the store Klaus spotted the torch and asked the guy checking us out about it. Turns out the guy that ran the actual flame thru Aberdeen had donated the torch to raise money for a charity, so of course Klaus and I both started pulling out spare money to get a chance to take a picture holding the torch! :) That's one of those things that I will probably never get to do again in my life and it was sooooo cool! :)
#2 random coincidence is that it happened to be "Tartan Day" in Aberdeen while we were there... which basically meant that there were a LOT of kilts and a LOT of bagpipes!! Most people don't know, but I actually HATE bagpipes... I think they sound like someone is trying to kill a cat... so the thought of close to fifty bagpipers playing at the same time in a parade was a little frightening, but that is exactly what we ran into on our last day in Scotland! lol!

OMG! Totally cool!

NOT a fan of bagpipes

Sooooo many bagpipes!!!

2) Glencoe- So #1 and #2 are actually Klaus and I's favorite parts of the trip but honestly we couldn't pic between the 2! Glencoe was totally impressive and majestic! We spent a wonderful afternoon/ evening hiking and trying to take in the unbelievable scenery. It literally looked like something out of a movie (probably because they actually filmed some movies here too! lol!) Have a look for yourself, but know that these pictures can't really capture just how impressive this little area was!

Just beautiful!

We found the hidden valley!!!

1) Real Scottish Journey Tour to Isle of Skye- This is actually a combination of SEVERAL of our favorite moments of our trip. We took a 3 day bus tour up to the Isle of Skye and stopped along the way at some really cool places, but what made the trip so fantastic was that our tour guide (Bill) was incredible! :) I really appreciated how he made the history of Scotland come alive as we saw where these stories come from. It was also really neat to see Skye- and MY absolute favorite part was the "Fairy Glen" :) Thank you Bill for such a great tour! :)

Bill!

The Fairy Glen- with all the little monuments to the "wee people"

See the fairy tracks that they make by
running around the hills every night!

VIKING FACES with Bill! :)

We had SUCH a great trip (I hope you can tell that from these top 10!) And so many other great fun moments that if I tried to type out every one of them this post would need to become a novel! (Its already well on its way to that point... oops!) If you or anyone you know is going to Scotland and wants more info on these places just let me know! I had a blast and I think we are hoping to go back again sometime in the future! :)

XOXO,
Joy