This was our first stop on the tour right outside of Edinburgh. Which is pronounced Edenbar in case anyone was wondering. I've gotten a lot of grief based on my pronouciation!! Scottish people really don't like it pronounced wrong! On my tour there were two guys that were thinking about becoming tour guides, and then my guide that were from Scotland... so they were all like no no... this is how it's pronounced. And the one guy kept having me repeat it until I got it right haha. So I thought I'd share in case you ever go there!
Do you see this MASSIVE bridge?? Holey moley!! I guess they didn't want THAT one to fall down so they really reinforced it. Apparently, while they were taking designs for this bridge... one of the candidates that applied to design the bridge had designed a different bridge in Scotland. There was a huge storm... one that Scotland had never seen before and has never had since... and his bridge collapsed killing all of the people on the train that was crossing it. The man's last name was Boutch. So that is where you get the term a "Botch Job" from him, because they say he didn't do his job well enough and the bridge collapsed.
My tour guide was excellent. I really liked him. He talked quite a bit, but it was never boring and it didn't feel like he was just trying to fill up the time like my last guide. All of his stories had a point, and most of them connected and built upon each other which was really enjoyable, but it makes re-telling the stories pretty challenging, because if you forget one part of the story it messes up the rest!! But I'll try :) Anyways, back to this bridge. My guide told us that when he was younger his older brothers told him that this bridge was a roller coaster, and when he was 11 he was with his friends and finally had a chance to go on it. He was like I was so excited and telling everyone that we were going to get to go on the roller coaster, and then I felt stupid when it just went straight across the track. But if you look in this picture you can see how it does look like a roller coaster!! It reminds me of the dragster a little bit. It's like the front part where the train takes off from before it goes up the hill.
This is the city of Dunkeld, and it is the smallest city in Scotland with a population of around 1,000 people. The reason why it has to be considered a city is because any area with a cathedral in it, by Scottish law has to be a city. Why is the cathedral built here?? Well it's one of those long stories that are hard to completely remember. I was extremely excited on this tour because my tour guide talked a lot about the Picts, St. Maragret, and St. Columba... and I had just gotten done talking my Celtic Scotland class, and of course I learned all about them in it. So I understood what my guide was talking about which made me really excited. Back in the day the vikings attacked Scotland, and people had to move to different places. This place just so happened to be one of the places people moved to, and that is why the cathedral is built here.
This is the back of the church. One part of the church was built later than the other. Do you know which half?? If you said the back of the church... you're wrong. While that part does lie in ruins today it was actually built after the front of the cathedral was.
It had a beautiful view surrounding it though. It was very peaceful and relaxing place. The cathedral itself wasn't that spectacular but it was still a nice setting... with the river flowing and it was a bright sun shiney day. We got really lucky, and had pretty decent weather all weekend.
Here is Ossian's Hall. It was built in Queen Victoria's time to inspire artists, writers, and poets. Queen Victoria said that she thought this was the most beautiful place on earth, and if you know anything about Queen Victoria you'll know that she has a reputation of being picky and hard to please. So I was quite excited to see this spot. You have to walk into the door here, and then you open another door and you walk inside a little chamber.
The chamber has pieces of artwork on all sides of it.
And then it has a balcony with a view of a waterfall. While you're in the room you can hear the water crashing down from the waterfall into the river below. It was a very pretty place indeed. I enjoyed the view, and you can see that the people on my tour went straight out to take pictures of the view.
Here is a bird's eye view of the waterfalls from the balcony. We walked around the area and this balcony was the best view that you could get of the waterfalls.
Here I am on the balcony. I don't know why, but I feel like I've seen a picture of myself looking exactly like this before... haha
This whole area used to not have trees until a man decided that he wanted to plant a whole bunch of them. Instead of having his man walk up the dangerous cliff areas to plant the trees he got a cannon, filled it with seeds, and shot it off into the distance... and hoped that the seeds would spread out and grow. Amazingly they did!!
Here are the first Highland Coos that we experienced. And no that was not a typo. They don't call them cows. They call them coos! Back in the day all highland coos used to be black, but brown ones are much more common today. People liked the brown color, and breed them in order to get the color. Apparently, highland coos are very delicious to eat, because their fur keeps them warm in the winter... so they aren't very fatty.
They are big too!! And do you notice how this guy was on the opposite side of the fench as the other ones?? I was like... oh my gosh! How awesome! Perfect opportunity to get a good picture with me next to him!! I was like ... ohh he's eating, I'm sure if I walk up to him he won't even notice me... WRONG! He did! And he chased horns first! I was like baaah!! And I ran away from him, and he went back to eating. He actually had a friend with him on this side of the fence that was laying down, and there was a guy that was creeping up really slowly to the one that was sleeping. You could tell that he was going to touch him, and he was a bit nervous about it. So he's inching over in a crouched position so that he could spring and run away quickly if he needed to... and this was after the one had chased me for just walking by it, so I'm standing a safe distance away watching him, thinking "Ah haha... Idiot." And sure enough he touches this cow and it jumps up faster than I could imagine, and starts running after the guy. After a few minutes the cow just kind of grunted and laid back down, but his friends were all making fun of him... it was pretty funny. Much more entertaining than actually going inside the castle we stopped to look at.
Yeah here I am... this is my nervous "hurry up and take the picture" look. I kept looking behind me to make sure he wasn't coming after me!!
Here we are walking back down the trail, and I was like oh crap... Why does he have to be eating right THERE! So we're tip toeing around on the other side of the grass, and he looks up... and charges at us horns first. So we took off screaming like little girls to our bus. I'm pretty sure my tour guide was laughing at us when we got back on too. After that we sat in the bus and we were watching other people walk by, and this hyper little boy was running around... and I was like uh oh... this isn't going to be good. It's a good thing the kid could run, because that cow wasn't having him being by him.
This is an ancient burial ground from around 3000 BC. It was built by the druids. I never really knew much about the druids. Apparently, they were the wise educated men that gave advice on all matters. They picked this spot because it has energy lines, and it can work as a calendar as well as a burial ground. It's shadows tell when summer has restarted. Now this spot is on one energy line, compared to Stone Hedge that is one three. But isn't it amazing how people found these spots so long ago? How would they know where to build these places?? In the exact position that the sun would land correctly to give you a calendar. It's amazing really. They say that people were more in touch with nature back then, and that they understood things about the Earth that we don't know anymore. That with all of our progress and technology we've forgotten how to communicate with the Earth. And I really feel like there is some truth to this, because you see it so much throughout history. Native American's had spiritual relations with animals and rocks and trees... and somehow these people found these natural energy lines... it makes me think of an ancient type of magic, and I won't lie my mind thought of Narnia quite a few times. It just made me wonder what the world was like back then, and I thought it was fascinating.
Here is the opening to the burial ground that you can walk inside of. This is the opening where the sun came inside of and cast shadows.
This leads me to Culloden Battle Ground which was the most important battle in Scottish history. Now this is where all of the stories I've heard start to intertwine and it makes it hard to really explain the significance of this battle. In Scotland there are two groups of people known as the Highlanders and the Lowlanders. The highlanders are traditionally whiskey drinking, kelt wearing, bag pipe playing stereotypical Scottish people that you think of. What we consider Scottish today is based off the culture and ways of the highlanders. Throughout their history Scotland has tried to fight off England for their independence many times. And the highlanders were extremely tough people that knew the hills of Scotland well, and were very brave good fighters. Our tour guide was really great. When he told us stories about battles he reenacted them and yelled and got really into it. I feel like it's such a good story, and I feel like it's a daunting task for me to try to retell it by writing it down, but I shall try! The highlanders had beat the English on a couple of occasions, because they used all of the advantages. They normally fought on high ground, and they were fierce people that wanted to destroy their enemy. However, they were rarely organized, because they were all in clans, and the clan chiefs rarely saw eye to eye and they couldn't agree on many things so they had conflicts. 
Highlanders usually liked to attack running down hill and plowing down their enemy, but unfortunately their leader in this battle wasn't too good. There had been a prophecy that a way of life would die forever on a place that was very similar to where this battle was going to be held. So going into the battle the men had this in their minds. It seemed like everything went against the Scots in this battle. They didn't have their usual advantages, and by this time the English troops were well trained and knew their fighting techniques and had learned how to fight them better. The night before the battle the Scots walked 7 miles to try to ambush their enemies in the night, but they didn't make it there until the early morning and lost the element of surprise... so they had to march back the 7 miles to their battle positions. So when the battle started they were exhausted, hungry, and it was raining sleet right into their eyes. They ended up losing the battle, and many men were killed. Afterwards the English marched into the surrounding areas and killed some 20,000 woman, children, and other people that weren't fit for battle. Kilts, bag pipes, the gaelic language, and whiskey were outlawed. Many highlanders fled Scotland and moved to America or Australia, and only recently has those laws been uplifted. There aren't too many highlanders left in Scotland, and more of the Scottish culture is upheld and remembered in other countries than their own because of this.
If you look here you can see the grave stones of entire clans that were wiped out. This battle signaled the end of the clan system. After this battles clans were no more. My guide talked about how these Scottish immigrants influenced all of our lives throughout the world. He mentioned how a group of 7 highlanders moved to America during the civil war and fought for the south. At the end of the war they established a new clan. When a highlander chief wanted to alert his army that they were going to war he would build a cross, put blood on the tips of it, and lit it on fire. Sound familar?? Any guesses on what clan these Scottish men started?? If you said the KKK or the Ku Klux Klan you are correct. Originally it was never meant to become what it actually did become. It was meant to be a family and support system that evolved for the worse, but the highlanders kept parts of their traditions in the clan... which included the burning cross.
Here is a memorial for all of the men that died on the battle field that day. My guide pointed out that this circular stone fixture was built over 5000 years after the ancient burial ground that I showed you before, but it just shows how far men have come, and how far they haven't come after all those years... they still used a circular stone structure to honor their dead.
On a lighter note... here I am at.... LOCHNESS!! :) I was very excited to come here and see what it was all about! Lochness translates to lake of the penisula. Lochness is actually a HUGE body of water, and 7 rivers flow into it! My guide said that there are about 6 million tons of water inside of the loch, which is more water than all the rivers and lakes in England. Which is enough water alone to provide Scotland with fresh water for 30 years if it was to stop raining today.
Here is my tour guide, David, in his kilt! :)
Here are the crazy people that swam in Lochness! I thought about doing it, but only for about... a second haha. It was 45 degrees out that day!!! And that was supposed to be consider summer!! Do you have any idea how FREEZING cold that water was!! Yikes! I was NOT going to jump in haha. The two guys in the picture were actually applying to be tour guides, and David was supposed to give a review of them... I'm pretty sure they only jumped in for that reason haha. Our tour guide also told us this funny story about an American guy that seemed like he was a tough guy, and kept saying that he was in the army. But when it got time to jump into the loch he was like... No I don't want to, and David was like I thought you were Mr. Tough Guy US Army Man... and the guy was like well actually I'm just in transportation. So a few weeks later I guess the guy had a guy on his tour that was a jarhead, and very much into the army, and took orders really well. He was always like, "Thankyou David, sir" and things like that. I guess David told him the story about the other guy, and this guy was like "Well I'm in the infantry, sir! I will redeem my country!" And I guess he jumped into Lochness and wouldn't come out! He was like I must redeem my country, and David was like... you did you did... you can come out now, and the guy was like... maybe in five more minutes. Eventually he came out and almost had hypothermia. My question: Why did they have to be American?? Way to give us a good name guys!
Here is just the shore. Unfortunately we did not see Nessie aka the Lochness Monster. Our guide told us about some different hoaxes that have involved the Lochness Monster, but the origins are quite interesting. In the old days, before Christanity, most Scottish people were Pagans. Pagans celebrate the earth and the goddess. I didn't know that St. Columba was the first person that supposively witnessed the Lochness monster. It was interesting hearing a different perspective on the Saints life. In my class they talk about how he was a wonderful man that came and brought Christanity to the Scots. My tour guide's perspective was a bit different. He said that Columba was a prince from Ireland that lost a war very badly and that was an outcast from his country so he jumped on a ship and happened to land in Iona. He was so ashamed of how many men died on his battlefield that he decided he would make reprimands by converting people to Christanity, or changing them from their culture to a new one. Which the books I've read on Columba DO mention he was from Ireland, and that he DID lose a battle... it was just interesting in the different way it was presented. Anyways, I have read Columba's life and have discussed it in class. The book about his miracles and things that he had done was written over 100 years after his death by one of his decendents that was trying to get credibility through his connection at the time. If you read through the stories you'll see that some of them just seem far fetched, and like it was written 100 years later! It seemed like the man read up on what happened during Columba's time, and when he was writing Columba's life he wrote down all of the correct "predictions" Columba had made during his life. I didn't realize that in 560 AD Columba was on the shores of Lochness when a giant monster came out of the lake, and grabbed one of Columba's ministers. Promptly Columba said "Be gone, evil creature... the power of lord commands you" and then the monster in Lochness was banished into the depths of the loch... not to be seen again for a milenia. The Scottish people at the time were very superstitious and they believed in evil sea creatures. Hearing that this Christian man had banished one strengthened their belief that Christainity was a good religion to follow, and many Pagans converted because of it.
(Rocky Scottish Beach) While hearing that story significantly decreased my belief in the Lochness monster being real... there are a few other stories that make me wonder. Lochness is a very dark loch and there is virtually no visibility to go scuba diving in it. Therefore, no one has been able to properly dive and search the loch. Also, sending down investigating devices like the one that was used to discover Titanic isn't really all that helpful, beause in the Atlantic Ocean the device has 20 feet of visibility in Lochness it only has 5. However, there was a group of boats that got together and used sonar technology and scanned the loch. They found an unidentifiable object in the loch that was over 145 feet long. They have no idea what it could be, and they don't really have any way of finding out. Could it be the Lochness Monster?? It is a possiblity. My guide says that he is glad that they can't prove it or disprove it, because it still gives the place a misitic air of wonder, but it doesn't attract too many people so the area still has it's natural charm.
Here is the home of Steve who is an Englishman who dreamed about living on Lochness and meeting Nessie someday. So he got an old library book mobile and parked it on the banks here. He has now lived here for 18 years, and makes a living by selling Nessie figurines.
I tell ya we hiked up a lot of hills during this trip!! One that seemed pretty long was the walk through the forest to see the view of Lochness. We kept walking uphill and uphill and uphill... I thought we'd never get to the top! Just when I rounded a corner I saw another path leading uphill again!!! I was so out of breath by the time I got to the top.
Here is the view above the trees.
And here I am!! Wearing my Supergirl shirt!! I felt like Supergirl!! When we got down to the bottom a guy happened to throw up at the end. He was saying he wasn't sure why... but I had a sneaking feeling it could have been from the walking so far uphill!! I had the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus in my mind the whole time. It ain't about how fast I get there, it aint about what's waiting on the other side... it's the climb! Hahaha! That was my motivation to get to the top.
This is the highest point in the UK, and it very rarely can be seen because it is usually covered by clouds/fog! Yippee for beautiful weather on our tour! Our tour guide said that he's only seen the top like 6 or 7 times in his 9 years of guiding.
Here I am at one of the other castle we stopped at for a few minutes. :)
You can see the pretty Scottish landscape behind me. It was really pretty, and all parts of Scotland are different. The highlands are the postcard traditional view of Scotland.
This is where Hagrid's Hut was filmed in the Harry Potter movies. :) It's not there anymore, because people were coming by and ripping pieces off of it for souvenirs.
Here is my tour guide and I.
And here I am!! Wearing my Supergirl shirt!! I felt like Supergirl!! When we got down to the bottom a guy happened to throw up at the end. He was saying he wasn't sure why... but I had a sneaking feeling it could have been from the walking so far uphill!! I had the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus in my mind the whole time. It ain't about how fast I get there, it aint about what's waiting on the other side... it's the climb! Hahaha! That was my motivation to get to the top.
This is the highest point in the UK, and it very rarely can be seen because it is usually covered by clouds/fog! Yippee for beautiful weather on our tour! Our tour guide said that he's only seen the top like 6 or 7 times in his 9 years of guiding.
Here I am at one of the other castle we stopped at for a few minutes. :)
You can see the pretty Scottish landscape behind me. It was really pretty, and all parts of Scotland are different. The highlands are the postcard traditional view of Scotland.
This is where Hagrid's Hut was filmed in the Harry Potter movies. :) It's not there anymore, because people were coming by and ripping pieces off of it for souvenirs.
Here is my tour guide and I.And here is Hamish! He is a friendly hairy coo! Hamish means James in Gaelic by the way, and it is a pretty popular Scottish name. Anyways people usually stop and feed Hamish a lot so he came up to us and was very friendly. However, before we got off the bus David told us some more stories... about Americans.... A few years ago you used to be able to go right up Hamish, but a few years back an American guy got hurt and tried to sue the people that own him. At the time there were 11 signs up that said "Please do not try to grab Hamish by the horns. He does not like it." What did the guy do?? He grabbed him by the horns and got rammed by one of them. The judge said that it was the guys own fault, but made the owners put up an extra fence so other people don't get hurt. My tour guide said a few years back he had an.... American girl on his tour, and he was sitting on bus and he watched as she tried to grab Hamish by the horns, and he rammed her as well, and his horn hit her right in the jaw. David said it was one of those times where he felt his heart jump up into his mouth, and he ran out with the first aid kit, and was like what are you doing!? Didn't I just tell you the story about the other guy that got hurt from grabbing him... and I guess she just laughed it off and was like ohh I wasn't really listening. So he pointed at me and goes "Hey you, American girl! Don't do anything stupid!"
And I was like Ha. Ha. Yeah right! Do you SEE those horns!!! No way I'm going to grab them!! But after he said that I felt a little shy. The Aussie girl I was with was petting him and stuff, but I didn't want to... because I was afraid I'd be one of the stupid American's that probably would end up getting biten or something... But actually highland coos front teeth are worn down so they aren't supposed to be able to really bite you, but still... you never know.
But isn't he cute?? In that you're a 1 ton weighing, drooling hairy cow type of way?? I just liked him because he was a LOT friendly then the other highland coos I've come across. Still pretty smelly though!
Here's a side view!
Here is the bottom of the William Wallace monument. The story of William Wallace is another one of those stories that I'll try to get right!! After Scotland had been beaten so badly they needed someone to rise up as hero and led them against the English. William Wallace just so happened to be that man. He inspired people and got them passionate about getting rid of the English. He was known as a freedom fighter, but he was captured and killed by the English very brutually. However, William Wallace inspired Robert the Bruce who eventually became the king of Scotland. Before Robert the Bruce became king though he killed one of his competitors in a church, and therefore the church did not like him. Robert the Bruce led Scotland onto victory of defeating the English and Scotland was allowed their own king. However, it wasn't until many years later that the Pope recognized him as king. On his deathbed he said that his one regret was that he could not make a plirgrimage to the Vatican, and he wanted his heart to be buried there. So 700 of his best knights took his heart in box and rode off to the Vatican. Along the way the encountered numerous of their enemies and they didn't know if they should give up their mission and turn home... or die in honor. The man leading the charge held up the box with Robert the Bruce's heart in it, and said "Lead us old Braveheart" And that is where the saying Braveheart comes from. It is not actually William Wallace like the movie says it is... it is actually Robert the Bruce.
As you might be able to tell this was another one of my great hikes! Eek! It was quite a walk to get up to the top of this monument as well! The view was nice though, and it was better than sitting at the bottom for the whole time.
Here is the top of the monument. It almost made me think of the Washington monument in the US. I know that they are quite different, but maybe it was the shape? I'm not sure. It just made me think of it.
Here I am in the entrance.
Now I have ONE more story for you and then I will be done! :) This is a story about Rob Roy McGregor who borrowed 1000 pounds from a rich man so that he could start up his own business. He fully intended on paying the man back, but his money ended up getting stolen from him. He went back to the man that loaned him the money and told him what happened and the man didn't believe him, and thought that he'd just hide the money somewhere and didn't want to pay him back, and wanted to have him arrested for not paying him back. Well Rob Roy escaped, and his wife ended up getting killed as being an accomplice to his escape. After that Rob Roy claimed vengance against the land owner and would often steal his money and give it to the poor. One story about how he helped people was he heard that an old widow was going to be kicked out of her land because she couldn't pay her rent. So he was talking to her and gave her the money she needed. When the man came to evict her she gave him the money and he went off... then Rob came up to him and robbed him and took the money back. So he continued this cycle and helped people. Does this sound familar at all?? To an English hero called Robin Hood?? Robin Hood was actually based off of William Wallace who happened to have a side kick name John of Little and Rob Roy McGregor.
