Down By a Few Lochs

Our last few weeks here in Scotland have been packed with traveling and touring more of Edinburgh! I bought my very own kilt and celebrated being able to legally drink alcohol. In America. We traveled deep into the highlands to visit Loch Ness and traveled high up onto the peaks of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh to see a great view of the city. We learned to never eat at a American Diner in Scotland and that Victoria may or may not end up with a Indian man... Krista got a surprise present of socks and pop rocks, and most importantly RANCH! If I could tell anything to Scottish people it would be that Ranch and mayonnaise are not the same. Brittany started to going to school and became the first one of us to do anything responsible while in Scotland!

Our trip up to the highlands started with a three hour bus ride up the winding roads into the quaint  town of Inverness. We unfortunately decided to eat at the Route 66 diner which proved to be the worst restaurant we have ever dared to eat in. Totally disgusting. We forgave Inverness for having such a terrible restaurant as we ventured into the city and saw this:

  

And all of this.

 

 

We explored Inverness our first evening and woke up crossing our fingers that we could get a tour to the Isle of Skye, which we unfortunately did not get. BUT, we got a bus to see Loch Ness and it was so beautiful!

We took a stroll down the mountain that borders Loch Ness into the small town at the base of the Loch. It was the most beautiful two miles of Scotland I have seen yet. Completely breath-taking.

If I had a nickel for every time I've said "this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" while here I would probably be a millionaire. Or have two dollar...

We arrived back in Edinburgh and got ready for Tuesday, my birthday! We all bought kilts and planned a night of pub golfing to celebrate my 21st!

                               

                                
Here we are, birthday sash and all. We had a really great time out and my friends made sure I had the best birthday celebration possible.

We left Friday for Glasgow and Brittany's soccer coach and good friend Craig made sure we had a blast while visiting his home town. We visited William Wallace's monument and the remains of his home:

We went to our first Scottish football game, Morton vs. The Rovers and loved the chants and the crazy fans.

We went to Craig's best friends 50th birthday party and danced the night away to the greatest hits of the 70s and 80s. We spent Sunday touring Glasgow and were amazed by the historic city center.

Next stop, Munich. We leave tomorrow and cannot wait to see what all the hype about Oktoberfest is about.
Oh, and there's usually a rainbow here everyday.

Lots of love from Scotland!!