I'm cheating on England with Scotland... (Day 3)

And here we go day 2!! (I have to tell you it has taken me the better part of this afternoon - 3 hours - to upload the last post because the internet is so slow with the pictures)... I should be working on my 2 essays, but instead I am reliving my weekend.

But this the last post... if you haven't read the previous two posts, please scroll down and start with Day 1!!

So Day 3 was another lovely day of travel. It was exceptionally lovely because it was sunny!! No rain!! I even got to bust out with my sunglasses. Here are some pics of us girls in our room before we left the Hostel.
Me checking my cell phone... no one called.
Alright, so we packed up and left the hostel, boarded the bus yet again and then we headed to Culloden (pronounce Cullon... and don't forget to clear your throat a little bit on the first syllable). Culloden is the sight of a battle where Bonnie Prince Charles and the Jacobites fought Hanovarian troops.



There was a dilapidated cottage in the middle of the field and it was so charming so I had to take a picture with it. I have no idea what it was for.
There was a great visitor center that gives you the history of the battle and the jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charles, but the BEST part was that there was a dress up box with Highland clothes that you could try on.
A true Highlander!!

Allie and I (now I'm a red coat)


The Culloden Visitor Centre also had a gift shop where I bought a miniature Hamish the Heilan Coo stuffed animal. (not the one pictured, a smaller one)
After we left the battle field we also left the Highlands... but as we left, this was our farewell scenery
This is me sad about leaving the Highlands... reaching back for my beloved land
We stopping for lunch in the small town of Pitlochry for lunch (nothing worth taking pictures of). But we did get to know two people also on the tour with us from Azusa Pacific University - Rik and Brie... still no pics though. I also bought a scarf, which you will see in the pictures to follow. Scotland is one of the leading exporters of Cashmere in the world, along with England, Japan, and Italy. This scarf is 100% Scotland Cashmere and it was a steal of a deal. After lunch we got to tour the Edradour Distillery


Before the tour they gave us samples of either a single malt whiskey or a cream liqueur. I have already tasted Whiskey and knew I hated it, so I went for the cream liqueur, which was delicious. Also in case you're confused, what America calls Scotch is what Scotland calls Whiskey. The traditional gaelic toast to good health is Slainte Mhath (pronounced "slan ju-va"). So we raised our glasses in a toast "Slainte Mhath"!!

Some shots of the distillery

This is the smallest distillery in Scotland and only makes 15 casks a week, because they still make everything handmade!

Me in their gift shop
me outside the gift shop
We left the Distillery as our last touristy destination of the trip and headed back to Edinburgh to catch the train. Along the way we past by the bridge! According to our tour guide it is the best bridge in the entire world.... hm. It's looks like legos.
But it does have a great story. When it was being built a construction worker fell down into one of the beams and got stuck. They immediately knew that there was no hope of ever getting him out and so for a couple of weeks they lowered food down to him. One day they, unbeknownst to the man, lowered down sandwiches laced with arsenic. He died and his remains are still in the center beam of the bridge. What a sad story. And that is the story our tour guide decided to end our trip on... wow!
So as to not leave YOU on a sad note and a lame picture of a bridge, here is another picture I took that I thought was cool.

We took the train from Edinburgh back to King's Cross. We played hilariously fun games the whole way home. Then we hopped on to the tube to Waterloo just in time to make the last train of the night to Egham. Then a 20 minute walk back to the campus. I was tucked in bed and asleep by 1:30am.

It was a great trip and I hope you enjoyed the pictures... but you really do have to see it for yourself to understand the depth of beauty!!