Where's Nelly? I mean... Nessie

This morning the 11 of us met at 7:45 to hop on a bus for a 12 hour tour of Scotland. We were in for a long day, but there was promise of some awesome sights, and maybe a little monster hunting? 
Our first stop was about an hour in, we were told there was a shop where we had to go for breakfast (we also heard this place had the best pie).... We got there and the name of the cafe was Mohr Bread. I needed no more convincing. The bread looked wonderful, but we were really interested in this pie we had heard so much about... only to find out we had a few definitions of pie. Scotland pie does not contain fruit, chocolate, or sweets. What we found at Mohr bread was shepherds pie, haggis pie, and some more meat filled pies... I had all but given up hope until I saw macaroni and cheese pie. For breakfast? Sold. 

** Note the pancakes in the window. They are premade. The same goes for Ireland. They are packaged and sold in stores. I have yet to try them, but they always look good! 


After the pie, it was back on bus until our next stop, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park  

                  The girls in front of Loch Lubnaig

                       Just Skippin' stones in the Loch                                                                  

During the bus riding portions of the day our bus driver Duncan gave us background on Scotland and played traditional Scotish music... Most of us slept through a good portion of the morning information... oops. But we all woke up when we reached Glencoe Scottish Highlands. This was by far my favorite part of the day, and here is why... 

This is one of my favorite pictures... how amazing would it be to live in that little house?

Or this one... a pond and sheep in the front yard and mountains in the back... rough life huh?

And what pitstop would be complete without a traditional kilt wearing bagpiper? 

anddd back on the bus... only to get off again for a quick stop at Inverlochy Castle where the boys apparently turned into a boy band... 

And thats enough of that... Loch Ness here we come! 

 

Sof and I pretended we were on man vs. wild in search of Nessie (who I accidentally called Nelly... my bad) 

Sadly to say we didn't find her.... So it was back on the bus and back to Edinburgh. Tomorrow we'll be headed back to good ol' Dublin! 

Until Tomorrow... 

Cheers, 

   Becca :) 

Who Eats Haggis Nachos?

This morning we were up bright and early to explore Edinburgh! First things first we had to have the most important meal of the day, a full Scottish breakfast. Much like an Irish breakfast if you swap blood pudding with Haggis.

Hagis =  the national dish of Sctoland = Scottish sausage made from a sheep’s stomach stuffed with diced sheep’s liver, lungs and heart, oatmeal, onion,  and seasoning = pretty much blood pudding?

When in Rome I suppose? I tried it.. it wasn’t awful… but I think I’ll leave the Haggis eating to the Scots.

After breakfast it was time to explore!! 

Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle! 

Everywhere inside the castle is gorgeous! We saw the crown jewels, explored the dungeon and military prison, watched women explain the proper attire... 

 did Chris Harrison's job at St. Margret's Chapel (the oldest building in Scotland)... 

Took some awkward family photos in Queen Mary's Chamber... 

And soaked up the amazing view of the city! 

I think the boys may have already had enough of being outnumbered 3 to 8... they ran off and played... 

This may be where they lost a dear friend Sterling?...

While in the courtyard I saw this guy...

and Raced to get a picture because I thought he'd be the only person I'd see who would actually be wearing a kilt.... boy was I wrong... There was also this guy.... 

Who bore a kilt and played bagpipes all while the 1 o'clock canon was being fired.... I would like to say that was the extent of my kilt sightings.... but again.... wrong-o. 

After all that bagpipe watching we had worked up an appitite so we went to lunch in the most beautiful resturaunt building.... probably ever... 

yup, this is the cafe where we ate.... I think there were other things in the building as well... but still. wow. 

I would like to say that the food was as extravagant as the building, but it left us really just needing some candy... 

Enter my love of Moro Bars. 

Yes I know the wrapper says Boost.... I will explain. 

While in Dublin, on our :try all the candy quest," Sofia and I ran across Moro bars. Caramel, nougat, biscuit, chocolate. Best thing ever. To our delight we found them in Scotland under a different name, with a the addition of "+energy" on the label.... Moro just got better... if that is even possible. I will be bringing back a lifetime supply to the states. 

End Moro rant. Back to Scotland. 

At this point the group split up to explore different things. Kaitlyn, Sofia, and I decided to walk around the city and see where the wind might blow us! Here are just a few shots of the city... 

After wandering around we stumbled upon the Scott Memorial and climbed to the top for yet another amazing view... 

The Scott Memorial from the bottom 

Edinburgh Castle from the memorial 

And if the two amazing views of the city in one day weren't enough, we got another when we made it to the top of Calton Hill; home to about 6 monuments and the city observatory... 

After all of our separate exploring we met up with everyone for dinner (on the menu were Haggis nachos... ew) and then headed to a ghost tour! This tour took place in the "haunted" vaults beneath the city. While the vaults themselves were a little creepy, the ghost stories didn't scare me as much as the people in our group who knew I was a chicken and wanted to mess with me... 

Today was wonderful! I witnessed three different, but equally amazing views of city in one afternoon. At random times throughout the day Sofia and I would look at each other in almost disbelief that we were in Scotland. I am so thankful for the opportunity and so incredibly blessed! 

Tomorrow we will be going on a tour all over Scotland and I cant wait! 

Until Tomorrow... 

Cheers, 

   Becca :) 

Where's Babez?

Today is the day! Scotland here we come! 
But considering we didn't have to leave for the airport until 7, we had the whole day to kill. For Jorie and I that meant going to class and then searching for a place to eat where every item wasn't served with chips... I'm not kidding they come with Everything. I had never wanted a caesar salad so badly in my life... We struck gold in Eddie Rockets (our Johnny Rockets) of all places. I was in heaven. 

After lunch we packed our bags, again unsure of what to bring, and were off to the airport! 

Snack for the road! 

One we got to the airport we had some time to kill, so we went to Burger King and I made friends and got a crown. Everyone in my group thought I was an idiot, but I wore that crown proudly. 

We carried on the "shoe pic" tradition in the airport

It didn't work as well on the plane.... 

** Yes, I am wearing rainboots. It's supposed to rain the whole weekend and they wouldn't fit in my bookbag (the only bag I took). 

So rainboots and all, the 10 of us were off!! 

See ya Dublin! 

I would compare flying with RyanAir to seeing one of those cars out on the road with a "student driver" sticker... we landed on one wheel... No matter the landing, we had made it! We were in Scotland without any major forks in the road! Now we had to figure out how to get to our hostile. The girls lets Paddy take control on this one. 

Meawhile I found my mailbox.... 

Too bad I wasn't wearing my crown! 

Paddy found the correct bus and we were off to Edingburgh Backpackers... Well almost. I seem to have left out one small little detail... before we could go to out hostile we had to find babez. I mentioned earlier that 10 of us where on the flight to Scotland. There were supposed to be 11, but dear ol' babez acidentally booked the 6:30 flight instead of the 22:00 flight like the rest of us (everything here is in military time... that was an adjustment!) So he was in Scotland. All Day. By himself... As if that weren't bad enough, we couldn't get ahold of him... once Sofia had wifi on the bus she recieved this message... 

Sounds promising right? You could say we were all just a little worried about babez... and then this happened.... 

See that blurry splotch? That's babez. Walking the streets of Edinburgh Scotland at 24:30. His gaurdian angel was working overtime today... Once we found him we decided not to push our luck any more and head to the hostile to get some rest. 

Tomorrow we'll be exploring Edinburg! Learning some bagpipes... buying some kilts... you know, the usual. 

Until Tomorrow... 

Cheers, 

   Becca :)