Loch Ness Bus Tour

Today we went on a bus tour through the Scottish Highlands up to Loch Ness. I'm really glad we did this since Zach really wanted to see Loch Ness and I didn't put it on the itinerary and told him I didn't think it was possible since it's a 5 hour drive. Our first stop on the tour was to see Hamish the Highlands cow (or a Hielan' Coo as the Scots say)  The picture of some safety cones is actually Hamish and Honey as we drove away. You can kinda see them. They look like the cows on the postcard I'm holding up. By far my favorite part of the trip!!!!! I then fell asleep until we stopped at Glen Coe, the Valley of Weeping. (The third picture) we got out and took some great photos. Learned some sad history of the place though! 200 people were slaughtered there by the English during some clan vs England stuff. I was kind of sleeping when our guide was telling the story... So all of the pictures of me there are me looking much too happy while on the sight of a massacre. From there we made our way to Loch Ness after stopping for lunch along the way where we got Zach a nice sweater.
In the gift shop before going into Urquhart castle ruins, I bought some postcards and had a huge moment of panic where i couldn't find my wallet. Zach managed to calm me down and convince me I had put it in his sweater bag that was on the bus. (Thank goodness it was and nothing was stolen). We went and looked around the castle ruins, which were amazing. I am convinced that they have rainbow making machines all around because we saw 5 or 6 perfect rainbows. So beautiful.
After looking around the castle we got on a mini cruise boat that took us all around Loch Ness. It was pretty chilly but wonderful. The day started out gray and rainy but by the time we got to Loch Ness it was sunny and much warmer. We've had really good luck with weather so far!
Tomorrow we move into our fancy hotel for the night and then off to the zoo!  We're having great fun. Love to all.

Calton Hill

This morning we want to the portrait gallery, which I've already written about! From there we walked to Calton Hill. Wow. What a huge hill. Before leaving Madison we climbed the bluffs at Devil's Lake;  it felt a bit like we were Climbing it again! Very steep. Finally we got to the top for a fantastic view over Edinburgh and beyond to rolling hills. It was terribly chilly up there with strong winds. Up there was also a Parthenon monument, which Zach really enjoyed. From there we went to the Scottish National Museum. We saw some Van Goughs and Kandinskys. By that time we were really tired and headed home. We (embarrassingly) stopped at a Subway for some sandwiches. I ordered mine in a slight British accent. Hee hee. I'm sure I sounded ridiculous. I've been thinking totally in an accent and been slipping into speaking in one to Zach, who lovingly accepts it and doesn't mention it. I took a nap when we got back to the hotel and now we're watching telly before bed. Tomorrow we head to Loch Ness bright and early!

favorite things and disappointments

I'll start by saying today's disappointment and end with my favorite thing so far. We walked down to the Portrait gallery (where we still are) and it was a bit disappointing. It was advertised that portraits of Karen Gilligan, David Tennant, and J K Rowling would be here but to no avail! We couldn't Find them and there weren't any postcards of them Or anything. A bit of a bummer.
Before we head back out on today's adventure, I will say my favorite UK thing so far: their bathrooms. Seriously their public bathrooms are amazing. The stalls are little rooms with walls from floor to ceiling so, for the shy pee-er like myself, there's no fear of someone hearing you! Wonderful!

Finally internet!

We finally have internet in our room! Thank goodness. Zach and I arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday after a very uncomfortable trip. My hips were a bit too wide for the airplane seat so it was impossible to get comfortable at all and my hip cramped up ever other moment.  But finally we arrived at our hotel around midday. (After adventerously taking the bus from the airport to the hotel!) We checked in no problem. We walked around a bit and found a cute little sandwich shop. We headed back to the hotel and took a nap since we were so exhausted. We woke up around 6 and headed back out for more food! We got some fish and chips, which we took back to the hotel and devoured while watching Scottish TV. We managed to stay awake till around 10 and then passed out. On Wednesday we got up bright and early and, after having a delicious breakfast at the hotel, headed out to Edinburgh castle. After a long walk up several hills, we finally found the entrance and bought our tickets. The castle sits on a huge rock so that once you get up to the viewpoint along its walls, you can see all of Edinburgh. Quite a site. From there we went to the Camera obscura and World of Illusions. That place was quite fun and had a bunch of weird things to play with. After that we walked down the Royal Mile and got a pint of Scottish ale and bought some presents for our friends. Today I was in charge of the alarm... which was a mistake. We ended up missing breakfast and, at noon, have only just started getting out of bed! Oh well. We had a hard day yesterday and tomorrow we have to get up early for our bus tour to loch ness! Today it's to the Scottish portrait gallery and Calton hill!
Love to all!