My final blog of the UK...yay!! Scotland was a a great way to end our trip. We arrived in the city around 5 and made our way to the B&B. It rained that night, so we took a cab there and by the time we unpacked our bags and chatted with our hosts it stopped raining. Steve and I packed our umbrellas and headed out to explore a little. We didn't stay in the old town where all the touristy things are so we just explored new town a little. We ate at a great little Italian restaurant near our B&B. The crazy thing about Scotland during the time we were there was that it didn't get dark until around 10:30 which was great for us. The down side was it got light there around 2:30AM!! The first morning I woke up thinking it was around 7AM only to find our it was 2:30. It took a little getting used to but after all our walking we crashed pretty easily each night. Anyways, the first night we saw the Sir Walter Scott Monument. We didn't venture up the 200 something stairs but it was a stunning monument. 
The next day we walked over to the Edinburgh castle at the top of the Royal Mile. We had a very lively tour guide who took us around the castle as he told interesting stories that we never would have known wondering around on our own. It is really amazing to think about people building this castle on the side of a cliff.
While we were visiting there was also a small parade that had bagpipers. We were so excited to hear the bagpipes but by day 4 we had had enough!! Every place we went had someone playing the bagpipes and more often than not they were not good. 
In order to see more of Scotland, we took an all day trip into the highlands. Our driver was a young guy who was very interesting himself. We stopped to see Hamish the Hairy "Coo." (aka cow) He was quite cute. In the highlands, the cows have adapted to the harsh weather. The long hair protects their eyes and keeps them warm during the long winters. The highlands are also covered with sheep. These are a few of the friends we made along the way ;o) There little black faces were so adorable. 
Our farthest stop on the highlands tour was the infamous Loch Ness. We ate lunch next to the loch keeping our eyes peeled for Nessie and even took the boat tour to hear all the Nessie stories. We left a little disappointed but the Loch is truly beautiful. 
Our last day, we decided to take a tour of the Underground City. A little creepy but still fun to explore. The only way to see the underground is to pay to go on a tour...a haunted tour. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate scary things. Well, our tour guide did her job well because she scared my silly. The underground is not well lit and the stories she told led my imagination to wonder a bit. I was happy to see daylight although it wasn't much daylight because it was raining. 
The next day we walked over to the Edinburgh castle at the top of the Royal Mile. We had a very lively tour guide who took us around the castle as he told interesting stories that we never would have known wondering around on our own. It is really amazing to think about people building this castle on the side of a cliff. While we were visiting there was also a small parade that had bagpipers. We were so excited to hear the bagpipes but by day 4 we had had enough!! Every place we went had someone playing the bagpipes and more often than not they were not good. In order to see more of Scotland, we took an all day trip into the highlands. Our driver was a young guy who was very interesting himself. We stopped to see Hamish the Hairy "Coo." (aka cow) He was quite cute. In the highlands, the cows have adapted to the harsh weather. The long hair protects their eyes and keeps them warm during the long winters. The highlands are also covered with sheep. These are a few of the friends we made along the way ;o) There little black faces were so adorable. Our farthest stop on the highlands tour was the infamous Loch Ness. We ate lunch next to the loch keeping our eyes peeled for Nessie and even took the boat tour to hear all the Nessie stories. We left a little disappointed but the Loch is truly beautiful. Our last day, we decided to take a tour of the Underground City. A little creepy but still fun to explore. The only way to see the underground is to pay to go on a tour...a haunted tour. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate scary things. Well, our tour guide did her job well because she scared my silly. The underground is not well lit and the stories she told led my imagination to wonder a bit. I was happy to see daylight although it wasn't much daylight because it was raining. 
We spent the rest of our last day wondering the Royal Mile and picking up a few souvenirs. We had a long and very busy vacation. We are very fortunate to travel as much as we do. I know these are memories that will last a lifetime. I'm already trying to figure out where to go next but the little one will be going with us. Two weeks was too long without her. We also want to travel with friends. I love traveling with Steve because we do travel so well together but it was so nice to have Hart and Valerie with us for a bit. Friends will only add the to memories and the stories.Off to fix dinner for the family and stop reminiscing about our travels!
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