Finding myself at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh
We had a wonderful trip to Scotland! It began in Edinburgh and visiting the Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum, and Greyfriar's Kirkyard, to name a few stops. Eating is one thing we always look forward to when traveling, so we went on a fun food tour where we sampled haggis, a Scotch egg (which is a soft-boiled egg wrapped with haggis and fried), and some very nice whiskey. Haggis is actually quite good and unfortunately gets a very bad rep in the United States.
The high-pitched twang of bagpipe music filled the air from buskers in full Highland garb while we strolled the ancient city streets. Edinburgh offers so much to do and see that there's no way one can see it all in a week. You could easily spend two weeks or more just to take in all the old sights like Roslyn Chapel, Holyrood Palace (if it's open), the botanical gardens; all things we didn't have time for or couldn't get into.
Cowgate in Old Town Edinburgh
After rambling around the cobblestones of 'Old Reekie', we drove up to Inverness to take in the scenic Highlands. We were lucky enough to happen upon the annual 'Gordon Castle Highland Games' just about an hour east of Inverness where we witnessed the largest gathering of the Gordon Setter dog breed (90+ pups), watched young people compete to be the best Highland Dancer, had some excellent fish-&-chips, and watched large men try to throw logs and rocks as far as they could. The competitors even tried throwing 56 lb blocks 15 ft in the air over a bar, backwards, over their heads. I would have no shoulder left.
Young people at the Highland Dance Competition
We took a day for the Culloden Battlefield (I love Outlander!), then drove to Loch Ness to visit the monster and Urquhart Castle. Did you know Loch Ness is twice as deep as the North Sea?! It lies along a giant fault, a portion of which was then scooped out by glaciers in the last ice age.
One of the stones marking the gravesites of the many Highlanders that died on the Culloden Battlefield in 1746
Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness
The day we drove out to the Isle of Skye was incredible and the Western Scotland landscape absolutely majestic in all its stark beauty. The mountains are very old and eroded but still stand so high and are incredibly intimidating without any tree or houses on them.
In fact, the Cuillin Mountains are the same mountain chain as the Appalachians. They were formed during the same orogeny, then broke apart as the continents spread during the Atlantic opening. Pretty cool, right?!
We ended our trip by spending the last full day wandering around Inverness. A beautiful town that happens to be Northern Scotlands largest city whose largest industry is diabetes test kits (who knew?).
Inverness apparently means 'Mouth of the River Ness', and it actually has little islands in the river where people can walk, sit on benches, and enjoy the life. The weather was a little cloudy and rainy when we first arrived, but once the sun came out, the city just shined!
Beautiful Inverness on a lovely day
Old graveyard in Inverness
If you ever get a chance to visit Scotland, I highly recommend it. Not only is there interesting military history (the English REALLY wanted to own Scotland!), but there are archaeological sites and artifacts dating from the Iron Age and Bronze Age all over the country. I don't know about you, but I love ancient history and trying to imagine how people lived without all the modern luxuries and conveniences we have today.
Thank you for reading about my trip to Scotland! If you have any questions about it or anything, shoot it to me at info@GeophiliaStudio.com.
