Scottish Highlands

Sorry for the long break.. i'm back from my trip and kinda busy with school.. but i'll be blogging diligently.. as often as i can!.. back to reminiscing about the UK..
.
.

Did i mention i've fallen in love with Scotland? =) It's such a beautiful place, Wei Sing and i certainly have no regrets lengthening our stay.. especially since we had the opportunity to see the Scottish Highlands..

We joined this 1 day tour.. and Kevin our driver and guide brought us on the most unbelievable road trip up the highlands.. I think i'll type less.. and let the photos tell the story..

Searching for Nessie wasn't in our program.. we chose another tour to another Loch instead!

Off we go!

The Scottish Plains (taken from the minibus)

View from outside Stirling Castle.. we didn't go in coz we thought Edinburgh Castle is probably the best already.. haha.. so we took a walk around Stirling itself..

Nice little scenic town..

While we were waiting for Kevin to pick up us.. a 5 min downpour suddenly came down upon us.. (we took shelter in the gift shop).. but when we came out.. this is what we saw.. Rainbow over Stirling Castle!

The storm clouds drifted towards the horizon

Kevin came back to pick us.. but not before a few Zi Pai of coz..

We took a coffee break at the Hamish Cafe. The Cafe is named after Hamish the Highland Cow! He's a superstar! Appearing on T shirts and mugs and magnets etc.. haha.. Highland Cows are gentle giants.. i love the fringe =)

And so after winding through the countryside we finally arrived at our main destination... Loch Lomond. Upon arrival.. we climbed up a hill that oversees Loch Lomond.. we weren't exactly prepared for a hike like this (muddy and steep).. but the climb certainly reminded me of my OCS days.. a climb with a view worth a million dollars..

on the way.. to the top..

And this is what we saw......

The view totally took our breath away.. and we hastily came back down coz a storm looked to be coming our way.. but the unpredictable Scottish weather held.. and it was blue skies again by the time we reached the bottom.. We then made our way to a jetty that was by the Loch..

enjoying the sunshine!

and my favourite shot... thanks Wei Sing!

Discovering that the car plate number of the minibus said NESSIE was just too cool =)


And so i left Loch Lomond feeling like i've caught a glimpse of Heaven.. with Kevin bringing us to the final destination of the day.. a Whisky Distillery!


Whisky, Scotland's National drink!.. I had the chance to try a 10 year Single Malt.. i'm not a Whisky person.. but i had to try it since i'm in Scotland =)



We were shown the entire process of how whisky was made.. i felt the coolest job in the distillery was that of Taster.. =)

The road back to Edinburgh..

Pity this picture was blur.. thats Kevin our Scottish guide!.. Love his accent and jokes.. =)

I though this trip was amazing already.. but it was only getting better..

Liverpool here we come!.. National Express Coach via Manchester

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is incredibly pretty.. i realised that my pictures are really incapable of showing u all how pretty the place is.. seriously. =) Imagine coming out of the train station, being in the heart of the city.. and looking up and seeing a castle! The whole city centre is so compact and nice.. with charming architecture, surrounded by snow-capped hills. The only problem is the unpredictable Scottish weather again! Snowing heavily one moment, glorious sunshine the next..

We arrived in Edinburgh in the night, it was cold and windy so we treated ourselves to a nice Spanish meal at Cafe Andulaz.. Where we got our starters written off the bill coz it was served to the wrong table..

We stayed at Princes Street Backpackers, excellent location.. with nice drawings on the walls =).. i stayed in room G...


The next morning, we woke up to heavy snow outside the window (?!?!?).. but when we were leaving the place.. the snow had stopped.. and melted along the streets.. everything was wet.. and glistening =)

Hot chocolate and Banana Muffin for breakfast.. the life..

Apparently this is where Rowling wrote Harry Potter (which book i dunno)

Edinburgh Castle overlooks the city, and it is also the place that Wei Sing and i spent the bulk of the day in..

Snowing all of a sudden?!

The huge mother of all cannons!

Edinburgh Castle used to be where Scottish Royalty used to stay.. Defended by high walls and cannon batteries. Now it houses many museums and the Scottish Crown Jewels.


The 1 o'clock gun, that fires everyday except sunday, Good Friday and Easter.. and has been doing so for about 150 years (as far as i can remember!)

After spending the entire afternoon in the Castle, we rounded off the day by walking around trying to explore the city..

Must be cold wearing kilts

Greyfriars Bobby

St Andrew's Ale =)

Next entry.. The Scottish Highland Tour.. (but u'll have to wait till i come back from Stockholm and Copenhagen!)