"Aye, Scotland!"

Last weekend Whitney and I went north to Scotland. I think it is my favorite place thus far. London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and all other excursions were fun, but nothing compared to the natural beauty of the highlands of Scotland!
Whitney arrived (exhausted) in London on Wednesday. I met her at the train station hugging her as tight as possible. I couldn't believe she was actually here! We got to my flat and she met my roommates who instantly fell in love with her. (They told me so!) I took her on a quick tour around London seeing Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Westminster, the Thames, Big Ben, 10 Downing St., the theater district (West End), and took a ride on the London Eye. We later joined one of my classes for dinner and a theater performance (Blood Brothers). We went to an authentic English pub, where the food tasted amazing and then the theater which turned out to be a very good musical. Later we brought Whitney to her hostel for the night. Next day, while I was in class, Whitney went to the British museum, Oxford St., and the surrounding area on her own. (She became adventuresome quite quickly!) With my roommates and Whitney, we went to the famous Harrod's department store and drooled over the ever increasing rooms of specialty chocolate, baked goods, butcher meats, teas, candies, and ice cream rooms! (YUM!) Whitney and I came back and packed and left for the train station where we began our journey to Scotland.
It was Whitney's first time on a train, so the transportation itself became an attraction! After barely sleeping through the night (left London at 12am and arrived in Edinburgh 7:15 am) we had breakfast and joined our tour group for our three day adventure to the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye.
Our tour guide, Colin, was really knowledgeable and funny. He was in his mid twenties so Whitney and I teased him throughout the whole trip because he kind of felt like our big brother. He started calling us the "Troublesome Twosome" saying that he knew we were trouble from the start! We saw so many things, read so much Gaelic, and heard so many myths I cannot begin to list everything we did on the trip (see photos for a small sampling!). One big event for Whitney and I was to conquer ordering our first alcoholic beverage. We were so inexperienced when ordering, that the bar tender smiled and handed us a guide to bar drinks and cocktails. We felt pretty silly! We quickly learned what we did and didn't like (I hate whiskey!). We liked Haggis Sunrise and Messy Nessies as well as Magners Irish cider. Whitney also fell in love with sticky toffee pudding. (A toffee flavored dense and sticky cakes that has raisins inside usually served warm with custard. A basic English dessert). We also went to a clansman show where we were taught about highland lifestyle, weaponry, and the multi-purpose kilt. After demonstrating the uses of a kilt, I was almost convinced to wear one myself! We also skipped stones in a loch (lake), toured a medieval castle that is still inhabited, searched for the Loch Ness monster, reached the top of the Isle of Sky, heard "singing fairies" at the glen waterfall, walked on Calodin battle field, visited William Wallace Monument, achieved eternal beauty when dunking our heads in an enchanted river for 7 seconds, and laughed at the US national anthem rendition Whitney and I so poorly sang. We have very fond memories of our time together. I will never forget the amount of times Whitney and I said how beautiful it was. I love mountains for how humbling they are and we definitely felt that as well as Christ's love while we were there. His creation is so beautiful and perfect. We couldn't understand how any person could see this and not love Him back! We learned so much about Scotland, each other, and God whilst we were there. I miss Whitney very much now that she is home. I'm so grateful for the time we had together and the many, MANY laughs that will be talked about for a lifetime.