Highlands Tour and Ghost Walk

Wednesday July 29^th- Today was a long, exhausting yet utterly fabulous day! A few of us decided to take a tour of the Scottish Highlands and I think I speak for the group when I say we saw some of the most amazing and beautiful sights that we had ever seen.

Where to begin… We started our morning with a visit to Hamish, the Heilan’ Coo (that’s Highland Cow for all you Americans). He was certainly a sight to behold, one of the many mascots of Scotland and the Highlands. We then began to make our way up into the Highland where we took in some breath-taking sights, check out the misty mountains.

By early afternoon we had made it to Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. It was raining when we got there but as we walked around the grounds the rain stopped, the fog lifted, and we were able to see the whole of Loch Ness (which stretches out over approximately 24 miles). So beautiful.

We also took a boat ride on Loch Ness and we kept a lookout for Nessie, unfortunately she was too crafty and evaded us. The tale of the Loch Ness Monster is a great one and I look forward to sharing my pictures and stories with the kids at the library when I return to the States.

As we made our way back down into Edinburgh, we were treated to even more wonderful sights; how the scenery became even more beautiful with each passing mile is beyond me, but it did. I am officially in love with Scotland!

Believe it or not, our day got even cooler once we arrived back in Edinburgh. A bunch of the group put on a brave face and decided to take a ghost tour. We were treated to spooky tales of ghosts and ghouls who apparently still haunt Edinburgh today. We were even taken down into “the Vault”, an area below South Bridge which at one time (almost 200 years ago) served as storage and work space for many merchants of Edinburgh. However, after flooding and a few too many unfortunate accidents, the Vault was closed although many a poor person found themselves lost down there, never to be found again…

The Vault under the South Bridge is said to be one of the most haunted places in all of Scotland and many a visitor has had a ghostly encounter…

A great end to another amazing day!