Wild and Sexy Skye

As I walk along these shores
I am the history within
As I climb the mountainside
Breaking Eden again (Runrig)

At Oh dark thirty on Monday (yes that is the second oh dark thirty in a row) I woke up and caught a train to Edinburgh, where the Skye High Haggis tour was leaving. There were twenty people on my tour, most of them were Australian who were on summer holiday. Our first stop was at Dunkeld Cathedral, and we stopped in Kingussie for lunch. One of my favorite places from day one was Culloden Moor. Yes, I know that it is just a big battlefield, but it was the site of the final Jacobite rebellion, where Bonnie Prince Charlie and his not so fine leadership skills, led the last battle before the English finally stopped and eventually dissipated the entire highland culture: they banned the Scots language and the wearing of Kilts (sadness!!) I know it is weird to say that a battlefield is beautiful, but it was. We kept venturing north to Inverness, where we stopped at Loch Ness. Unfortunately, I did not find Nessie. Another stop as the sun started setting was at Urquhart Castle. We stayed our first night in Fort Augustus, where the guys who owned the hostel had made us Haggis with potatoes (along with Chili for those who were not so keen on the Haggis). There was even live music the first night!!

Day two:
We woke up and saw the morning light over Loch Ness and searched one last time for Nessie, with no such luck. The next stop was at Eliean Donan Castle, the "famous castle" that is in all of the movies, such as Braveheart, Highlander, and my personal favorite- Made of Honor. Then we went over to Skye for the day. it was so beautiful, stopped somewhere for Lunch- it was a quaint little harbor town. Then we went up to Storr, which is the name of a peak (i think). There is a legend which says that an old man and his wife used to climb up this peak everyday to admire the view, and when they got old, the fairies (who are also present on skye) turned them to stone so they culd admire the view together forever. But we climbed to the top of this peak, and once again, I felt like I was on top of the world. it is kind of a cool feeling, to look at the sea and the mountains around me. Oh, and on this peak, we had a SNOWBALL fight!!! Jealous? You should be. Night two at the hostel included certain card games and a dance party! Yes, theme number two: dance parties :) I love them.

Day Three:
The last day of the trip seemed to be the busiest. We saw Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland. We stopped in Glencoe, which was the site of another massacre. But the landscape was beautiful. And we stopped in Fort William, a place I had actually been before, to see Inverlochy castle ruins. Had lunch at the Green Welly Shop, which is something that I pass on the way to Oban. We saw Hamish, the Hairy Coo (yes pronounced that way!) and our last top was in Stirling at the Wallace Monument. I still maintain that Stirling has been one of my favorite cities. We arrived back in Edinburgh around five, and I caught the train back to Glasgow.

It was really nice to come back to Glasgow. it's nice to feel like Im coming home and catch up with everyone in my flat. I made Shells and Cheese (yes from the box) and enlightened Claire (the Mac and Cheese expert) to the fabulousness of Shells and Cheese.

Skye was excellent, and a great adventure for the last few weeks of my life here. it is cool when you learn about a place in a classroom, and then you can go and see the places where all of this history happened. Nerd moment, I know. But still.
Until my next adventure,
Love
Rach :)
xx