Zion's Scotland Blog Week 3: Mountains, Valleys, and Lakes Oh My!

 

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's already been three weeks! I'm definitely going to miss Edinburgh when I have to leave, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't missing home (and I'm definitely missing the free laundry and no conversion rates). 

    This week was a little tame compared to my other weeks as I had an essay due this week, but I still managed to travel to Dalmeny, Glencoe, and Loch Ness. I also went to the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens and The Scottish National History Museum!

Our trip to the Highlands on Thursday was lots of fun! We got to see the three sisters of Glencoe and go on a short walk in the area. It was truly so beautiful! The landscape was rolling hills of green and up close you could see the different wildflowers growing in the area (I also saw a slug).

Then we got on the bus and headed over to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness Lake to explore the area. Urquhart Castle was really cool and it's kind of hard to imagine how thousands of cattle, people, and even pigeons once lived there (the last owners blew it up so the Jacobites couldn't take it). The lake was also beautiful, but alas no Loch Ness monster.

The next day we went to Sotland's National History Museum and the Botanical Gardens. The museum is free, which is awesome, and is absolutely huge! We were only able to complete the first and lower level of the museum as we were tired from all the travel the day before, so I definitely have to go back at some point. Then we went to the botanical gardens and it was beautiful and moody since it was raining!

 The next day after hearing some hype from my classmates about it's three bridges I went to Dalmeny! I almost walked 30,000 walking all around Dalmeny to Inverleithing and then back and walking some more. It was so windy, but honestly so much fun! There were raspberries growing on the side of the roads, red brick buildings, and with the dark turquoise ocean it honestly was just such a serene image!

Here's what I'm looking forward to this week: An overnight trip to the Lake District and an overnight trip to London!