Scotland in one shot...

Scotland has literally everything to offer an individual... provided that you are willing to withstand the chilly winters in Europe...
I started my Scottish trip out in Scotland's capital and definitely most charming city, Edinburgh. Edinburgh is such a gorgeous city with cobblestone walls and literally elderly buildings and of course the castle. Lottie and I did the tourist thing my first day here which was really wonderful. We took a tour of the castle and walked around The Meadows, etc. But the most exciting part of my first weekend here was celebrating Lottie's birthday. We went out with all her "mates" to a club called The Jam House. I was expecting a regular club with hip hop music and such which I am not usually the biggest fan of. But it was totally not like that. They had a live band that played loads of mainstream varieties from old 70's to current favs. We did LOADS of dancing and I really enjoyed myself! As you can see...





Next stop, GLASGOW. Glasgow is Scotland's most populated city, and could not be more different than Edinburgh. It's really busy and FULL of a much younger crowd. My friend Thom whom Emi and I met in Guatemala lives in Glasgow, so we met up with him for a beer which was a wonderful little treat. Although we all ended up having intense politically debates all evening... I guess the problems with drunks are the same worldwide. Thom ended the evening with a "wonderful to see you again, Krissie... see you again... never!?" UGH - why do boys have to be so realistic? BAH!



Loch Lomond was next on our Scotsdale trek! For those of you who don't know, Loch in Scottish means LAKE... and they get immensely offended when you use lake in its place.... ok!? Anyways, the LOCH Lomond is really tremendously gorgeous. Our hostel was little a castle - HUGE! AND sooooo pretty from the outside... inside... ariiiight... but outside incredible. In fact, the inside is quite a bit eery. We arrived around 11AM and there wasn't ANYONE in sight! SO strange! We wandered around the entire building which was huge, as you can imagine. NOBODY. Just birds chirping. So weird. We waited about 25 mins and eventually a guy came and let us in saying they weren't a 24 hour hostel and that they kick everyone out during the day. They actually make you do touristy things. I guess that doesn't entirely suck since the area is really terrific. Until you start chatting to some Dutch guys who don't know when to give in... other than that ;)




Lottie's family is remarkably wonderful. Her parents have been together since they were about our age and they have only just now decided to get married. It's really romantic, if you ask me. They are also quite hilarious together - bantering back and forth and teasing each other constantly. I really hope that I can find a shaving of that kind of relationship one of these days. Growing up Lottie and her fam annually took their 'holidays' up to Northern Scotland to a little wee island called Iona. It's literally like 3 square miles and totally adorable. Quite the trek to get out there too... bus, train, another bus, TWO ferries... WHEW! WORTH it though!!! The pictures say all! It was so quiet and gorgeous. And Lottie got to "recharge her battery", as she would say :) The hostel was incredibly gorgeous and probably the nicest one I have stayed in - HOWEVER, the people that it attracted were a very eccentric bunch. The island is a really religious place because it hads this amazing Abbey. So, you get quite a large number of devout Christians and some can be... well, INTERESTING! But I wouldn't change a bit. It was an wonderful experience and I am so, so, so, so grateful to Lottie for sharing it!