Welcome to the Highlands! Destination: Loch Ness & Fort Augustus

We finally did it! We took a trek into the Scottish Highlands! More specifically to go to Loch Ness and Fort Augustus which are pretty far North.
The day started off by hopping on a coach bus and departing at 8AM sharp.
We were travelling with Student Tours Scotland, a tour company for students featuring one man - Gary Brown. Gary is an awesome guy to say the least, he's very enthusiastic about Scotland and the tours and tells lots and lots of stories. He organises and runs tours every weekend that go all over Scotland to different areas and landmarks. All that jazz. And he only has 3 rules:
1. Always make sure you pay
2. Make sure you have fun
3. Just don't die.
You do those and you're set for your trip.

So we set sail for Loch Ness at 8am. By the time we stopped once for a 1/2hr coffee/bathroom break and again for a quick bathroom break it had taken us about 4 1/2 hours to get to our first destination, Urquhart Castle. There wasn't a whole lot left of the castle, but it was still being worked on to preserve it  and it was pretty cool. We had about an hour to see the castle and gift shop (what's a castle without a gift shop right?) before we had to get back on the bus. Oh, and we went do to the waters edge... so I can proudly say I've had my hands in Loch Ness :P  And I know what you're thinking 'Did you see Nessie??'  The answer is yes, however for legal reasons we weren't allowed to take pictures, sorry.

 This is the top of the mound you walk down to go to the castle. That wooden stick thing in the distance is a giant catapult.

Gary was telling us that at one point there were about 3000+ castles in Scotland but now there is only 375. A lot of them were destroyed and pulled apart by the Scots - simply to prevent the English from taking them over and using them against the Scottish.

Next after the castle we got back on the bus and headed back to a little town called Fort Augustus where we went to this lady's (Ginny) B&B / farm. We had free time to roam around, take pictures and pet the animals which included horses and the ever so famous Highland cows AKA 'Hairy coos'. This lady's property was absolutely gorgeous. Situated right on Loch Ness. It was so peaceful and we could not of asked for a better day.

The main attraction was definitely the 4 highland cows. Everyone loved them and lots of pictures were taken of and with the cows. We were allowed to pet them but had to be careful of their horns because that's what they use to scratch (and defend) themselves. I didn't get too close because big animals make me nervous but the one behind me in the picture is the Bull (he didn't enjoy being touched), and the one off the the right is his girl. She could be pet but the bull didn't seem too thrilled about it.

Here we have Amanita Muscaria - a super poisonous mushroom. Not really seen in Canada so I thought I'd take a picture of it.

 

Following the B&B/Farm adventure we had time to wander Fort Augustus. There wasn't much there besides a tiny little (expensive) highland shop, a few places to eat and the locks that lead into Loch Ness. This picture is just up one of the streets where we stopped for food - before we realized we didn't have time for a sit-down meal.




This is the last lock in the canal before Loch Ness. In Scotland 'Loch' means Lake - so all the lakes are named Loch _________. Apparently there is even one called Loch Loch, meaning Lake Lake, because not everyone is creative... And 'Inver' means 'On the banks of' so Inverness means 'On the banks of Lock Ness'.

 All in all it was a beautiful day and fantastic trip into the highlands. My advice for anyone who comes to Scotland is to see the highlands at some point because if you don't.... not only have you failed this country, but you've failed yourself as a Scotland tourist.
The drive back was just as gorgeous, if not moreso, than the trip up - especially with the sunset. It took about 3.5 hours to get back which wasn't bad and totally worth it.
I took pictures of the mountains as we were driving up and I tried to be the best photographer I could while sitting on a bus so I hope you enjoy my pictures of some of the mountains and try not to mind the reflections!

I think my next Highland trip will be the Glencoe Tour because that's when Gary actually takes you for a nice little hike up one of the mountains in Glencoe and that's pretty cool. Glencoe is also home to a ski resort (Alpine Centre). It's not very big, but you can mountain bike too and all sorts of stuff. May have to hit that up at some point!

Until Next Time,

T.

My Birthday in Scotland!

Yesterday was my birthday. And it was Grrrrrrrrreat!

Started off by walking to the Queen Street Train Station to meet Brittany who had come in from Edinbrugh to see Glasgow (and me of course ;) and we went for a walk through the city centre before starting to shop. Now I don't know if y'all have ever heard of the store Primark before but it is dangerous. Nice clothes for VERY nice prices. I was looking for a dress and found one... but decided to wait and see if I could find one at Forever 21 (which is 3 levels) or the widely advertised student lock-in sale at the mall that night.
I found 2 dresses at Forever 21 that I loved and bought the one that I figured I could where more places. Oh! And this headband to keep my ears warm when it gets cold out - it's very cute with a 3-rose accent on it :) So overall very happy with my birthday purchases.
Next I showed Brittany our school and accommodations then we met Alex and wandered over to the Necropolis cemetery behind the Cathedral we had been to earlier. This place was HUUUUGE and was the resting place of many, many families back in the 1800s. As you went around and got higher up the burial tombs and tombstones/statues got bigger and bigger. It was insane, and provided an awesome view of the cathedral city. 




We headed back after that to the residence to eat something and get ready before meeting others for dinner. I was going to wear my new dress but opted not to because I didn't want to be cold walking back down through the city centre.
In total 12 of us gathered for a birthday dinner at TGI Fridays... I know, not exactly Scottish cuisine...but it's MY birthday! It was really nice, even though I was so far away from home, having dinner with a bunch of friends was so much fun and I couldn't of asked for a better birthday in Scotland! They had a French-Canadian burger on the menu which had maple syrup on it! I think 4 people ordered it! (I didn't, sorry. I opted for The Black & Blue Angus burger - which was sooo good and had blue cheese on it).
Towards the end I gave a small semi-sentimental speech about 'being so far away from home on my birthday and being so glad that I could celebrate with a bunch of wicked cool people...and something about our 'international family'... all that jazz. So we toasted and then the wait staff brought me a giant piece of chocolate cake which I shared :) Yea, it was awesome.

Dinner! On the left: Me, Brittany, Nina, Julie. Left: Alex, Lauren , Ian, Jared, Antje & Isabella!
Missing: Shayna & Holly (but they were there for dinner)

After dinner a few of us headed for the lock-in sale at the mall. It really wasn't good. It was soooo crowded with students from all the universities that we left shortly after going in. But on the plus side - we met batman!

 Myself & Brittany 
       & Batman :)

So I walked Brittany to the train station and waited for her train -sharing our opinions and experiences of being here so far away from everyone and settling in. 

I then met up with Lauren and Nina and we walked home...but not without stopping for chocolate milk first. 

I was exhausted by the time I got home and was overall thrilled with my Birthday and was surprised to have received easily 50+ birthday emails from lots and lots of people at home. 

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and support. It was awesome. :)

T.

I'm back! Sorry for the delay! Classes have commenced! (&other stuff)

Hi! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted with a bunch of random pictures. It hasn't been terribly exciting here. Just some wandering around the city and preparing for classes which started yesterday!

I only had one because seminars don't start in first week - except for on lecturer who did hold seminars... that was media analysis 2 and from the looks of it will reflect a class I took last year at Brock - Popular Culture Theory and Research Methods. So I am assuming it won't be too too difficult. They have this new system in place where you have to swipe your student card every time you go into a class (lecture, seminar, tutorial, etc). Apparently research has shown that academic performance is linked to attendance...surprise surprise. But for right now it is just for research and statistical purposes I believe so we don't get marked negatively if we don't show up for lecture - which we shouldn't anyways because it is the student's responsibility to go to class and get everything done....but that's another debate. So yea, went to the class, pretty much the same system as Home-Sweet-BrockU. Although! One more weird thing... during my 2 hr media analysis lecture we change lecture rooms after the first hour and have to walk down 2 flights of stairs before we pick back up in a new room. That's kind of odd.
Today the timetable schedule let me down :( It said our lecture was at 1pm without a room #, so I emailed the prof asking where it was and he emailed me back telling me the room number. He failed to mention that the class was at 12pm... not 1pm although he claimed he told me in the email when I explained to him why I missed it. Oh well, he was nice about it - briefly explained what he went over and that it was just basic introductory stuff.
Sooooo, in spite of battling a stupid Scottish cold (there's no difference, I just call it Scottish because of being in Scotland), I did some grocery shopping where bought some real food and spent less than I thought I would *thumbs up*.
I also went and paid for a tour to Loch Ness & Fort Augustus this weekend! That should be fun and scenic, a lot of other international friends are going so it will be nice to be their with a big group of people that I actually know. So stay tuned for pictures from that!
On top of that trip, the following weekend (Oct 4th-6th) myself, Alex and Shayna are going to Paris (France) for the weekend! I am very excited, it should be a world of fun!
Mom and Dad are coming on the 18th - that is what I am most excited for at this point. Even made myself a countdown!

 We found Mickey and Minnie wandering the streets of Glasgow one night... not sure why they're there or where they came from (there's no Disneyland in Scotland) but they were on the move. Thus, the blurry iphone picture.

This is a pint of WEST beer. It wasn't the greatest beer but I didn't pay for it. :p I like the glass mug though.

 Here on an excursion to a very big park in Scotland with a couple of friends, we found a small Royal Botanical Garden and Scottish Museum (free admission, always). The garden was pretty and the museum was more or less about growing up in Scotland I think back in the 30s or 40s? Anyways, there was info and displays about drinking and crime and prison and women and household stuff - it was really neat.

Myself, Isabella & Nina in front of a Fountain outside of the Museum.

I've got pictures!

So I've taken lots of pictures but haven't blogged about it so I've just decided to post a bunch of them up and say something about them. This makes it a little less random because I am explaining the randomness of a bunch of little events.

This Crabbie bus shows up on campus with alcoholic ginger beer. I haven't had any but it's usually parked somewhere different everyday.










So I asked about hotdogs in this country and was told they exist but aren't as common or eaten as much as in North America. Well I found them in the grocery store... in a can in brine. I didn't buy them because that just sounds gross.
 I guess I'll have to wait till Christmas to get a proper hotdog.

 

So this is the movie theatre AKA Cineworld and I though it would be a super cool job to be those guys hanging off the side of the building putting up the advertisement for the new movie. I know that's not terribly exciting but it wasn't a very exciting day.

So here I walked all the way down to the river and found a walking bridge. A very nice one at that. I didn't actually walk across it because I was by myself and had stuff to do - plus the other side didn't look very exciting.

















Bridge view from the side.














A view in the city centre. But since the exposure from the bright sky was so bright it makes everything else look dark.

So we went to St. Mungo's Cathedral yesterday! It is the only cathedral in Scotland to survive the reformation. It was absolutely immaculate and incredible to see in and read about the history of the cathedral and the reformation in Scotland. They still have mass weekly there which is very cool.
See more pictures below!

Everything was pristine and so nice to look at. So much detail.

Stained glass windows everywhere with incredible amounts of detail.

"Lower church"

This is the necropolis - a huge cemetery behind the cathedral. We didn't go through it yet but it's very big and on a hill.

On our way to the Museum of Modern Art we stopped at an Espresso Bar called Tinderbox. Very posh.

This is the Glasgow Museum of Modern art.  We went in it about 40 minutes before closing so we didn't see everything but it's free admission so we'll be back.
I'm more of a fan of traditional art but it was cool either way. I like reading about the artists.

Three level oval roof in the museum.

 These are a couple professional pictures from a club we went to one night. It was a lot of fun and I love the pictures.



Me & Holly

A group of us from Cale Court.

Alex & Me

This one is my favourite :)

Myself, Alex & Holly