More Museums and...Scotland!!!

For our British Experience Seminar class we have weekly assignments where we go to some place in the city and explore it.  Last week we were to go visit the Museum of London.  I wasn't sure what to expect because I had already gone to the British Natural Museum and there was just soooo much information to absorb that it was overwhelming!!

But the Museum of London turned out to be great!!!  It went through the history of London, beginning with ancient times up to modern times.  They had specific exhibits about the various wars that the country was a part of, as well as ones describing the Plague and the great fire that destroyed much of the city.  It was a really great way to learn about the history of the country that I am staying in.  They just have soooo much more history than the United States, because London has been around a lot longer!

Sights inside the Museum of London

My excitement from visiting the Museum of London was definitely overshadowed by what I did this weekend.  I went to Scotland!!!!

Along with my roommate Anna and three other girls in the program we all booked a tour to Scotland.  We took around a 5 hour train ride to get to the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.  We had to get up at 4:45 A.M. on Friday morning to make it to the train on time but it was worth it.

Once we arrived we took a 2 hour sightseeing tour around the center of the city.  Our tour guide was Robin and he came out wearing a kilt and holding bagpipes! Not something you see everyday...but he was very funny, as all of the tour guides I have had so far have been.  On the tour we saw castles, monuments and other tourist attractions and Robin even played his bagpipes!!

Robin, our tour guide

Once the tour ended we could explore the city on our own.  We walked around downtown and looked at all the shops and sights.  We ended up going to an art gallery and looking at the paintings and sculptures for awhile.  There was even a Van Gogh and other very popular artists on display.

Because we had woken up so early that morning we went to bed REALLY quickly...which was good because we had to be ready to leave our bed and breakfast (which was really cute) by 7:45 the next morning.  We were going to see NESSIE!!!!

We took a tour bus to the highlands of Scotland and it was beautiful!  The landscape was just so pretty and I took way too many pictures...my camera died before the end of our tour  :(  But it was OK since all my friends also had cameras.  But we traveled all over Scotland, go through rain, snow and sun, while our bus driver was spitting out tons of facts at us.  We got to see Hamish and Heather, two Highland Coos (or cows), they were soooo cute!

Beautiful Scottish Landscapes

Hamish and Heather

We eventually made our way to Loch Ness and we were supposed to be able to explore a castle on the banks of the lake (loch means lake by the way), but a downed power cable was in our way so we had to turn around and go a different way so by the time we got to the castle it was already closing...but we still had a good time and I have tons of pictures from the trip.  It was long (almost 12 hours!!) but totally worth it!

Loch Ness!!!!

The castle we didn't get to go into...

Although we didn't get to go into the castle on the tour Saturday, we chose to go visit a castle in Edinburgh, where Mary Queen of Scots lived.  It was just huge, and since it is on a hill the views from the top are amazing!  There were also little museums located throughout the castle.  Most talked about the history of the Scottish military, but we also got the see the Honours, the Scottish Crown Jewels.  It was awesome to see but they don't let you take pictures of them, unfortunately.

The view from the top of the castle that we did go into...

I am so glad we chose to take a tour in Scotland.  It was really nice to be able to see a lot of the country in such a short amount of time.  I had a great weekend and I can't wait for our next trip!