Hello, all. Sorry for my blogging silence these past few days. I haven't been ignoring your lovely blogs. I have just arrived back from my weekend trip to Scotland.


My friends Christian, Andrew, Mary, and I rented a car and left Friday morning for Fort William in Scotland. The drive took about 11 hours because we got lost a few times! We spent about an hour driving around Glasgow, trying to figure out where we were on the map after our GPS died. It was all fun though!  It was about 11pm when we arrived at Fort William. Fort William is a small village at the foot of the tallest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis. The surrounding area includes rolling green valleys and sprawling lakes. It's really quite beautiful.
 
On Saturday morning, the boys got up at 7am to climb the mountain. There was heavy snow on top and it was raining all day. They managed to climb it anyway. Mary and I were a bit more sensible. We slept in, took a bus to the village center and just walked around the whole day. We walked by the lake, browsed through the little shops, peeked inside their stone churches, and had lunch at a cute little pub.

When the guys were done climbing the mountain, we all drove for the next 6 hours to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Unlike Fort William which was a rural country village, Edinburgh is a busy city. We arrived at around 9pm at our Martin's Guest House, our bed and breakfast. It was a beautiful little house that was gorgeously decorated. The ceilings had fantastic crown moldings and the walls were painted in beautiful hues. We were too tired to get dinner, so we just ordered some hot Chinese food to be delivered. It was delicious! We had curry chicken, sweet and sour chicken, spare ribs, chicken corn soup, egg rolls, and fried rice.



The next morning (Sunday), we were provided with an included Continental breakfast. We had toast, cereal, tea, orange juice, bananas, warm croissants, and a yogurt cup with cranberries in it. It was delicious! And breakfast was served in their charming dining room that was painted a sunny butter yellow.

We then drove to the city center of Edinburgh and took a free tour! I have three friends who have visited Edinburgh in the past and they all recommended the free tour. It is run by this company and they train people to give tours for free, working only on tips. The tour meets every day at 11am and 1pm in front of the Royal Mile Starbucks. If any of you ever get a chance to visit Edinburgh, I definitely recommend taking this free Edinburgh tour! It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. The tour lasts 3 hours, but my friends and I decided to wander off on our own after an hour and a half. If I ever get a chance to come back and spend more time there, I would finish the tour. We saw Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles Cathedral, the Royal Mile, and so much more. Luckily, Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, the only one of our trip.


My friends ended the night by grabbing cheap burgers and fries and eating them on the steps of the National Bank of Scotland. It was great!

We then woke up at around 8 this morning and left Edinburgh at 10. We arrived back in Oxford at around 5. Verdict: Best Weekend Ever!