Even though this picture is not chronologically accurate to this blog post (oh how important that is to me, ha ha), I had to post it first because I really like it. :D
Since we didn't get to go on our Loch Ness boat ride the night before, we stopped in the morning to at least look at the lake. 'Loch' means 'lake'.
Unfortunately, I didn't see anything suspicious in the water...
I was excited to see such a famous lake but when it came down to it, it was just a pretty lake. Ha, ha. Then we drove to see a herd of reindeer! But first I saw a lovely rainbow:
To me, the best part of the reindeer adventure was the hike up to the herd and the scenery. A lot of people were really fascinated by the reindeer, and they were pretty and cute and fun to feed, but I am just used to animals so it's not that big of a deal to me. But it was fun nonetheless!
Walking across a bridge that had the most beautiful river running beneath it...
Cute reindeer!
At lunch, I felt like taking a picture of what Scottish pounds look like. They use £ just like in England, but their notes look different. You can spend English pounds in Scotland no problem, but we were told that we might get funny looks if we try to spend Scottish pounds in England... even though it's really the same thing. Weird.
Then, we went to a whiskey distillery. Even just standing outside the distillery, you could realllllly smell the whiskey. It is kind of interesting to see how they make it... it's really a precise art... what amazes me is how humans discovered how to make whiskey (and alcohol in general) and what made them want to drink it, because honestly some of it is really vile. At the end, we got a sample of the whiskey and it was gross so I gave it away, even though I liked the whiskey I tried at Fort William.
And then we arrived in Edinburgh!
Bella Italia is just a chain restaurant, but me, Emily, and Anne ate there anyway. The pasta was really good... and Mom and Dad I hope you show my little doggie Bella the picture, she'll be so excited... :P
That night, we all dressed up for Halloween and went on a ghost tour! I'm the mime on the right. I was trying to look very serious and mime-like in the picture... it fit my mood for the day. I don't know why but I just felt so quiet all day...
The ghost tour wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, but at the same time I don't know what I expected. The main thing I liked was hearing about some of Edinburgh's history and seeing the dungeons underground. Everyone was kind of spooked, ha ha. We learned about how disgusting conditions were... and how brutal the Scottish were in their punishments... I really wonder what the suicide rate was.
It was interesting to learn where the saying 'shit-faced' comes from. Apparently the pubs in Edinburgh would close and then some guy would go around yelling something and that was the signal for everyone to dump their chamber pots out the window... and they would purposefully aim for the drunks walking in the streets. EW! EW EW EW EW EW!!! Not only is that gross, but I just can't imagine chucking all of the waste just OUT THE WINDOW onto the street... well I know that it definitely wasn't just an Edinburgh thing but it still just... ew.
Learning about the punishments the Scottish came up with honestly makes Henry VIII look like a merciful good guy. Honest.
Then we went into the dungeons underground which are apparently VERY haunted because of all of the people that died down there. I don't know if I buy it or not. First of all, I do believe in ghosts. But I don't know what the guides are trying to do or if they even believe what they're saying. Apparently a lot of the people would live underground in these chambers. Sounds completely miserable. We went in one chamber where they said some men took their families into during a fire and locked them in there, thinking it would protect them from the fire... not realizing that the stone would conduct heat and they all literally baked to death in there because they couldn't get out... so the guys would have to slit their families throats.... Oh gosh. :(
Then we saw a room where Wiccans practice. Creepy. Then we went in another room with this circle of rocks which apparently is very haunted and dangerous or whatever... the guide said she will never step inside that circle... people on the tour have fainted, and had weird scratches on them, or had their hair pulled out... I'm not sure if I believe that! So when we left the room, of course I had to step in the circle, and nothing bad happened to me. Ha ha. The REALLY FUNNY THING is that most people wouldn't step in the circle and you literally had to walk around it to even get out of the room... so even people who said they didn't believe in ghosts wouldn't walk in it! Oh, humans.
As you'll see more so in the post coming up about Day 4... Edinburgh is the perfect place to spend Halloween because it's full of great Gothic architecture, which i loved.
After the tour, they gave us whiskey and shortbread. Both were gross.
And then most people went back and hung out in the bar at the hostel (where they also served breakfast the next morning, ha ha) and then we went OUT! The club we went to had the potential to be really fun but there were so many obnoxious guys there that I just left feeling disgusted.
The guy on the left... is wearing a very short skirt... we were just confused...
In case you were wondering, Anne (with the bag on her head) is Big Ben. HAHAHAHA.
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