You have the option of booking b b's if you want, but the hostels were great. The object of the tour is to see as much as possible, and they really try to get you off the bus and exploring every hour or so. We hiked into the mountains and drank from a natural spring, saw the William Wallace Memorial (with a newer statue that looks exactly like Mel Gibson) and shopped in the cutest Loch Ness monster gift shops.
Scotland is dotted with countless abandoned castles, and our tourguide made sure to stop at each one. The second night we stayed in the Isle of Skye, in a remote little town consisting of 2 hostels, one store, a handful of houses, 15th century Castle Moil, and 3 pubs. Yes, a handful of houses and THREE pubs.
We met about 1000 Canadians that night. The hostel was above a pub called Saucy Mary's, named after a queen who charged a toll to all ships that passed the area, and would in turn flash them after paying the toll. The hostel itself was only about and included the best home made biscuits and clotted cream and jam ever.
You could hike to the castle, but it took a few hours and is only ruins...
and we really wanted to hit the THREE pubs instead. Scottish people are so welcoming and friendly, and have such a strong sense of national pride. Every place we visited, we were greeted and told local stories by the locals.
The tourguide shared stories of Scottish Folklore...
of which there are many...
and she made us listen to The Proclaimers about 100 times. The tour ends in Edinburgh, which is an amazing city that I need to re-visit. It is nicknamed the Prague of the west, as it has a ton of Victorian architecture constructed as an homage to Queen Victoria's love for the city.
This blog entry spurred me to read the Haggis tour's website again, and I found a section to enter photographs for a chance to win a tour! I entered the one of Castle Moil above, and the one of the bridge to Isle of Skye. I rarely want to go back to the same place twice, but I am seriously considering making a trip to mainly Scotland this summer.
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any takers? posted by Lori @ 10:37 PM You have the option of booking b b's if you want, but the hostels were great.
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