Having been in London for a month, i decided to take a short weekend trip to Scotland during the month of August. As it turned out, August was perfect timing, thanks to the summer fringe festival in Edinburgh.
This picture, as you can see gives you an idea of how colorful and vibrant the festival is. There's so much happening everywhere but unfortunately there's only so much you can do in two days.
This is a lady with a hula hoop dressed and painted in white. There was also a headless man, an alien, a statue man and hell boy round the corner.
The buildings in Edinburgh are quite magnificent with a lot of character. I'm no expert in architecture but i believe there's a lot of goth influence in these structures. Take a look for yourself.
I realized that my trip to Scotland would be incomplete if i didn't mark my presence at a whiskey distillery. So i went to one of the oldest ones setup by Blair Athol who sell their single malt to Bell's. This one in particular was 45 years old! I also bought a 11 year old single malt for my land lady that we drank for Christmas that year.
Scotland is full of historically significant monuments that have been carefully preserved over all these years. This is the Dunkeld Cathedral tucked away in a small town. Its partly in ruins but has been restored and kept open for visitors like me.
This was another hauntingly beautiful building.
The summer fringe festival brings a lot of amazing talent from all over the wold to Edinburgh. I was very lucky to have witnessed these gentlemen perform at a local pub on one of the evenings. Crooning to some good old rock music over a chilled mug of Scottish Ale.
And this of course is the Edinburgh castle. You could buy a recorded tour guide of the castle (comes with a pair of headphones) which i found out was a very efficient way getting to know the castle. Needless to say, its lovely inside with a pretty impressive display of artillery. There's also the Prison of war, Officers quarters, Royal quarters, the Royal Scots regimental museum and a Soldiers dog cemetery. I found the last one very touching.
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The Scottish highlands are breathtakingly beautiful and serene. Although i did it in 2 days as part of an organized coach tour, if i could do it again, i'd drive down on my own because i like to pause every now and then to take it all in. Sometimes when you're surrounded by so much beauty, it can get a little overwhelming.
This is a quaint little town called Callander on the way from Edinburgh to the Highlands where we stopped for lunch.
Imagine driving through this!
Aren't these picture perfect post cards!
The Scottish highland Coos (not cows).
This is Glencoe. Apparently the most romantic Glen in Scotland. Known for the Massacre of Glencoe in the 16th century.
This is Loch Ness. Home to Nessie (the Loch Ness monster) and also one of the deepest lochs in the Scottish highlands.
This is the lovely little village of Inverness where we lodged overnight drinking a very rare Scottish single malt. All that green just makes everything so serene and peaceful. Oh and the fresh air!
This is the Culloden battlefield. Our tour guide did a very good job of taking us back in time explaining the Jacobite rising in the 17th century.
On our way back to Edinburgh, we stopped by a couple of other monuments of historic significance. One of which was the Ruthven barracks. Of course they lay in ruins but you can still pretty much picture people living there with a cattle shed, a bakehouse, a brew house and a toilet. And don't miss the backdrop!
I believe these were barley fields. The hay rolls looked so very pretty glistening in the evening sun.
I cannot resist taking pictures of sunsets. They're my favorite part of the day. That's the romantic in me speaking! This one's on our way back to Edinburgh over the Queensferry bridge.
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