Scotland- Falkirk

 Remember those famous kelpies I told you about? This place has an ode to the majesty of them. Falkirk is not a well known tourist stop. In fact, I was there for a massage class for work. But everyone knows about these awesome sculptures. They were actually causing wrecks so be careful if you are driving that direction to keep your eyes on the road.

 The other main attraction of Falkirk is the Falkirk wheel. This is used for the canal system that runs through town, but I felt like I had to check it out.

 Honestly, I enjoyed the run along the canal a lot more then the final destination but it's just one of those things you have to do. Go to Falkirk, see the wheel. Not really my idea of a wheel but just go with it.

 It did kind of creep me out how friendly these geese were though. It's like they wanted something from me. I'm used to guard geese instead of guard dogs.

It was a nice stop over though. Watch out though, this gets really slick with the rain. It was like running on a ice rink.

Scotland- Inverlochy Castle

 Now Inverlocky Castle is a highly unappreciated  castle, which is just the way I like it! There was no one there. There was no museum covering up the original walls. It was just ruins, some information on a plaque, and room for your imagination to fill in the gaps.

 I loved every second of it. I was all over the place, trying to see it thru eyes the way no one has before. If I were not on a tour, I would have spent so much longer here.

 I like to imagine the way it used to look, and how long it must have taken to start crumbling away like it is today.

This is my type of castle!

Scotland- The Highlands and Glencoe thru Loch Ness

I booked a tour thru Rabbie's. It was a nice tour, not too crazy big and our guide was pretty great. Our first stop was Loch Laggan. It was my favorite stop! What a fantastic view!

Then we traveled thru the Highlands to make it to Glencoe. The whole drive was amazing, it's where Skyfall was filmed.

What a great view of the three sisters. Some wild battles happened here in the past that were directly related to MY bloodline. This is the valley where the Campbell's slaughtered the MacDonalds. Ok, so not the best on my part but it was very interesting to hear about this touching history from our guide.

I liked the whole set up. Honestly, I would like to come back and bike this whole area.

 Even when we had a short coffee stop, I enjoyed walking around the towns we stopped in.

Our last stop was Fort Augustus, the home of Loch Ness. Loch Ness is home of what the Scotish refer to as kelpies. They say Nessy is really a kelpie, a horse-like creature that would trick the horse thieves and transform before dragging them into the water into what we know as the Loch Ness monster. They say that kelpies are in every Loch, Loch Ness is just the most known one.

 Not only was the lake beautiful, but walking around town was enjoyable.

I'd like to see this in the summer!

Scary Storys and Edinbrough at Night

 There;s something about an old city at night. Edinburgh in particular has a special feel to it, so what better way to enjoy it but a good old fashion spooky tour that takes you through the streets, under the streets, and gives you an awesome show. I booked mine through Mercat Tours, they kept the group small and it was cheap. Our guide was a total hoot to listen to also.

 Under the city we followed our guide as he told us horror stories to candle light. It's enough to give you the heebie jeebies.

 He stayed in character the whole time. Loved his cape by the way, it really made it special. The vaults are so cool to walk through and you got a lot of history along the way.

 It's such a secret passage down, it makes it extra special.

 Even walking along the action packed streets you never lose the feel of the tour. There is something about this that you just have to experience.

 I got to see my very first close. Named that because of how narrow it is between the buildings where I learned about the old 10 pm tradition of yelling "guardy l'eau" before tossing the sewage out the window to the streets below and the person below had to holler "hold your hand",  hoping they heard you are below.

 The tour ended in a graveyard where we learned about famous people who were buried there and the history behind it. Loved it all!