I visited Scotland over Christmas on a trip organised by Haggis Tours. We spent a night on the way there and a night on the way back in Edinburgh, and Christmas Eve night in Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye. Scotland boasts the largest expanse of wilderness in Europe; the landscape was gorgeous, and very different from England in its stark austerity.
Edinburgh
We arrived in Edinburgh after dark, and left at dawn, so I never got to see the city in the daylight. I did get to wander around with a fun group of people from the tour, eat good and amazingly cheap food, and see the city from the top of a Ferris wheel.
I took both these photos from the window of my room in the hostel. The hostel itself was converted from an 18th-century residence.
En route through Scotland
We stopped at several picturesque places on the way from Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye.
A Victorian monument to William Wallace, in the venerable tradition of the dominant culture's containment of potential threats through assimilation. There was also a recently-commissioned statue of Wallace, despised by the locals for its strong resemblance to Mel Gibson.
The spectacularly huge Glencoe and its environs.
Loch Gary, called the Loch of Scotland because of its shape.
Eilean Donan Castle, the most photographed castle in Scotland, sits on its own island.
Isle of Skye
The sea at Kyleakin, the town on the other side of the bridge connecting Skye to the mainland.
On Christmas Day, we climbed the Storr (only to the base of the rocky cliff, but that was difficult enough).
Views from the Storr.
The path up the Storr.
More views.
The Old Man of Storr. Like nearly every large rock in Scotland (and most places really), there's a legend that it was once a person who made a wish and got transformed. (The pointy rock in the photo above is the Old Woman of Storr, his wife).
One of those light-filled scenes that just cries out to be juxtaposed with a hackneyed inspirational quote.
A waterfall somewhere on Skye. We stopped there and drank our complimentary samples of Scotch whiskey.
Near the waterfall.
The legendary hairy Highland coo.
The harbour at Portree, the main city on Skye.
More Portree Harbour -- scroll right for the full effect.
Loch Ness
Castle Urquart, on the shores of Loch Ness.
Views from Castle Urquart.
Loch Ness.
