Wild and Sexy.

Yep, wild and sexy, that's me. Not really, but that is the best way to describe Scotland!

I arrived in Edinburgh last Friday and fell in love instantl. Seriously, I hopped off the plane at the airport (which is in the middle of nowhere) and thought to myself "Wow, I fucking love Scotland." Since then my love has deepened.

I spent my first day and a half walking through the shops on the main street of Edinburgh searching for warm clothes. It's freezing here all the time! Once that was done I could walk around and enjoy the sites without my teeth chattering.

I had seen pictures of Edinburgh Castle on Timo's camera and remember being thoroughly underwhelmed... It's amazing though! I dont think pictures can really capture how cool it is, especially not with my dodgy photography skills, but here's one anyway.

The whole city is just beautiful. The Old Town and the New Town are both UNESCO world heritage sites and it's so easy to see why! Have I mentioned that I love it here?

On Monday I started a five day tour of the Scottish Highlands with a company called Haggis Adventures. I was really excited to do it, but was worried that I'd be stuck with a crappy group or a boring tourguide or that being on an organised tour would just be a bit shite. It was incredible! I don't think I've ever had so much fun or seen so many beautiful places in such a short time.

Our tourguides were Leo and Allan, two genuine Scotsman. Leo was from just outside Edinburgh, had the best Scottish accent ever and was hilariously adorable all the time. Allan sounded and acted just like Billy Connolly. They were both great. On the tour we went to Loch Ness (I have been convinced that there is a creature in there), Inverness, the battlefield of Culloden, The Isle of Skye, Fort Augustus, Glen Coe, Oban and many places in between. I cant get over how stunningly beautiful the highlands are. I spent all of my time on the bus just staring out the window at the passing countryside.

I learnt a lot about the history of Scotland and many myths and legends on the tour. I wont try to tell them all here though. My favourite story was about a highland Princess who, on her wedding day, fell off of her horse while crossing a river and mutilated her face. Her fiance then refused to marry her (cos who wants an ugly wife, right?). So she went back to the river all upset and the Fairy King appeared. He told here that the river was magic and if she dipped her face into she would be beautiful forever. She dipped her face in and lived happily ever after. We stopped at this river on the Isle of Skye and, needless to say, half of the bus dipped their faces in it...

The water was so cold that it hurt!

I did have one day from hell on the tour. Most of you will already know about this from facebook, but I'll tell the story again anyway. The day started out fine, then we had a photo stop...I cant even remember what we were taking photos of, but we climbed to the top of a hill to take them. This hill was really slippery and muddy and covered in sheep shit. As I was walking down the hill I slipped and slid all the way down on my ass...it was all over me...it was horrible! So I got changed and put all of my clothes in a bag in the back of the bus. Then we stopped to get lunch. Our food took forever, so we had to run back to the bus. As we were running my bag popped open and the entire contense spilled out in the street. This was ok. We were going to a ceilidh (a Scottish dance party basically) that night so I was still in reasonably high spirits...then as I was pulling clothes out of my pack to wear to the party I discovered that half of my stuff was soaked. Then, about two minutes into my first dance at the ceilidh the heel of my boot got caugh on something and tore off. I then decided that the best way to cope with my terrible day was to buy several gin and tonics. I had a fucking fabulous night! ...Unfortunately, when we arrived back in Edinburgh no one could find the bag that had my clothes in it..oh well, shit happens! The tour was still amazing and I have a good story to tell.

Here are some photos from the tour...

A memorial for my clan - The MacIntyre's.

Lovely Leo

Right before taking a tumble down the hill...

Me and some Highland Cows (pronounced 'Heeley Coos' with a Scottish accent)

You know it.

I'm back in Edinburgh now. I was really sad that the tour ended and I had to part with all of my new friends. Luckily there's a bunch of us all staying in the same hostel for the next couple of days :)

Love to you all!