Other

My friend Brian and I went all over Scotland in the three weeks we had; check out the map in the "Other" gallery. I wanted to do a bunch of Europe in three weeks but Brian wisely suggested that we focus on one country. We went on a tour with a company called MacBackpackers and it was absolutely excellent! It was only 65 pounds and it included a hop-on/hop-off tour with four stops and you could stay at any stop for as long as you wanted to. They took to a lot of the major sites, the Isle of Skyle, Loch Ness, Culloden, etc. We also got to listen to modern music, had hilarious guides, learned a lot of history, visited distilleries, went to battle sites, and on and on. I can't recommend them enough. Brian and I often rented a car when we stayed at one of the stopping off points and saw a lot more than we would have on the tour itself; we went up to the Orkney Islands, drove around the Kilmartin Glen (the settling point of the Scots in the 6th century when they came from Ireland), drove around the entire Isle of Skye, went around the entire north coast (one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen) and saw lots and lots of castles! We saw 35 castles in 3 weeks, which was awesome for me since I like castles, but I think it was also good because castles are often off the beaten track and it is often an adventure just to get to them. Barra Island in the Hebrides was special because that is where the clan McNeill originated in Scotland. We got to try whiskey and strange beers and, of course, haggis. Scotland is highly recommended!