(I promise, this is the last post about Scotland!)

We were lucky enough to experience a lot of different areas of Scotland in such a short amount of time, thanks to two excellent bus tours and quality public transportation. We spent the better part of one of our days in Edinburgh on a guided excursion to the Scottish Borders, south of Edinburgh towards the border of England. It’s some of the best Scottish countryside, green rolling hill after green rolling hill. We were on a Rabbies bus tour lead by our very enthusiastic guide Ewan, who told us all about famous Scots like William Wallace and Walter Scott along the way. We stopped and had lunch in a little town called Melrose, famous for its Abbey, and found some friendly sheep! We then drove through the Tweed Valley to a village called Roslin, whose chapel became famous in The Da Vinci Code. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the detail of the carvings inside of the church was beautiful. It’s said to have links to Freemasonry, the Knights Templar, and the Holy Grail, but I don’t think anything has ever been proven. Although, there’s apparently a chamber below the main church that goes down at least as deep as the chapel is tall, but the family/trust doesn’t want it opened…

We also spent a day around the East Neuk of Fife, about two hours north of Edinburgh. I never really understood why Nova Scotia has its name–I would’ve thought a place called “New Scotland” would be filled with rolling green hills and lots of cows and sheep. I could definitely see if the part of Scotland they were referring to when naming it was Fife, because the whole region gave off an east coast fishing village feel. Our first stop was in St. Andrews, the biggest and most well known town of the region. It’s famous for its university and golf, and even though it was a chilly day it we had a great time walking along the beaches and (possibly trespassing on) St. Andrew’s golf course. We had heard about a fish place that we could not miss for lunch, so we hopped on a bus and headed 15 minutes down the coast to a town called Anstruther. The town was pretty dead (the amount of closed ice cream and souvenir shops indicated that it was more of a summer getaway than a February excursion), but Anstruther Fish Bar was packed (you can read more about it in my ‘What I Ate’ entry for Scotland).

Our last stop was Pittenweem, a cute town with an even cuter name, only a few minutes drive from Anstruther. All of the fishing villages are actually connected by the Fife Coastal Trail, and if I ever went back in the summer it would be amazing to rent a bike and ride to each one. Thankfully for us there’s also a hop-on-hop-off bus that was the better choice for winter. Most things were closed, but we walked along the docks and the coastline (which was much needed after our lunch) before catching the bus back to Edinburgh. I’d definitely love to come back in the summer and head to the beach, and see the puffins that make their summer homes along the coast. 

After four days in Edinburgh, we hopped on a train and headed an hour west to Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city. I liked Glasgow, but it was too similar to London–there wasn’t much of an unique old town like in Edinburgh. We didn’t spend too much time in the city, however, because we spend a whole day on a trip up to the Scottish Highlands.

Glencoe

When I thought I saw Nessie

The highlands aren’t exactly close to Glasgow, but it was definitely possible to get a taste of them in one day. We departed from Glasgow, heading up Loch Lomond and making stops at viewpoints along the way. My favorite stop was Glencoe, a valley in the west with a tragic backstory but gorgeous views–it was even in Skyfall and some of the Harry Potter movies. I’d seen pictures of it in the summer, but it was stunning covered in snow as well. We finally reached Fort Augustus where we stopped for lunch, which sits on the end of Loch Ness, and took a lake cruise. I always thought the story about the Loch Ness monster was a bit farfetched, but the thing about the loch is that one, it’s extremely big (it’s almost 1,000 ft deep and holds more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined), and two, the peat soil from the surrounding land turns the water black, making underwater visibility almost impossible. I won’t say I believe in Nessie, but I wouldn’t go swimming in the loch either. After our cruise we started our journey back through Inverness, admiring the beautiful countryside the whole way back (at least until the sun went down). Our tour guide was great, even blasting classic Scottish songs from Scotland the Brave to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).

Heilan’ Coos

The next day was our last in Scotland, but we had the whole morning and afternoon before we had to head to the airport. Our only goal? Finding Heilan’ Coos. Highland Cows are almost like Texas Longhorns, but with a tuft of hair on their foreheads that makes it look like they have bangs. In short, they’re as cute as they are delicious. We had to see them up close, so we headed to Glasgow’s Pollok Park in the pouring rain, where they keep a small herd. It took a while, and we even ended up on a Downton Abbey-esque detour to the country manor Pollok House, but after trekking through the woods and mud, we found them. It was awesome (I’ll let the picture speak for themselves).

Scotland was absolutely amazing. I had always wanted to go, and might’ve even studied there had Penn State offered more programs. It’s definitely a place I want to go back to again–as much as I enjoyed the beautiful British February weather, something tells me that I might like it even more in July!

Until next time!

Location: Loch Ness, Scotland