Holiday in Scotland

Hey, ladies and gentlemen. I kind of took a major holiday from blogging. I think somewhere along the lines I promised a review of a West End show, but then I got lazy and distracted by French novelist Andre Gide and the Renaissance sonnets of Sir Philip Sidney. Then I took a 10 day tour of Scotland, which is really the most exciting part of the between-term holiday! I'm just going to give you a basic travel information and let my pictures do the talking. From Oxford, I went up to Inverness, Dromnadrochit (small town on Loch Ness) and Urquhart Glen, Corrimony (which is very much a not-town, although the maps and bus schedules would have you believe differently), Elgin, Burghead, Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, Stirling, and finally Edinburgh. Picture time!

A view from the Bazpacker's (very much not Backpacker's...not sure what a bazpacker is...) Hostel:


This is the ruined Castle Urquhart which rests on the banks of Loch Ness:


Here's the road leading to the not-town of Corrimony. See, a bus dropped us off on the highway around mid-day, then said it would be back around 7:15pm. There was no actual town to rest in after our hike. We waited in the cold, snowy night for two hours (because it gets dark at about 4) before a bus going in the opposite direction was kind enough to pick us up. We just couldn't wait until 7:15. It was hell. A pretty, snowy hell.


Here's the Corrimony chambered cairn, a pre-Christian burial ground.




Next, there was a hike through the Corrimony nature preserve. Gorgeous landscape!






After escaping Corrimony, I went to Burghead, a small coastal town north-east of Inverness which houses a Pictish well.



The well:


The ruined cathedral in Elgin:




The only pictures I have from Aberdeen are from the Kirkyard of St. Nicholas. I have a thing for graveyards. Don't judge me.


Cruden Bay was a popular vacation spot for Bram Stoker while he was working on Dracula. Rumor has it that the Slain ruins are the inspiration for the Count's castle.








Which brings us to Stirling. You know, that whole William Wallace shtick. Freedom, and all that jazz. Yeah, well, here are shots of Stirling Castle, the Church of the Holyrood, and the closed Cambuskenneth Abbey (where King James the III? is buried).









Finally, I ended the tour in Edinburgh on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day; I left on the 27th. In the National Museum of Scotland, there was a nifty Medieval reliquary that supposedly housed one of St. Columba's fingers:


This is on Calton Hill where you can see parts of the Old Town and New Town:






On Boxing Day, I went for a small walk through Holyrood Park where the ruins of an old chapel are surrounded by hills of volcanic rock.






Well, that about sums up my trip. It was pretty. It was cold. It was old. I had a great time, and I'm looking forward to traveling around continental Europe in the spring. The next term at Oxford (Hillary term) is quickly approaching, which means I have some essays to get started on. Wish me luck? Oh, and by the way, I also got the part of Mr. Mushnik in a production of Little Shop of Horrors. Rehearsals start soon. Like, Sunday soon. Again with the wishing me of luck, please!