Thursday, September 29, 2011

Loch Lomond

The International Student Centre at Edinburgh runs trips around Scotland every Saturday. I missed the first trip to St. Andrew's, but I got a ticket for Loch Lomond and went on September 24th. 


230 international students left from campus at 9am on coach buses. It was a 2 hour bus ride and we went straight to the boat when we got there. Matt, Katie, and I went on a 1 hour boat cruise. Loch Lomond is the largest fresh body of water in Great Britain (aka the biggest lake). The cruise was great, but I was really disappointed because we saw so little of the lake. Still, the view was amazing.



A lot of the lake homes have been restored and turned in to hotels. This is a hotel where U2 and Michael Jackson have stayed:


Me during the cruise:


After the cruise, we went to a fish and chips place grabbed take away lunch. When I asked for a fork for my chili and chips, they gave me this:

Source: pubshop.co.uk

Chip forks are kindof impossible to use, so most people just use their hands for the fish and chips take away.

After lunch, we started walking on the path around the lake, which goes up to the castle. Balloch Castle isn't very exciting as far as castles go, but it was the first one I saw up close. 



The next thing we walked by on our hike was a playground. We realized how much cooler Scottish playgrounds are than American ones. Rope and tire swings, mini-trampolines, and more!




The hike was uphill for the rest of the way, but worth it. It was very similar to forest scenery in the Northeast US:



It was really great to see the Scottish countryside, but I wish I had seen more of Loch Lomond. To give you an example of how little I saw, there are over 30 islands on the Loch, but I only saw one. Hopefully, I'll get to see more lochs soon!

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