so remember that time I went on holiday and didn't update my blog for like, a month? and how I took over a thousand pictures and so uploading them takes forever and how I would really, really like to be lazy and say "hey, just look at my facebook!" but I won't. But if no one minds we're going to go in reverse order, starting with last weekend, which would make the title of this post

IFSA-Butler Isle of Skye Weekend

(it's completely legit. we got shirts.)

the trip up felt like it took forever and a day, not least because we left at 7:45 am. that's right. AM. not a pretty time for anybody, really. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about lots of things, which meant that he didn't stop talking nearly the entire way.

We stopped at Culloden battlefield, site of Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat and the end of the Jacobite rebellion's last hopes in 1746. It's funny because my branch of the Ramsay family hasn't been in Scotland for hundreds of years but I couldn't help feeling a strong connection to the place.

The next stop was at the "headquarters" of Clan MacDonald, where we discovered a secret garden and a wooden Viking boat. It was kind of awesome.

There were a couple other stops, I think, but I don't remember them as well because I was trying to sleep and still a bit groggy from the lack of sleep the last week. Once we finally got there it was dinner time and then free time, and while we completely intended to go out and do some exploring, we ended up camping out on Lauren's bed and having some much needed girl catch-up time.

Saturday was the big day, with hiking to do, oh yay! what was advertised was a 'gentle hike' up the Old Man of Storr (part of a mountain that had slid down during a 'land slip,' as our guide told us). what followed was not a gentle hike, but more like a death march up the side of this mountain. That said, it was incredible! I could try to describe it, but pictures do a much better job:

(eyes closed, so windy and scared of falling)

we left the hotel around nine the next morning and headed back to home to Edinburgh, with stops at Loch Ness / Fort Augustus and this small town that had a small stream running through with purported magical properties - specifically the power to make a person remain at exactly the same age they were when they were at the water - forever. legend has it that submerging your face in this water for seven seconds is enough to keep a person young forever. after thinking about it for a few seconds, we realised that seven seconds in freezing scottish water is nothing compared to an eternity of being twenty one years old, so pell-mell we all went running down to the stream to get our fountain of youth on. it was quite a sight.

the Scottish fountain of youth, ladies and gentlemen. hopefully it works.

Next was the castle of Eileen Donan, which is the most photographed castle in Scotland, and it's on all these calendars and stuff. Yeah. So here we are.

Then we went to Loch Ness and got our Nessie spotting on:







our weekend ended with the tour guides making a mentos and soda explosion in the parking lot.

mom, pop, are you glad you're getting your money's worth?