Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland. This has to be the 'fun capital' of Scotland. There's no lack of bagpipes here - and every other kind of instrument too in this music-rich city.

Isle of Skye, Scotland. Scotland has some of the best hiking trails in the UK, and many of the best of those are here on Isle of Skye. Skye is very remote and kind of a pain to get to, but that doesn't keep the crowds down in the summer. The trick is to hike super early in the mornings; then it's just you and the sheep.

Tomintoul, Scotland. If you ever find yourself in the Scottish Highlands during the late summer months, try to get to some Highlands Games - they're scattered all around the country. We've all done 'em here in the States but up in the middle of the Scottish countryside it just seems so much more ... Scottish.

Some colorful characters at the Scottish Highlands Games, in the remote village of Tomintoul.

The Scottish tourism folks would have you believe that the Scottish Highlands are full of these cute furry creatures. They're called "Hairy cows" but with the local heavy accent it comes out as "Airy Coos". They are kinda cute so we spent a lot of time searching for 'Airy coos' but with very limited results. Maybe they're just tired of the gawking tourists and stay in the barn during high tourist season, who knows. Some of the more enterprising farmers charged a few pounds to go pet their cows. We thought that was cheating so were content with the few free ones that we came across (like these).

What a perfect Scottish vista - Eilean Donan Castle sitting pretty on it's own small island, out in beautiful Loch Duich.

Turns out there are castles dotting the countryside all over Scotland. Here are 3 of the more popular ones:

Above : Castle Urquhart, overlooking Loch ness.

Right : Castle Dunvegan, the most northern (& remote)

Below : Castle Eilean Donan, one of the more intact (and beautiful, I think).

Fairy Glen, Scotland. A daybreak view of one of the more beautiful & interesting hikes of our trip. The rainbow helped.

Glencoe, Scotland. Glencoe is a great place for scenic drives and hikes. It's easy to see why this area was used for filming movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbitt, etc. Plus James Bond's 'Skyfall'.

You can't do a webpage about Scotland without including a bit on the pub life. A definite part of the Scottish lifestyle, they all seem like warm and welcoming places for some (surprisingly high quality) food, plus a pint or 2!