On some trips, there are some days where I want to cry over the fact that I don't own a car. Granted, I would need to get my license before I could get a car (on my to do list, don't you worry) and I don't think I could feasibly justify buying a car at the moment considering how excellent Edinburgh and the UK's public transport network is (which also helps save the planet...) but it doesn't stop those days from coming. The days where I want to kick and scream that I can't just pull over anywhere and take photos. Or rather, in this case, the days I can't just grab the wheel to the nine metre long coach I'm in and rip it off the road. Whoops.  

If you've been reading my blog for a while or have seen enough of my photos, you'll have noticed that I am very much into landscape photography. While I love exploring any new place, my heart is drawn to wild and untouched expanses of land (the kind that have been carved by natural elements for millions of years and that sound really corny to write about because they're so insanely indescribable - those ones). If you've seen that one bit in Skyfall, you'll have a taste of what the drive north was like. I so badly wanted to demand we pull over but alas, we had an itinerary to stick to.

Glencoe wasn't half bad though.

Half good, some might say.

The highlands are known for being atmospheric and dramatic which roughly translates as "bad weather" and "even more bad weather" so I was low-key anxious that the skies would open and drown all of the north.

But after the long drive from Edinburgh to Inverness, Urquhart Castle couldn't have looked better!

I have to admit, the weather was incredible for this entire trip.

So incredible that there was a RAINBOW!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...

Urquhart Castle (that's pronounced ur-kut) is such an interesting place too. It was hugely important in controlling access to the highland lochs and waterways (the best and easiest way to travel because of all the mountains). It passed from clan to clan but eventually was blown up by William of Orange's soldiers in 1690 who wanted to prevent the castle from becoming a Jacobite stronghold. All that history to rubble...

The visitor's centre does a fantastic job of explaining the castle's history and I love that you can just roam the ruins.

Loch Ness was looking splendid as well. I learned on this trip that at its deepest point (239.5m) the loch is deeper than the North Sea and contains more freshwater than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Insane.

It had been over a decade since I'd been to Loch Ness so it was great to be back on the shoreline and keep an eye out for Nessie!

The Highlands | Skye

With a packed day in Perthshire already under my belt, I woke up early the next morning but ready for another busy day. This time, we were heading to the Trossachs. 

Now, it's not often I get visitors up here in Stirling. The effort required in getting to Scotland alone is enough to put most people off. To date, I've only managed to convince two of my friends from back home to come and visit me (and they travelled on an overnight coach from Victoria Bus Station - would not recommend).

However, this week, I was lucky enough to be visited by three family members! My grandparents and one of my aunts made the trek to Stirling to treat me to lunch. 

I seriously lucked out with my choice of university. 300 acres of incredible park and woodland at the foot of the Ochil Hills and Abbey Craig (upon which sits the Wallace Monument). As if this wasn't enough, the campus also has a loch and a castle.

Halls and Airthrey Loch

Psychology research aside, the campus was a huge selling point in me picking Stirling as my university. I wanted to get away to somewhere that was distinctly not London.

It's exam season here at uni. My friends and I locked ourselves away in my room and revised until we had to go to our exam, in what has become known as The Spaceship Protocol. So named because during first semester, it was concluded that a trip into space was certainly doable since we were all collectively able to study in a confined space for over four days without wanting to commit homicide (a quality I look for in all my friends).

Depending on when this ridiculous protocol is instated, we can get a little stir crazy. On our maiden voyage, we were unable to venture out of the spaceship due to the returning wave of freshers flu that kindly paid a visit (bringing a wonderful dose of feverish insanity in its wake...) but this time around we were all in good health and our escapism took the form of a trip to Stirling Castle.