1 Adventure

Gothic Architecture

Took this in Lisbon Portugal while back at a Gothic monastery that I can't remember the name of. I think it was something complicated in Portuguese that I should have written down. Cool picture. There is a couple in on the side there, that was making out the whole time I was taking pictures on this floor.

Agatehead Mike

The Hall of Virgin Marys - Santuario de Torreciudad - Aragon, Spain

I had the very fortunate opportunity to visit the Shrine in Torreciudad which is run by the Opus Dei. It was really wonderful experience visiting what they call a "modern" cathedral. Right below the Shrine is a big long hallway with small room over to each side that held over 400 virgin mary statues from around the world. People from just about every country sent in the various statues and they assembled all together in one place. It was truly fascinating to run from table to table say "Hey look at this one" or "Isn't this one just plain different". It kinda changes your typical view of how the Virgin Mary is depicted when you see how all these places see her. The above picture is one I took and really liked. It's done in selective color, and I think came out really excellent. The central figure is sharp and seems to stand out among the two in the back. Plain and more rich.

Here is a picture of what one of the walls of the hall looked like.

The Wax Children Are Gonna Get Ya!

I admit the title of the post is bit odd. I thought it rather funny so I just went with it. How often do you see wax children?!? So you better watch out they just might get you in your sleep.

Actually the story behind this picture is quite a bit more somber and sad. Honestly I like this picture a lot and makes me happy, but the reality is that these wax statues of children are from Fatima, Portugal, one of the few Marion apparitions sites in the world. Mary appeared to a group of children back in the early 20th century. People come to these places to pray, as tourists, priests, nuns, children, animals, etc.. They are really remarkable places truly. I don't think I have anything to compare these places to. People usually come to these places to pray to Mary to ask Jesus for help from aliments, problems in life/world, etc.. People who have lost children or wish to dedicate a statue to a love one can buy these and get them blessed. They are then left to melt with the candles. (I think I didn't see any melting when I was there).

Below is a picture of lesser aliments, such as a sickness of the body, broken arm, etc.. Its very similar to the traditions of Mexico and South American in which people leave something/request something away that represents their pain as a prayer to God.

[Bizarre] Fighting Rooster - Backyard Taxidermy in Portugal

Bizarre post! Okay this is just plain strange. I don't think I have ever seen a rooster like this in all my life. I am sure they exist in some back alley illegal fighting cock pit with lots of lingering hazy smoke and rough looking people, but to see one stuffed like this! Some guy must of liked his chicken a lot to have it stuffed and preserved forever.

This picture was taken in Fatima, Portugal. We were visiting some sites in the area and our bus parked behind this families home off the way. They had a lot of dirty chickens running around scratching at the dirt and this little back yard room with all these dead animals. Right in the front this rooster was hanging from a string. It seemed really bad, like dead something. A few friends walked in, but I only went half and started snapping picture. There were some stuffed cats, snakes, and a strange cat like animal I don't even know how to describe (you can kinda see it in the background). Look at those claws on that rooster! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to piss off this chicken.

I couldn't find any information about cockfighting in Portugal, but I do recall hearing that it happens regularly as a sport in those countries. Everywhere in Portugal you go, there are little "roosters" on all sorts of trinkets they sell to tourists. The "rooster" has become a recognized symbol of Portugal. In Portuguese, a rooster is known as "Có có ró có" or "o galo de Barcelos".

Why is it such a symbol? The legend goes something like this:

"The legend of the Barcelos cockerel goes back to the 13th Century. The legend says that a rich man made a big party. When the party was over, the rich man noticed that his sterling cutlery was stolen by a guest. He accused a pilgrim and let him go to court. After appealing to Our Lady and Saint James the Great he protested his innocence, but the judge didn't believe him. The judge was about to eat a roasted cock and the pilgrim said: If I am innocent, this cock will crow three times. When the pilgrim was about to be hanged, the cock got up from the plate and crowed three times. The judge released the pilgrim. The story ends a few years later when the pilgrim returned and made a statue over the event. Since then, brightly painted ceramic cockerels are sold throughout Portugal as symbols of good luck." Source: Wikipedia

I heard this same story in Portugal but it had more details. Like for example the pilgram went to the rich man's party to see his lover, a beautiful girl that was to be wed to the rich man. The man, was also with his father at the time he went to the party.

Greyhound Peering Out

Okay, I really like this picture. I don't care if you don't. LOL. I felt it was rather elegant and had an interesting perspective and equaled composition. Don't let this big greyhound fool you though. It was barking it's pretty little head off at me while I was taking it picture. It probably would have jumped over the ledge and eaten me if it could. Remarkably I captured one of its quiet moments in between its fits of down right hysteria. This was taken in Lourdes, France with a Canon EOS xTi. I don't remember the shutter or aperture.

Beggar at St. Teresa's Chapel in Avila

Another image from a very recent trip to Spain. This woman beggar was so forlorn that it was hard not to resist giving her a euro for her time. These people are all over Spain in front of many of the chapels, cathedrals, and other pilgrimage sites. It's so common that those on religious pilgrimage and regular tourists should expect it. Another example of a homeless man from a photo I took in Merida, Mexico. However in Mexico, they seem a bit more worse for wear and very poor. Spain has very clean beggars or people who actively worked in groups to panhandle tourists. The tour guides tell everyone specifically to not give money to these people as it become a big problem of people depending on work like this. It similar to not overtipping waiters, taxi drivers, guides, etc.. as they will expect more and more as time goes by. Who doesn't like a big tip though.

The place where this was taken was in Avila, Spain. It's home to the revered mystic St. Teresa, who reformed the Carmelite Order in the 16th Century. It's also home to the St. John of the Cross. One thing most people do not know about St. Teresa I learned is that she came from a noble family of Jewish family before converting to catholicism. I was never more moved and inspired by this saint's quest to bring people closed to Jesus by displaying such a level of piety and dedication in her belief. They told us the nun's used to sleep on wood blocks, go bear foot, had no outside connection with the world, and wear the most basic habits (dress). It's the same to this day. We did have the fortunate circumstance to actually meet a Carmelite nun who was in charge of all outside communication and run a small shop to raise money for the nuns. They only allow one nun this position. The rest of the convent has no outside connections.

I liked this image, even not as good as the one above. It was funny, this older woman came out of the church and just started shouting something to me in spanish that I didn't understand. All I understood was something about the church. So I think she was telling me church as starting. So I snapped a picture as she was talking. I was like a foot or two taller than her.

New Cathedral (Catedral Nueva) in Salamanca, Spain Black and White Photo

This picture is from my recent trip to Spain. It's taken inside what is called the New Cathedral located off the Plaza de Anaya in Salamanca Spain. The cathedral is called "new" because back in the 17th century it was built next to an older cathedral they call surprisingly the Old Cathedral. Very neat image. I used a Kodax V505 Wide Angle pocket digital camera to take this. I got the smoothed lines from moving the camera precisely upwards and then inwards as I was taking the picture. It is incredibly difficult to replicate. It took about 7 shots to get it right. This cathedral was one of the mos impressive I visited among that many I saw while I was in Spain, France and Portugal.

If you look in the middle you can see 3 people standing the beaming light.

On The Steps Of St. Patricks Cathedral New York City

Went back to New York this year for another conference. Had a wonderful time and got a chance to test out a new digital camera I got. The Kodak V570 Dual Lens Digital Camera is what I choose and boy have I been ever so pleased with this camera. Probably the best little camera I have ever used. More on that later. I went to church at St. Patricks Cathedral while I was there and realized it was the same spot I took the picture below and conducted a little selective color experiment on it. The below image was shot 2 years ago and done with a 2MP camera on a Sony PDA. Not the best quality, but it worked out fine. I decided it would be a great opportunity to try out the new camera and compare the two pictures. I choose to post the one with more of the people in it then that one I did exactly like the below shot. It had more life to it I thought. The results are interesting, higher quality and a unique study in how the place has changed in just almost exactly 2 years. You can see a new building being installed in the top picture far off, and additional changes to the buildings. However there is a lot that has remained the same, as even the tree branches appear to be in the same order. Hope you enjoy. When ever someone asks me how New York was like I usually refer them to a picture like this.

Soaking In Some Blues At Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago

Just got back from Chicago and the cold weather of the north. Its damn good to be back in Texas, they can keep there sub zero temperatures. Chicago was great this year however, had a wonderful time and got a chance to groove to some blues at music bar owned by Buddy Guy, the famed blues musician from the windy city. Took some pictures and video while I was there and this image is probably the best. One of those rare chances you get with a digital camera where the lighting is right and the moment perfect. In the picture the girl is leaning over and giving the guy a kiss as he plays on a 6 string bass. We even got a chance to meet Buddy Guy, came in and sat down right next to us at the bar. The coolest of the cool... One of the best times I have had all month.

Backlit Cranes Near Oil Refinery

I figured with all this discussion about oil and gas shortages going on I would post a picture I took near an oil refinery on the Texas Coast. This was taken near Aransas Pass, Texas in one of the shipping yards of an oil refinery there. I decided to take the ferry to the mainland from Port Aransas and upon getting off the ferry and driving several miles I ended up seeing a bunch of cranes suspended while the sun came down. Its been one of my favorite sunset pictures because of the level of detail I got from the cranes and the beautiful sky behind them.

Big Blue Sky

This is one of my favorite pictures, its composition I think is very good. The elements come together and the colors mix in kinda of a calming zen type of way. It actually reminds me of Texas, even though it was taken while I was in Scotland. Some one told me it looked like one of those Windows desktop photos of green grass fields. What does it look like to you?

SharkTop Cove, Georgia - Best Week of Your Life Guaranteed!

Climbing Sharptop Mountain

Unpierced

Sarah

These are some pictures I took a couple weeks back while on a trip with a Younglife group from New Braunfels to SharpTop Cove. Probably one of the nicest and memorable camps in the US. It was an amazing week getting to spend some time with some awesome high school kids and sharing Christ with them. I got some great shots while I was there and as a result I am posting some of the portrait shots of kids that I meet while I was there. These kids were incredible, never had I meet such a great group. It was an oppourtunity to kinda see what their world was like without even a thought of your own.

The picture at the top is the campers climbing a place called SharpTop Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia. Where we were was really mountains per se, just really big hills. On the way up (everyone was required to go) I never heard so much complaining and struggle to get up that big hill. Most all in good fun. It was definately worth it once at the top for the views and serene and floggy landscape that presented us. It was about 2 miles up and absolutely a nice hike with lush green trees and foliage wrapping around you from all sides.

Kyleakin Scottish Sunset On the Isle of Skye

I took this wonderful picture about 9:30pm while I was at a pub in Kyleakin, Scotland. It is one of the most remote places in Scotland, being that one my own it took about 8 hours to reach on bus from Edinburgh. Very incredible place to visit and a lot of fun as well. Its been one of my favorite since the trip and I have it currently as my background on my computer.

If you would like to use this a background, see here to download a copy - Scottish Sunset on the Isle of Skye

Relaxing on Rendezvous Caye, Belize

How about this for a vacation spot? I went snorkeling in Rendezvous Caye during a vacation, it was quite beautiful and very far out.

Faces of the Interior in Merida, Mexico

Just got back from some traveling to Mexico, and snapped a few of these pictures while I was in Merida, Mexico. One of the largest cities in the Yucatan area. It was a beautiful colonial Mexico city and I had an enjoyable time walking around the Main Plaza and its great cathedrals. The first picture was taken at The Cathedral of San Idelfonso which was erected in 1556, in which stones from Mayan pyramids were used to make the foundation of the church. The first photo was of a homeless man who had camped out in front of the cathedral. It being any city, Merida was not immune from its fair share of homeless and sick. I kept imagining that if the homeless here in America decided to came out in front of churches throughout the nation what would happen and how would people react. That being said, in Merida I was never more surrounded by people trying to sell their hammocks, wood snakes, dancing chickens, hats, and whatever else they could sell. They were good at it too, and being 6ft tall, I stuck out like a sore thumb as a beacon for every peddler all over the place. Despite that, Merida was probably the cleanest city I have seen in Mexico, and would be a place I would go back to visit.

The second photo was from a protest that was taking place in the Main Plaza. I understood the protest as a dispute of work rights in which the governor had taken control of a road or something that a family or business depended. I translated the message and it loosely says:

"Mr. Governor our sources of work have been snatched of our hands by the transport secretary we demanded that give back them to us. Mr. Raymundo has been in charge to say to him to all the old workers of kana(?) that I buy the route to him to the Mrs. Ma. Bright Herrera and who they have you allow and of acuredo those of "transport". The Herrera family has been giving transport service to him to San Pedro for 30 years and that ability that they continue giving the service to this comisaria."

Well you sort of get the point to the issue they had. Appears the government was taking over control of a road with some long term workers loosing their jobs in the process. Another sign mentioned something about 80 years of service.

Comtemplating Mt. Princeton, Colorado

Took this about a week ago outside of Buena Vista, CO. Was up a place called Trail West a Younglife family camp in the mountains. We volunteered our time to build and do whatever they need for the week. I got lucky and got placed in the Aspen grove doing construction building a froniter town (or tableau). Complete with church, mercantile, barn, and jail. Had an amazingly incredible week there. Anyway snapped this photo one very early morning outside our cabin. The girl in the picture is spending some quiet time alone in the morning. To your right is Mt. Princeton and the mountains in the distance a mountain named after some overpriced private university for whatever reason. Luckily this was my view every morning.

This photo reminded me of a story a girl I meet at Trail West told me. Her and I got to talking one day about the mountains and outdoor stuff. I mentioned I liked backpacking a lot and found it a great way to either get to know yourself, get to the know the outdoors, or both. She started to tell me story about a guy she knows about who for 1 month will take you into the wilderness with nothing but a knife, piece of flint, and and the clothes on your back. You had to survive for a month on your own. She went on to tell me that guy that taught the skills needed to survive an expedition into the wilderness had been trained by an Indian who taught him how to move through the forest like the wind. The way she described it was that you could be so attuned to the forest that you know exactly where to step so that the forest muffled your footsteps enough that you never made a sound as you walked through the trees. You would understand which way the wind currents moved so that you could walk with it undetected. You would also understand how to hide yourself so well no one could see you. She said he could sneak right up behind you and you wouldn't even know it. I wished I remembered the guys name, but he only offered the month long trek for about $500 I think and only took on a few at a time. Pretty inexpensive for a month long ordeal but being that you got everything you needed from the forest I can understand why its so cheap. Thought it was a cool story and definately got you thinking if you could spend a month in the wilderness with a knife, a piece of flint, and live to tell about it.

Reimers Ranch - Rock Climbing

Your Parrot Better Speak French or Else

Wanted to share this story before I head to bed. Just came back from a week trip to Chicago for the Search Engine Strategies Conference there. For those that don't know I work as a professional search engine marketer, and really do love it. I was reporting on the event as press with another buddy of mine. It was a good conference, if you are interested in reading some of my reports and articles please visit here, my handle is Phoenix.

The Non-French Speaking Parrot

I am pretty fond of stories people tell when they travel. Skip the small talk and tell me how the world works in your area. I met a guy in the hotel bar the first night that was from Ottawa up in Canada. He managed all the marketing for his particular company. Here is the story he told me about living in French Canadia.

In Quebec City, a place predominately French Canadian place, and very proud of the fact too. There is a "secret" or organized group of enforcement officers that maintain the level of french speaking people in the city. Basically they want to make sure that french is the main language, and ensure that business are using french in signs, in speaking, and in the general business districts of the area. Well there was a pet shop located near the city centre that sells a wide variety of animals and supplies for whatever you might need. He told me he visited there often to get dog food and take a peak at the critters everynow and then. He said that this particular shop had a parrot that spoke english, it said such things as "Hello" and "Beautiful". Well the french speaking enforcement police went into this pet shop to see if they were up to snuff in their french speaking bilingual support. Including the signs and various other things they had. Cause forbid they speak anything else! Well they noticed the parrot that had lived in the shop was speaking english. This would not fly in Canada, and something had to be done. The police told the owner that he had 2 weeks to teach the parrot french or else. The shop owner was quite a bit shocked and conceded that he would have to teach the parrot a bit french. Yet the problem with teaching a parrot french is that it can be incredibly hard and not something that happens overnight. These birds repeat words they have heard over a good amount of time. Well the shop owner tried and tried to get the parrot to speak french. I think they tried to teach it "bonjour" or something like that. After 2 weeks no luck. Well the french muppets came back to the shop to check on the progress. The bird uttered "Hello" in english to them. They freaked, and instantly took the bird, and told the shop owner they would be hearing from him. He came back the next day and gave the shop owner a fine of over $200 for the infraction, and said they had killed the parrot as it was violating city laws. The whole goal of the enforcement police is to make sure that at least 75% of the citizen and signs speak and are in french. Pretty weird huh. So they killed the poor parrot and fined the shop owner because the bird would not speak french. Pretty crazy in my opinion, where else will they kill your parrot because it will not speak french!?

Any American City - Selective Color Experiment - New York City Photography

Really liked how this photo came out. There might be a few things I would change, but working with a 2mb pixel camera on my PDA and enhancements in photoshop make it kinda hard to do. This photo was a recent entry in a Photo Content in Selective Color on http://www.photographycorner.com. A great forum with an amazing bunch of talented people. Unfortunately I didn't win, but I think the best part was working with this photo in the first place. This actually happens to be one of the my first selective color experiments I did in photoshop. I used to do a bunch of selective color on B/W prints I would print out in the darkroom, and color with magic color pencils. Good fun.

Overall doing selective color in Photoshop is not too difficult. Here's how: Open the image that you want to do selective color on, and in the "Image" menu, select "Desaturate". Which will turn the image to black and white, then using the same "Image" menu select "Adjust" and finally "Brightness/Contrast". This will enable you to add more contrast to the image so the color stands out better in the when you color it. Next to start to select areas you would like to color. In the left hand tool bar, select the "history" tool, and adjust accordingly and start to "color in" any area on the image you want to convert back to color. For example, the flags in the above photo were done this way, but very carefully as the detail was important, and many of the flags were often behind trees or particular structures.

Here was the original.

Cuillin Mountains Scotland - Untouched & Wild

I came down off the backside of the mountain to the discover the awe-inspiring nature of this landscape. A loch (lake) nestled inside of a vast canyon created from the surrounding mountain runoff. These mountains poured out vast amounts of freshwater springs that came down the sides of the mountain into this loch, to eventually run into the sea (left not pictured). This whole area was owned by an individual family, and its amazing to think that someone could own this, when it seemed it owned itself and nothing could contain it.

Chris one of the guides on the trip told me that these mountains were good at absorbing demons, and that if we had any we should leave here without them. A faithful command that feel in sync with the mindset of the country. Very proud, very honest, and for some people something that ran through their very nature. We will not leave it unless it leaves us.

The water that ran off the mountains required no treatment to drink, it was better than bottled, and it tasted clear but not sweet. The ground was wet and soggy, with a certain softness to it that aided the trek. It was sharp with rocks, but smoothed with time. This whole area as I learned was under one big glacier about 10,000 years ago, a "time before time" as it was referred to. The rocks here were as old as creation, and oddly set anew each summer when the snow melted. I feel very fortunate to have been here.

Hamis The Hairy Coo - Scottish Cows

In Scotland, cows are called "coo's" instead of your standard cow. Some of the cows are also hairy or long hair breed. Supposedly the story goes, long ago that a farmer one day wanted to impress his wife with a new variety of cow that would actually last through the long winters. He crossed a standard Herford cow, common here in the states with a longer haired smaller cow over there. Result a hairy coo that could withstand the incredibly cold winters. This picture always gives me a smile, it was quite hilarious to see our guide Chris feed the coo with a carrot in his mouth. It was also rather gross too, cause these coo's don't smell like roses.

*Photo featured on http://www.photorevolt.com*

Find Yourself

First picture was at a moment where you catch someone looking to find something deeper in themselves. That moment where perched atop a hill in the middle of a place you never imagined you would see, you wonder why, when, where, who. You can only take in what is given you. What is asked of you, what is asked for you to see. Answers not required. Only finding the questions.

Faerie Glen Scotland - One Really Magical Place

I will be posting more pictures from the amazing place later on, but for now I would like to get one of the best pictures I think I took while on my trip. This is a picture of the entrance (basically) to the Faerie Glen. A place in Scotland visited by few, guarded secretly, and all around surrounded by mystery. I have never seen a place quite like it.

The story behind this place lies in the mystery within the various rituals performed and people that once claimed it home. You will have to understand two histories or legends. For centuries the place has been been home to animal, and even human sacrifices. Animal sacrifices are still be performed I think still, but very very seldom. You can walk around and find bones lying on and around the hills. As for the human ones, the last one we were told was in 1950. Now while that my sound a bit gruesome, it shouldn't, its part of a culture stretching as far back as we can remember. This was performed by people who believe in mother nature, basically, and the power that lay within. Now the people performing these where classified as "Faeries", women that inhabited the land praying to gods above, using means of rituals, dances, brews, and many other things.

The second part of the story is the about the land itself. Why would people claim this land as sacred land? Based on myth, the story goes that when God created the universe he threw out parts of spiritual creation on Earth. These parts of creation are what make up the mountains, lands, hills, and areas on earth. While most of the earth is covered by parts of equal creation, there are special and rare spots on earth with an immense concentration of this spirtual energy. You may have heard of a place like this before. This was supposedly one of those places.

To fully experience it you had to walk around without shoes (if you wanted). We had several hours to walk all over, contemplate life, meditate, and soak it in. Ask me about how it was like, some time for a more complete story. Till then, these pictures are the best on the internet. I searched for a bit for any other references or photos to the Faerie Glen, and could only find 3 from a few peoples travel journals.

Tropical Fish Found Off English Pier

Found this interesting little tidbit of an article while I was in London, reading the Metro newspaperwhile I was in the airport. Now, why would I be interested in something like this. Well, I have always been fascinated by biology, evolution, and the amazing diversity around us, and its one of the reasons I love to travel so much. How else better to learn then to experience it first hand? There is so much to discover that it would take my lifetime to just touch even the smallest part of it, and successfully understand it.

This article is ecologically related, and some proof that habitats and dispersal of organisms are always changing for a variety of reasons such as global warming. How did a tropical fish in the Mediterranean end up off the Southend pier (longest pier in the world) in England? So very far away from home? I am guessing the fish wanted to find a new home, was dumped into the ocean from someone in England, got swept up in an ocean current, or changes in environment (water temp) made it possible to emigrate to a new location. Maybe it was availability of food?

This is a picture of the male rainbow wrasse, that as described in the article had "iridescent green body, yellow strips, and red fins". Which pretty much describes the fish below. However according behavior, male wrasse stay in deeper waters, while females generally come closer to shore in rocky areas for protection. This fish was caught off a pier on the beach. Hmmmm, something is quite fishy. Answer: This fish changes sex from female to male often.

Scotland Travel Itinerary 5 Days

Some of the pictures I took in Scotland, don't make too much sense without a short explanation. Just about every place I went, it all seemed to have a rich history everywhere, so hence a need to document the places you went. Getting around wasn't much of a problem, their was some definate places I hope to come back and see, and many far out highlands villages. Places like "Kindalachen", "Killcrankie, "Kilmahog" were definately on the map. The itinerary for 5 Days on one of Macbackpackers.com Scotland tours& hostel stays.

Day 1

Firth of Forth Bridge
St. Andrews Cathedral
St. Andrews Golf Course
Pitlochry
Whitewater River Rafting - Tummel River

Day 2

Killiecrankie & River Burry
Bauer Waterfalls
Aviemore
Big tree near Aviemore
River Findhorn
Cullodden Battlefield
Loch Ness
Nessie Independent Research
Inverness
Rogie Falls (Salmon Migration)
Isle of Skye

Day 3

Kyle of Lochalsh
Kyleakin
Broadford
Traveled down A87
Mountains
-Beinn na Caillich
-Beinn na Cro
-Glamaig
Portree
Harbor in Portree
Mountains - Beinn a Cheacraft
Lochs - Loch Rada, Loch Leathen
Kilt Rock
Brogdaig Hike
Mountains
-Meall na Svivamach (left facing east)
-Rinda
-Buidhe (right facing east)
Blackhouses
Duntulum Castle Hotel
Macurdies Exhibition
Port Righ
Faerie Glen
St. Columba's Island Graveyard
Isle of Skye
Kyleakin

Day 4

Loch Alsh & Skye Bridge
Eilean Donan Castle
Blackhouses
Drive through Glengarry (Great Glen)
Fort William
Ben Nevis
Glencoe (Glen of the Weeping)
Onich & Ken Loch Leven
Three Sisters of Glencoe
Destiny Stone Story
Oban
Billiards

Day 5

Leave Oban
Ancient Viking Castle
Knights Templar
Benmore Lodge Lunch
Hairy Coo
Stiring
Scottish Immersion Program
Wallace Moument
Robert the Bruce

Traveling Scotland!

Well I have arrived in Scotland, and I am so thrilled to be here. This country contimues to amaze me with its brilliant scenic views, friendly people, and beautiful cities. It took about 15 hours to get here (24 hours later), 3 flights total from San Antonio to Chicago, Chicago to Manchester, Manchester to Edinburgh. I arrived in Edinburgh just as the Yearly festival has been in full swing. There are so many people from all over here, and the city is vibrant with a wide variety of life. I also had an interesting time trying to get from the airport to the city centre. Currently I am on 5 day tour of the Scottish Highlands, and writing from a hostel in Pitlochry, Scotland. The people on the tour are so great. This afternoon we did some white water rafting down the Tummel River, and had an incredible time. Before that we were in the birthplace of Golf, St. Andrews, Scotland. A town you would see in a postcard, with an abundant supply of Golf shops around every corner. We even spent some time on the beach, and got to see the 18th hole of St. Andrews course where they film the Open each year. It feels weird seeing it after seeing it on TV. This has to be one of the most beautiful country sides I have ever seen. Tommorrow we head to Skye, to take a dip in ole Loch Ness. The big lake the had the mysterious Loch Ness monster. More later when I get a chance, and pictures soon when I get back.