way up north

Alright I'm just going to warn you now... Every single picture I'm about to put up I'm wearing my black down coat and red wellies... I've been cold.

so here's where we've been:

Preston-

There's nothing quite like seeing the angel Moroni poking out from a bunch of trees when you least expect it! We got to tour some of the areas around Preston, which is where the missionaries during Joseph Smith's time first landed! President Hinckley also served in this area, and we got to see the place where he got the letter from his father that advised him to "forget yourself and go to work." Pretty cool huh?!

The Lake Districts-

Easily one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Pretty right? 

We hiked, stayed in a bed & breakfast (which was the cutest thing in the world) and spent a day at Dove Cottage aka Wordsworth's House. We read poetry and had dinner inside of his cottage! 

Castlerigg Stone Circle-

 & Hadrian's Wall-

and finally...

Edinburgh-

I LOVE this city! 

There's the "old town" and the "new town". The old town part of the city has been around forever  and contains the royal mile and the castle- which in itself probably deserves a blog post. The new town is newer shopping and restaurant areas including Princes Street-a super famous shopping street. 

The whole city is built around the huge castle on top of the hill, and so of course we had to spend a couple hours going through it. The Scottish crown jewels were my favorite part of the castle (shocking right?) along with the amazing view of the whole city. (see buns looking out over the city above) 

We meandered down the royal mile, ducking into shops and getting some Scottish shortbread. We even met an LDS lady who told us we had the "mormon glow" about us and gave us a box of free fudge from her shop! because we need more sugar around here... 

Then we decided to go hike the inactive volcano on the outskirts of the city. This came highly recommended to us for the views of the whole city and beyond. Kylie's broken ankle didn't do much to stop us, and she gets the trooper award. It was a beautiful hike with lakes and great views!

And to end the night, a few of us decided to take the Scots up on their love for old ghost stories and we went on a little ghost tour in the vaults of an old bridge in the city! I failed to get a picture tragic I know, but I would recommend it to anyone in Scotland who can handle some spooky! 

All in all, the north of the continent is more than okay in my books!