A lot of people and friends have been planning to visit Scotland this summer, so I thought it was time to do a retro post from a few years ago when I visited a few famous sites around the country.

Where to start?  Edinburgh of course!  Here is a view of the castle which is fun to visit during the day and then attend a tattoo at night (see below).

August is a great month to visit Edinburgh as they have what is known as the Fringe Festival.  It kind of like SIFF in Seattle, but it is based on live performing arts and theater, not films.  It is a blast and so much fun to see the plays, theater and creative actors in many different venues.

Now the “must do” in Edinburgh is attending the Military Tattoo which I think is held almost every night and it is a great fin performance whether you love military parades or not.  Make sure you book your tickets well in advance as almost every night sells out!

OK – everyone knows there is tons of great music and entertainment in Scotland along with some great beers.  But when going out, what must you try and eat?

Haggis of course!  it seems that every restaurant and every area around the country makes it a little differently, so that is your excuse to try it.

I like beer with my haggis myself, but when touring around the country, you should try out and visit a Scotch distillery or two. We stopped by Blair Athol and leaned quite a bit and was surprised to see they make Johnnie Walker blends here.  It was pretty cool to see barrels that had whisky in them that was made 50 years ago and is still waiting to be blended.

Now, if you visit Scotland, you also must visit Inverness.  Why?  To get a chance to see the Loch Ness monster known as Nessie.  It was bad weather and a little stormy, but we did get to see her!  Check out the shot!

Yes, I know bad weather can sometimes create visual illusions, but we also used technology.  And the sonar showed and captured the truth.  The monster is real and still living and on some days, you may be lucky enough to see it in person.  We did!