Choir tour trip to the UK - Intro and Scottish Highlands (yes, it's backwards... why do the expected? ;0)

I've decided to begin a blog, although I will not be keeping it up very well after a few weeks as I will have little free time, but I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from my incredible trip to England and Scotland with my church choir (Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY). We were there to serve as choir-in-residence for St. Paul's cathedral for the week of July 25-30. During that time we also gave a concert at the Ely cathedral's Lady Chapel, an incredible singing space in an incredible cathedral. We later traveled to Cambridge, although I skipped out to spend time with my wonderful cousin and his adorable wife and son in nearby Knebworth. The next stop was York, with touring the Minster and a workshop with the jovial composer Andrew Carter, which was great fun. The last leg was to Scotland with an awesome tour of the Highlands and Loch Ness and singing in St. Giles cathedral, plus the wonderful Military Tattoo. I will update with photos as I have time to resize and upload. Please feel free to comment as you feel moved..... :0)





Incredibly, Loch Ness looks like the big sister of our finger lake here at home, Canandaigua. Makes sense, though, as they are both glacial. Ness, however, is MUCH deeper at 1000+ feet, as opposed to 300 or so for Canadaigua. Taken from the tour boat.





Lucky shot out the bus window, while moving (did you ever stop, Graeme?!?) with very cool lighting. Probably taken on the way back from the Highlands of Scotland, but maybe on the way.





Taken out the bus window (Graeme HAD to stop - red light) looking north in the northernmost place I visited, Inverness.




Just liked the clouds in this one, taken from a tour boat on Loch Ness (no bus window this time!)

Okay, Graeme, here's your little moment of fame...



He was both the driver and the guide, and really did Grayline Tours proud with his font of information, good-hearted kidding and wonderful bus handling. Thanks, Graeme (pronounced as Graham...)!

One last photo of the Highlands tour, and then I will begin a new post with St. Giles, the Scottish Seabird Centre and the spectacular Military Tattoo.



A panorama of Urquhart castle on the shore of Loch Ness. We were not able to go into the ruins due to time constraints, but it was neat to see it from our vantage point.

As you can tell from the photos, we went through all types of weather, from (mostly) clear skies to heavy downpours (only while we were driving, fortunately!). The boat tour was blessed with beautifully partly cloudy skies for the entire hour. It was a lot of time on a bus after a long drive up from York, but it was most definitely worth it, and I'd do it again in heartbeat!