Research

Because I don't think anyone much cares to hear about my packing process for Scotland (and because I haven't done much of the packing yet anyway), I've decided to share a bit of my research with you instead.  As a history buff, I've been looking up documentaries about Scotland's history in preparation for my trip.

THIS is an entire youtube playlist of Scottish documentaries (sadly, many of them have been deleted).

Here is the BBC documentary A History of Scotland, which is one of the first ones that came up when I started searching:

And here is one that was mentioned on Hark! A Vagrant! about the Glencoe Massacre:

This one is cool if you're into castles as I am. I am definitely going to visit as many of these as I can.

I would also recommend this one on Edinburgh narrated by Sean Connery, mostly because it is narrated by Sean Connery. And it's kind of cute to hear him talk fondly about his hometown.

I've been trying to locate a good documentary about the true story behind William Wallace and the events in Braveheart (one of my favorite movies), but this clip from the Smithsonian Channel is the best I could find.

It talks about how the real William Wallace was way different than the fictional one in Braveheart, but who is honestly surprised by that? Apparently, kilts weren't even in vogue during the time period the movie takes place in. But who cares? It's still a great fantasy film.

Speaking of addressing the troops on a horse, I should also note that Clydesdales are my favorite breed of horse, and since Scotland is home of the Clydesdale, I am totally going to find some. They are such beautiful animals.

(Please appreciate the hotel lobby soundtrack of this video)

Anyway, that's all for this post! The next one will be about my favorite Scottish bands. Because you need to now. 

These guys aren't on it, but they're still pretty far out.