Last day our visit in Scotland we when to Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. Walking path runs around the big Ben some are little harder and some are easier. We walk all day in those paths. And again the weather was cold, windy and rainy, but when you walk uphill you don´t feel could so easly. One of my friend in here said that it takes about 5 hours to walk all the way up Ben Nevis and back down and you need to be very good fit to do that. So we did not get all the way up because the weather was bad and I and our daughter was little ill. But again landscapes were beautiful and very harsh in sametime.

Loch Ness the most anticipated destination in our visit in Scotland I would say. Loch Nessis a large, deep, freshwater lake or loch in the highlands and is best known for the alleged sightings of the Loch Ness monster also known Nessie. Loch Ness is the second largest but due to its great depth, it is the largest by volume. Its deepest point is 230 m. Only 3 people ever have been in bottom of the lake. Fishing in the lake don´t need any license fee so everyone can tray to catch Nessie. Landscapes around the Loch Ness is really beautiful and even if we did not get any fish and the weather was very cold was a trip worth it. Fort Augustus a place where we admired the Loch Ness is very little village, only 646 people lives in there and economy is heavily reliant on tourism. Scotland is sparsely populated country in whole europe.

The Culloden battlefield was our second target on our way towards to Loch Ness. It is located near the Inverness city. England last land battle took place in Culloden field in Scotland moor. Fighting lasted for one hour and the loss was about 1400 deaths. The place and the battle is very important to Scottish people because the loss caused by the partial death of Scottish Culture. For example the Government banned the use of Scottish national dress and language and even Scottish whistle for long time. Even the battle was very a cruel and bloody you don´t see much of that anymore in the field, but you can still feel or sense some kind of sadness in there. There is this little cottage, which has been rebuilt, because the original was destroyed in a battle. Government forces put the Jacobite militants inside the cabin and set it on fire.

After Edinburgh we went to the Highlands. Our main target was Loch Ness and Ben Nevis, but before that we went to see how they made the Scotish famous whisky. All whiskey distilleries are in the middle of nowhere in other words the higlands and the reason is water. Distilleries get all the water from the mountains. Water is much softer in mountains and so it is in an important part of the preparation and taste. Glenfarclas Distillery was my choice to go visit. I do not know much of whiskys and I had never heared or tasted Glenfarclas whisky. Of course we could have chosen some much more famous brand but I chose this. Reasons for it was that I read the place is a small family business and has been in one family since 1865 and is one of the the oldest distilleries in Scotland. The visit was a great experience for all of us. It was great to see the entire manufacturing process and to taste the finished product and it wasn´t bad at all. The children got a great view on the different stages of manufacturing and job places that distilleries offer.

Here easter holiday lasts for 2 weeks in schools and this gave us a good opportunity to go on a holiday to Scotland for a week. So we went, in the first three days we where in Edinburgh - capitalcity of Scotland. Even though the weather did not favor us in Edinburgh, they don´t say for nothing that Edinburgh is the most beautiful city of all Northern Europe´s citys - World Heritage Site. Like Rome and Turku in Edinburgh there are 7 hills (big hills). It is by the sea like Turku, well that’s all the similarities there are. For those who have not been in Edinburgh I could tell that the most interesting place of all is in the old town. It is an old street which is under the new street or under the bridge in this case. The new street is built on top of the old street as a bridge, so that the old street remained active at the same time with a new street. Although those who lived and worked in the old street were the poorest people in the country.

A fun place for children and young-minded is a Camera Obscura. The Camera Obscura show is a fascinating and highly amusing way to see the city and learn about its history. This unique experience has delighted and intrigued people for over 150 years. Maria Theresa Short set up a ‘Popular Observatory’ in 1835. We sure liked the place.

Shopping in here is quite easy. There are many shops to choose from. In Henley we have also a Tesco which is a similar shop than the Prisma in Finland - They give bonuses. Once a week on thursday here in Henely there is market day in the Market Place. Local farmers bring their goods for sale. Last week I bought rabbit meat - I have never ate rabbit before. The seller said that rabbit tastes like chicken. Well sucess wasn´t so good, I didn´t hear any jihuuu of my family´s mouth so I don´t need to buy rabbit anymore.

The snowed last night and now traffic is messed up for a couple of days even though it is fun for a change because you know that the snow will melt away within a few days. Petri went immediately to test driving in the snow because he wanted to test the English winter tires on the car which we bought in the autumn. They were not as good as our finnish tires, just nearly got up the hill but perhaps we will survive with them these few days. Since English does not normally snow, they do not have equipment to control the situation and that is why Army is also put on standby to help people.

Henley´s environment provides great conditions for outdoor activities. Footpaths are all over the place where you can walk, run or even do to some off road cycling. Although cycling can be a challenging here in England because there is no bike lanes and little roads are very narrow even for cars. It is said that every week someone gets injured while cycling in England. Henely is a rowingcity so offcourse here are rowingclubs to choose and Thames river gives fine conditions to practice. Golf is also a very popular entertainment in here.

In Henley´s leisure center you can swim or go to gym or play some squash or do some zumba etc. There is also a sauna and a steam room to enjoy and relax after hard work. I do like the gym but the swimming pool showers and changing facilities are in pretty bad condition and I must say that Kaarina’s swiming hall is better compared to Henley´s.

Some people do live in castles or a big country houses which we here see a lot of. Old castles that are built in the English colonial period and does not have to guess where the money was received for the construction of these castles. Never the less they are beautiful to watch and make Engalnd more interesting palce to be.

Friar Park in Henely On Thames - Big castle where George Harrison lived before his death. Friar Park

Guess what, we live almost opposite  to that castle in a same hill - Gravel Hill. Our home is little modest, but very typical english house. Houses are more like a row of houses in here our house is semidetached house. We have two floors. In a downstairs we have a kitchen and a living room and a little toilet. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. We have a little backyard and a garage - garage where the car will not fit in.

In Henely the buildings are old and most of the houses are built during the 1800s or earlier. Our house is built 1950s so it is quite new…so they have told us.

Today was last day to vote in here - new president to Finland. We went to London in finnish embassy to vote. That is the nearest place to the direction of our home but they do have 7 more places through the England where finnish people can go to vote. I think that it’s great thing that has been arranged for finnsh people who live in abroad the opportunity to vote in elections.

Foreigners like us have the right to vote in municipal elections in England as do foreigners in Finland they have similar right. Parliament elections in England are held every five years and last elections was 2010.