ScotlandMagdalena Byrska & Ewa Kowal

Scotland is a nation in northwest Europe and one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. It occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England. It is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres.[5] Scotland's largest city is Glasgow, which is the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Greater Glasgow is home to approximately 40% of Scotland's population. Scottish waters consist of a large sector[6] of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union.

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union (despite widespread protest across Scotland)[7] resulted in a union with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.[8][9] Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland; and Scotland still constitutes a discrete jurisdiction in public and in private law.[10] The continued independence of Scots law, the Scottish education system, and the Church of Scotland have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and Scottish national identity since the Union.[11] However, Scotland is no longer a separate sovereign state and does not have independent membership of either the United Nations or the European Union.

Edinburgh Castle - This most famous of Scottish castles has a complex building history. The oldest part, St Margaret's Chapel, dates from the 12th century; the Great Hall was erected by James IV around 1510; the Half Moon Battery by the Regent Morton in the late 16th century; and the Scottish National War Memorial after the First World War

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art houses Scotland's finest collection of modern and contemporary art. It opened in 1960 and since then the collection has grown to include 5000 items, ranging from paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings of the 1890's right up to contemporary video installations of the 1990s. Highlights include works by Vuillard, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Kirchner and Dix; a superb selection of paintings by Scottish artists such as Peploe, Fergusson, Gillies and Redpath; post-war work by Bacon, Freud, Davie, Hockney, Balthus and Lege, and more recent work by artists including Baselitz, Antony Gormley and Damian Hirst. The building was designed by William Burn in the 1820's as a school, but has been adapted with great success. grounds surrounding the Gallery provide the perfect setting for sculptures by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth amongst others.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Her Majesty The Queen's official residence in Scotland, stands at the end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile against the spectacular backdrop of Arthur's Seat. The Royal Apartments, where The Queen hosts State ceremonies and other official occasions, are infused with centuries of history and have witnessed many important events in Scotland's rich history. The Palace is perhaps best known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots and as the setting for the most dramatic episodes in her reign, culminating in the murder of her secretary Rizzio. The new Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse hosts a programme of changing exhibitions from the Royal Collection. In the historic setting of the Palace's Mews Courtyard, the café offers a wide range of refreshments throughout the day, from drinks and light snacks to a changing menu of freshly prepared lunch dishes.

Loch Ness is part of the Great Glen or Glen Mor in Gaelic, a scar like fault line which runs over 60 miles from Inverness in the north to Fort William in the south. It is made up of 3 lochs, Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness, with Loch Ness being by far the largest.The loch is a tectonic lake resulting from a movement in the earths crust. Around 500 million years ago tremors opened up the crack that is now Loch Ness as the land to the north moved around 65 miles south westerly.During the last ice age, which ended about 10 to 12 thousand years ago, the whole area was covered in 4 thousand feet of ice. In fact the only land mark would have been Ben Nevis to the south. It was this ice which gauged out the trough that loch ness lies in. Tremors can still be felt around the loch, the last one in December 1997. The hills surrounding the loch are still rising by 1mm per year.