It is Saturday, the fourth day of our 2015 European Concert Tour, and we FINALLY got to sleep in. At 10:00 we were picked up to go participate in the Highland games experience. Which by far is probably the coolest thing we have done. We got to throw logs and Haggis balls, among other things.

It's official: The Allegro Handbell Ensemble's 2015 European Concert Tour has begun. After a wonderful send-off by friends and family at Union Church in Hinsdale, Illinois, we hopped a plane in Chicago yesterday, stopping briefly in New York, and landed bright eyed (more or less) just after 7:00 this morning in Edinburgh.

Throughout the trip, Allegro members will share a bit about what's happening.

Today's update from Scotland's capital is by Lyndsey Notaro '16 and Gretchen Huebner '18, with a couple comments from director Stephen Edwards:

Today's update from the 2015 European Concert Tour comes from Bob O'Malley '15, Ben Heppner '18, and Matt Anderson '15, with a few comments from director Stephen Edwards.

We could not have asked for a better day than we had today on the second day of our 2015 European Concert Tour. We left at 7 AM and just got back to our place at 10 PM.

The eight of us went on a boat tour of Loch Ness and had a great time together.

Well, it was another amazing day in our 2015 European Concert Tour! We had a bit of a change of plans which turned out to work in our favor, as Tine Greene '15, Celia Balderston '17, and Grace Cook '18 explain, along with director Stephen Edwards:

Lucky for us, we got an extra hour of sleep last night. After waking up, feeling all wonderfully rested, we had a bit of a late start. Instead of traveling to Loch Lemmond, we had another day to venture around Edinburgh.

We're a bit sad that our time in Scotland is coming to an end. This morning we got up and met our driver at 9:45. He took us to this tiny place that he claims has the best Scottish breakfast. He may have been telling the truth. It was delicious!

After "breakfast" we went to Sterling to see the castle. It was fast and fun! There was a big cycling event going on, so we were let off at the bottom of the hill and hiked our way up to the castle. It was a blast. The castle was not nearly as ornate as Edinburgh, but it was indeed fantastic!

"Allegro is like a family," says Celia Balderston, a Hinsdale Central High School junior. "We really bond during tour."

Generations of students in the Allegro Handbell Ensemble have grown together as musicians and leaders during the group's tours. They will perform in Scotland and Ireland this summer if they can raise the $50,000 required.