Our flight took off at 6:50am. That meant a 4:00am wake up and cab ride from home in order to make it to the RyanAir airport in time. Needless to say I was a very tired and exhausted girl!!
We arrive in Glasgow at 8:30am and catch a train into the city. The first thing I noticed was the fresh air, which doesn't say a lot for the air quality in London! The second thing I noticed was how clean the streets were! Not a piece of litter in sight! London is not as environmentally concious as I thought it would be.
Glasgow is not a tourist area. We found that one day here was enough. However, I enjoyed living a normal life of a Glasgowian. Shopping around the streets and enjoying the people. We did see some things though. The People's Palace, which common workers opened back during the hard times during the war and the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse gave us an awesome view of the city. Pints at night at a local pub then bed to head to Edinbourgh the next day.
Edinbourgh blew my mind! As we approached the city the first thing you see is the Edinbourgh Castle sitting triumphantly on a rockface. There was a valley below with a beautiful park. Even though the castle is now a tourist site, it still gives the feeling of protection as it towers above the city. We stayed in the Castle Rock Hostel which was, conveniently, beside the castle! Great view! Us girls were assigned the room called "The brain" and of course my bunk name was "Lame Brain". Mel, "Brain surgeon" thought that this was pretty funny.... and quite fitting! ha ha.
We toured the city that day and night and prepared ourselves for our 9am pick up from MacBackpacker's bus tour that we signed up for.
9am. A man in a modern kilt waltzes into the lounge and asks if we are on the tour. "Roght then, lets go". We pack on the bus and instantly get accused of being Americans. We instantly defend our Canadian status and soon feel sorry for the Americans that were on the bus tour! I soon had a bond with Neil, our kilted tour guide, as he was a McLellan and I was a MacKenzie (Mom's side) and apparently our clans were a 'team' back in the day. Our bus pulls away and we are headed on our 11 hour drive to the Isle of Skye. Neil has said Fuck probably 20 times by now, but he warned us that it's the Scottish way to swear all the time and shout Aye!!
First stop: Hermatige Forest: A forest created hundreds of years ago. Only Canadian trees were planted to make this forest. I seriously thought I was walking in Jasper the moment we were submerged in the greenery. It was a really wierd feeling. But gave me a taste of home.
Second: Ruthevan Barraks: Old military barraks. Cool views!!
Third: Loch Ness: I did not see Nessie, however Mel took a creepy picture of me standing on a rock by the Loch and all you can see is me and a white light... Maybe Nessie was there? Who knows!!
We made it to Skye in the evening and quickly made our way to the pub! We were staying in a small fishing village and I think it's lacking women... considering not 5 min after our tour group arrived, a bunch of men (probably every man in town) walked through the door! Mel and I were lucky enough to have a man in yellow wellies bump into us and ask if would dance with him and his son. Not that his yellow wellies weren't attractive, but we just told him we needed a few drinks first!
The next day we did a hike for 1 hour UPHILL. The mountain was called Old Man of Storr. The view from the top was breath-taking. There was a huge rock that balanced on the top and looked like it has been teetering up there for years. Legend has it, it's a famous giant's willy solidified into rock for eternity! Nothing like visiting those famous phallic symbols on vacation!
I also dunked my face into a river which is said to preserve your youth and beauty. Mel said that I was probably dunking my face into sheep urine (as they were grazing nearby) but on the plus side: It made my face oh so soft!!
Because we were living the hostel life and I didn't have a blow dryer, I decided to wear a hat for the majority of the trip. Neil was obsessed with the hat and constantly asked if he could wear it. Finally after we all had a shot of scottish whiskey he asked me again "aye Katie, just let me try your hat on" I said "I am having such a bad hair day!!" To which he replied " But when I saw you in the shower this morning...." My face turned to one of shock... and so did Neil's... He quickly corrected himself " I MEAN THE KITCHEN KATIE, I liked your hair when I saw you in the kitchen. I didn't see you in the shower I swear it!". I laughed and said " I didn't think I saw a peephole in there, but now I know differently!". Needless to say that caused a bit of a laugh for the remainder of the trip as Neil apologized to me at every moment!
I discovered a bit about my MacKenzie heratige and I now know that we, the mighty MacKenzie's once lived in the famous Eilan Donan castle where the movie Highlander was filmed! I always knew I was famous... even if it was by association!!
We saw many other awesome things in Scotland. It's such a beautiful country. The people are super friendly and always have wonderful stories to share with you!
We spent our last day ( apart )in Edinbourgh.... Oh yeah, there were 4 of us on the trip.... did you notice how you couldn't tell??? Let's just say it isn't easy spending 1 week with the same people you see all the time!!
Our final bus ride to the airport home was a perfect way to end the trip. Mel and I were reading at the back of the bus, seats reclined. Then 5 Scottish men walk onto the bus... clearly bombed. They choose to sit on the bench seat behind us. I get my seat in the upright position in enough time.... Mel wasn't so lucky. 2 of the men lean on the back of her seat and instantly rittle us with questions. "aye where ya from "where do you live now?" I told them we couldn't tell them because they were strangers. The scottish man soon became concerned that he has the look of a stalker. He kept asking if there was any way he could change his appearance to prevent this, or if he is stuck like that forever. They constantly patted Mel on the head, stole her hat and after every page we turned in our books would immediately asked " What happened now?!". Finally one man asked Mel to read to him, she said she'd rather not... he then said " Aye, I'll sing ye a song then". Then men then belted out a wide arrangement of Scottish drinking tunes! It was pure madness! I never laughed so hard in my life!!
We then spent a miserable night in the Glasgow airport, only to catch our flight at 6:50am.
It was a great trip. One destination DOWN!
PS: I did eat some Haggis while I was there! I was suprised that it tasted like meatloaf!!
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