My Scottish Adventure

Spring Break Part One: Scotland 

Alright guys, I’m moving to Scotland.  No, really.  I only spent three and a half days in Scotland, but I would gladly move there.  The people are so friendly, the food is great, and Edinburgh is such an interesting city. 

Before I really jump into describing my time in Scotland, I should probably give you a quick overview.  I went on Spring Break in the UK alone.  Yes, I said alone.  I’m sure a lot of people who know me are extremely surprised by that, but I really think I had more fun alone than I would have with other people from my group this semester.  It’s always nice to have company, but it was amazing to have some alone time too.  I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and I didn’t have to stay at any location if I didn’t enjoy what I was doing.  I met some amazing people, including two girls in my hostel in Edinburgh and several great people on my tour.  This adventure made me realize just how much fun I can have travelling alone, and how many amazing people I can meet along the way.  Anyway, brief overview finished, let’s move on to the real adventure!  (And I’m sorry, but this is going to be a very long post.)

I arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday the 13^th during a rugby match between Scotland and France, which made for quite the atmosphere.  To be honest, I was a little iffy about my hostel when I was walking up the stairs.  The pictures online were very bright and clean, whereas this staircase was dark, dingy, and really freaking me out. Thankfully, the hostel itself turned out to be just like the pictures and the staff were really friendly and helpful.  I was in a room with several other girls, including one from San Francisco and one from Singapore who I actually went to dinner with that night. 

That first day, I walked around Edinburgh alone, seeing the sights.  I saw the Scots Monument and the Edinburgh Castle and walked along the Royal Mile, the old town area.  As I was walking along the Mile, I came across a street performer in the middle of an act.  Super Scot was just about to climb up onto the pole when I arrived.  He was so entertaining to watch and he had several Americans helping him, which made it even funnier.  Everyone loves to make fun of Americans! 

Edinburgh Castle

Super Scot!!!

Monday kicked off my tour of Scotland.  I met with my tour group at Haggis Adventures on the Royal Mile.  We boarded a lovely bright yellow bus emblazoned with the word “Stunning” on one side and “Wild & Sexy” on the other.  Not exactly the most subtle vehicle to be driving, but we certainly would not be getting onto the wrong bus!  I sat down a couple seats back from the front, at least until Jamie, our lead tour guide, complained about no one sitting up front.  Turns out, that was the best place to sit anyway! Great views and some conversation to pass the time as well.  Jamie outlined where we were going for that first day before we set off, although all I really remember was that we were driving through Glencoe and into the Highlands and would be staying the night in Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. 

You thought I was kidding

 We set off out of Edinburgh and stopped at a monument about 30 minutes outside of the city.  I honestly can’t remember who the monument was for, but it was pretty and we got to hike up to the top.  Along the walk, I hit it off with the Australian girl who was on the trip, who was really nice.  After hiking to the top, we walked back to the bottom because there were some Scottish Highland cows down in a pasture.  In case you didn’t know, the Scottish call these cows ‘Hairy Coos’ and Jamie always went up several octaves when he said the ‘coo’ part.  Several members of the herd had escaped their pasture and were going on an adventure down the road, so we got some great pictures.  Not to mention, one of the cows still inside the pasture seemed to be posing for my pictures.  I’ve decided I want to own a herd of these adorable creatures, especially since we have matching hair. Mom and I can share, since I know she wants some as well! 

 Anyway, we continued on through Scotland, always headed towards the Highlands.  We passed through Glen Coe, which is where Skyfall and several scenes from the Harry Potter movies were shot.  We even got to see the area where Hagrid’s Hut was built!  We stopped for pictures several more times before stopping for lunch at what was the equivalent of a truck stop… I think.  It was situated along a 96 mile trail through Scotland that thousands of people walk every year, so I guess it’s more of a hiker stop… Anyway, I had a delicious baked potato and a sausage roll before we hit the road again. 

This is supposed to be the most photogenic mountain

either in Scotland or the world... Can't remember

Unfortunately, like all great adventures, there had to be a mishap or two.  As we were about to enter a roundabout in Fort William, the bus broke down.  It wasn’t a major breakdown and at least we weren’t stranded in the middle of nowhere, but still.  Thankfully, it wasn’t raining and we were right on the coast of Loch Linnhe.  We ended up walking through the town to the ruins of a castle before hopping on the bus and finishing our drive to Fort Augustus. 

Our broken down bus

 For dinner that night, I actually tried haggis, which wasn’t that bad.  For those who don’t know, and I only had a vague idea when I tried it, haggis is made from the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep mixed with onions, oatmeal, suet, and spices.  Honestly, I thought it was pretty good but I also tried it with some chicken and mashed potatoes.  After dinner, our tour guides and a few other members of the group played a very odd game of Uno.  None of us really remembered the rules, but it was still fun. 

Tuesday was our trip to the beautiful Isle of Skye (Jamie decided it was warm enough for shorts and a tshirt for the day, although the rest of us were still wearing pants).  On our drive to the Isle, we stopped at some of the fairy cairns that were built on the side of the road.  Supposedly, the dark fairies are buried in the ground and the stones are placed on top to ensure that they do not escape.  Don’t know if that is true, but they were really cool to see. We also passed the Eilean Donan Castle, which is supposed to be one of the most photographed castles in the world.  The site of the castle has a rich history, but the castle itself is less than 100 years old (the original castle was destroyed by the Jacobites).  To rent out the castle, you only have to pay £600 for every half hour of use.  Really great deal right? Jamie tried to propose to the Chinese girls on our trip so they could get married at that castle, but they turned him down flat.   

Fairy Cairns

Eilean Donnan Castle

 As we continued into Skye, our two guides-in-training (Gaines and Steve) told us the history and the myths that surround the island.  They were all very interesting but I can’t remember anything about them! I think there was one about and old man and his wife who encountered some fairies and were turned into stone. 

The stones on the right are supposed 

to be the man and the woman

At one point, we stopped to walk down a path to see the amazing view.  I don’t remember where exactly we were, but I’m pretty sure it was on the coast of Skye.  Jamie volunteered to take us down a short path to see a beautiful waterfall, which most of us decided to go down.  What we were not told was that this path was basically just a water runoff.  Parts of it resembled a path, but mostly it was just a crevice in the ground that your feet barely fit into.  I think it might have been a sheep path, but Jamie insisted it was a legit path.  The view from the bottom was great, despite all the complaining.  However, the hike back up was ridiculous. 

We stopped in Portree for lunch, which is the largest town on Skye.  Since it was a harbor town, I decided to try some of the UKs famous fish and chips and let me tell you, they were delicious.  We ate them while sitting on the harbor and listening to the seagulls chatter at us.  It was amazing.  We had one more stop for pictures after lunch and then drove back to Fort William.  That evening, we played the UK version of Cards Against Humanity, which was quite the experience.  I was sitting with the two Americans on the trip and we spent a good portion of the time trying to figure out what half of the cards meant.  Google could only help so much! 

Our final day was the only day that wasn’t completely sunny, but it fit with our stops for the day.  We stopped along Loch Ness and at the Battlefield of Culloden, which wouldn’t have been quite right with full sun.  In case you didn’t know, the battle of Culloden was the end of the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland.  Thousands of Scots died at the hands of the English.  The fog made the battlefield pretty eerie, but it was really cool.  We also had our whiskey distillery tour at Tomatin, which was a lot of fun.  They walked us through the process of distilling whiskey and then let us taste some, which was really good!  They use the water from the nearby stream, which comes straight off of the mountain.  Really awesome experience.  From there, we pretty much drove back to Edinburgh while Gaines and Steve told us a little more about the history of Scotland, including the story of Mary Queen of Scots. 

Loch Ness

Battle of Culloden War Memorial

 Scotland was definitely my favorite part about spring break.  I met people from Japan, India, Australia, and Scotland, as well as two girls from New Jersey.  I had my first real journey alone and I absolutely loved it.  And that was only three and a half days out of my entire spring break!