Scotland 8-15>18-09

Travel from Cambridge to Edinburgh 8-15-09

I slept soundly and when I woke up I enjoyed a nice continental breakfast offered by the hotel. We lounged around a while packed up our things and took a cab to the train station. We booked our tickets from Cambridge to Edinburgh a couple weeks prior but Teresa had difficulty with the tickets so she ended up on a later train. It didn't seem like an issue at the time until we actually got on our train… We found out that there were two stops in Edinburgh and we weren’t sure which one Teresa was going to get off on. Normally this wouldn’t really be a problem because we had hotels for every place we have been but for Scotland we had nothing booked since every hotel and hostel was packed because of the Edinburgh festivals. So during our train ride we thought up a bunch of different plans of how we were going to deal with this problem. We ended up choosing to get off at the main station and wait for her there and if she didn't get off I would take the train to the next station and meet up with everyone later if I found her. Despite the worry the train ride was really pleasant. The scenery of Scotland was truly amazing. There were tons of pastures and fields and hills. I was really excited to be spending time there. There were also some interesting people on the train. There were two men in front of me talking about the good old times when they were in there firms supporting their 'football' teams, and all the craziness surrounding that lifestyle. All I could think of was the movie Green Street Hooligans and was hit with a reality check that that stuff actually happens. Anyways the ride was finally over and we were crossing our fingers for Teresa. The train that she was on came and we were waving our arms and shouting on the platform. She got off! She had no idea that we were worried of losing her so she was really confused at why we were so excited to see her. From there we left the station and flagged down a cab and asked him where the nearest campsite was. We took the cab and the driver explained different sites to us as we went along and told us about the giant festival going on at the time. There were tons of people in Edinburgh for the international festival. This explained why we couldn't find a place to stay. The driver was also making fun of our 'accents' and told us that we had to learn how to speak Scottish. He said "To speak Scottish you must lerrrn to rrrole yourrr rrrr's" we all tried and failed at a good Scottish accent. We arrived at the campsite outside the city. It was perfect. We paid for our spot pitched our tent and went down to the pub up the road from the camp. We had a great meal and tried some of the Scottish brewed ale. We finished our dinner and settled down at our campsite for the night.

1st day in Edinburgh 8-16-09

The next morning we got up and took the bus into town. Edinburgh was an amazing city. It was almost split into three eras with its architecture. It had a very medieval feel with Victorian influence and also had a modern twist to it. We were on a trek to find a catholic church to go to mass, it was poring rain and we had no idea where it was. Our taxi driver told us of a St. Mary's so we asked all around and searched for it. We got directions at the city's information center and found it. Mass didn't start for an hour so we hung out in the church until then. Mass was nice, it was pretty traditional and they also had a full blown out choir who sang old hymns and Latin chants. Once mass was over we were desperate to find food we were starving. The sky cleared up and the sun was out. I picked up some McDonalds and we walked the city. With all the festivities there was a lot of activity on the street. Bagpipe players, jugglers, dancers, sword swallowers the whole nine yards. We walked up the city to Edinburgh castle which was above the whole city on a hill. We made it to the top and looked out over the whole city from the castle that once reigned it. Grace found a ticket on the ground and tried to get in but it ended up being a senior ticket and they wouldn't let her go through. We continued roaming around the city enjoying the street performers and walking through the stores and stuff. We stopped by the information center and checked out the different sites around. Grace and I decided to take a one day tour of the Scottish Highlands! Teresa and JP decided to take a train to Sterling castle and Dune Castle(where Monty Python was filmed)After that it got late and we head back to camp.

The Highlands 8-17-09

Grace and I had to get up extra early this morning to make it on our bus to tour the Highlands. We gathered our things for the day and headed in to the city. We made it to the tour van and met our driver, Derrick. There were about thirteen of us in the van from all over the world (Italy, Russia, Taiwan, Switzerland). The twelve hour journey promised us views of most of the country side of Scotland starting in Edinburgh and continuing as far north as Loch Ness . About forty five minutes into the drive we passed Sterling castle and the William Wallace monument. They were a site to see: a giant castle and huge monument standing in the middle of the country. As we continued on, our tour guide told us all about Scottish history and stories of different people. Our first stop was for some coffee and a bathroom break at a small store/café in the countryside. There was a highland 'coo' there that everyone was taking pictures next to. We continued on and watched the change of the country side from the lowlands which are very fertile and have a lot of farms and agriculture to the highlands that have a lot of grass and trees and acidic soil. Our first scenic stop was Loch Lamont. We got off the bus and walked our by the Loch and looked out at the beautiful mountains of the highlands. The tour guide told us that the Scottish clans lived in the highlands and roamed the lands. He also told us that this particular Loch was apart of the lands of the Macgregor clan. I got really excited about this because that is the clan my ancestors were apart of. We continued on, and as we went the tour guide told us about all the clans and their cultures. He also told us along the way which clan lived in the particular parts. The tour was really fascinating and beautiful. The Scotch highlands are the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We continued to stop along the way to take in the beauty of the mountains and hills and waterfalls and lakes. It was almost overwhelming. We went through Glencoe, the scene of the massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbells. Then we continued through Fort William which was the beginning of the 'Great Glen' (a giant valley between the mountains), and ended up at Loch Ness. We stopped at Loch Ness for a little over an hour and Grace and I enjoyed our packed lunch right on the water. After lunch we walked through the little town that had boat locks running right through it. I thought it was ironic how there were locks at the Loch. From Loch Ness we made our way back to Edinburgh taking a different route through hills covered in purple heather. The purple rolling hills were unlike anything I have ever seen. We stopped in a Victorian town (Pitlochry) where the Queen takes a vacation once a year to have a personal retreat from her public life. Grace and I enjoyed a scoop of ice cream and headed back to the bus which took us back to the city. On the journey home the bus driver took a liking to Grace and I and started telling us his life story. He found out that we were camping and offered us to stay at his house for a night and we politely declined but thanked him for the great tour of the highlands. We roamed Edinburgh, found dinner and headed back to camp where we found Teresa and JP and asked them about their trip to Sterling and Doune castle. This day was another highlight of this trip. The highland country of Scotland was one of my favorite places I have ever seen.

The Gordon day 8-18-09

We slept in a little bit this morning and when we got up we had to pack up our camp. We had a hostel booked for this night because we had our flight out to Ireland the next day. So we took the bus to our Hostel and went in. This hostel was the only one we could find online. Even though we had to share a room with 14 other people we were all really excited to be able to sleep in a bed for the first time in a while. We waited for the receptionist and when she arrived we showed her our reservation. Unfortunately we had been double booked by expedia and they didn't have room for us… The woman made a few calls and told us she found a place for us for very cheap. We said we would take anything because we had no where else to go. She told us to go around the corner by the coffee shop and an old man about 85 years old would come to meet us. After about ten minutes a car pulled up and Gordon stepped out. He shook our hands and immediately showed us his comment book from others who had stayed with him. Guests from all over the world had been rescued by Gordon in similar situations. He was a very friendly man and began a tour of Edinburgh right away for us and stopped at a cathedral for us to look at. He gave us time to walk around and he bought all of us some post cards to remember the church. We were blown away by his generosity and kindness. He told us that he had an empty flat in the city where we could stay for the night. He took us to his apartment loft to drop off our bags and offered us the opportunity to take a shower and have some tea at his house. We couldn't object. So we unloaded our big packs at the apartment and took our daypacks and he drove us to his house. He told us that normally he would have had us stay there with him but he was already hosting a family from Nepal. We took showers and he made us coffee and tea and sat with us and told us about his life as a traveling oil rig engineer and how he adopted three girls from the Philippines and got them through college. Gordon was an amazing person. After tea he walked us down the street where we could find a nice dinner and offered to drive us to the city center after dinner. All the restaurant people knew him because he brings different people there every day. We enjoyed a nice meal and he met us at the end and drove us into the city and pointed out some of his favorite pubs. He also offered to take us back to the apartment if we were back at his house by 11, and to take us to the airport in the morning for 15 pounds. We graciously accepted his offers and enjoyed a nice night out on the town. We walked down the 'Royal Mile' starting at Edinburgh castle and walked down to the waterfront where there was a dormant volcano called Arthurs Seat. We hiked up to the top and looked out over all of Edinburgh as the sun set. All four of us stood up and shouted "FREEDOM!" at the top of our lungs, in honor of William Wallace and a great trip to Scotland. Our voices echoed back from the city- it was a really cool moment. After that we hiked back down the hill and found a church offering free tea and coffee, and we sat and listened to them sing Christian songs as we enjoyed our beverages. On our way back we could hear the Scottish Military 'Tatoo' bagpipe march at the castle and watched the fireworks shoot off at the finale of the salute. Then we hopped a bus to Gordon's. We found Gordon at his house waiting for us, and he drove us to the apartment. The kind old man made sure we were all set at his place and said he would pick us up at 6 a.m. for our flight at 8 a.m.- After he dropped us off at the apartment he said he was going to the airport to pick up two more people at the airport who needed a place to stay. His kindness continued to blow us away. As he left he told us "I just want to make sure that everyone knows that Gordon hosted them to the best of his ability." So after a night that almost seemed hopeless for shelter we slept comfortably on our own apartment thanks to Gordon.