Scotland

This is a pretty view from my hike in Melrose.

Day 1 in Scotland was not at all what I expected. I was supposed to have a car for my trip. I planned all of my hostels and sightseeing trips with the idea that I would have a car. So I get to the car rental place in Edinburgh and they don't have a car for me. I'm sorry, what? They don't have any automatic cars and they can't give it to me for the price I was quoted online. What am I supposed to do?!? So they called another company who assured us that they have an automatic car available right then. Well, I get over there, and they won't have the car until 6pm when someone returns it...awesome...it's noon. So I decided to make the most of my day and visit Edinburgh Castle. It was pretty cool and I got there just in time for a tour, so I actually knew what I was looking at. They have the "Stone of Destiny", which has recently been returned to Scotland from it's hiding place under the coronation throne in Westminster in London.  

Melrose Abbey

After the car fiasco I discovered that I could do my trip by train and bus. So I bought my pass and caught the bus down to Melrose where I was staying for the night. I called home and cried to my Daddy and went to bed. There was a group of German kids staying in the hostel that were UBER-loud and woke me up in the middle of the night. I thought it was morning, so I got up, took a shower, and got dressed for the day...then I realized that it was 12:45 in the morning. Ridiculous.

 I spent the next morning in Melrose hiking around and visiting the Abbey ruins, then I rode the bus back to Edinburgh, caught a train to North Berwick, and spent some time at the sea. I went to Tantallon Castle (pictured Lower Left). I trudged up and down about a million stairs, but the views were definitely worth it! It rained on me a little bit, but I was in Scotland, so I sort of expected that.

View of Bass Rock & lighthouse from Tantallon Castle

I had to take a few trains to get to my next hostel on Loch Lomond. I met some super cute, nice old men on my last train who called a cab for me to get to the hostel, because no buses go by there. They stayed on an extra stop just to make sure I was safe! I just love the people in Scotland! That night I stayed in a hostel that looks like a castle, again with the annoyingly loud German kids. The next morning I had to get back to the train station, and again, two elderly gentlemen came to my rescue! There were two British guys traveling & biking through Scotland and they managed to fit me and my bag into their car and drove me to the train station! 

Looking at Ben Nevis on our walk to the Pub.

From there it was another couple of train rides to my next place, at the base of Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in the UK. I took a 3&1/2 hour train ride from Glascow to Fort William with all the hikers. Then I had my first hot meal in Fort William before catching the bus to the hostel...it only comes by twice a day, so if you don't catch it, you have a 2 mile walk. I met Christa while waiting for the bus and we ended up getting along really well and hanging out the next day, too! The guys working the front desk at the hostel invited us to the local pub to experience the real Scotland...so we went. We each tried some Scottish Whisky, which was gross, and some beer from the local brewery, which was good! We had to walk a mile on a muddy trail to get there and back, and let me tell you, the trip back was pretty entertaining after a few drinks, but we did have headlamps/flashlights (torches, as they say in Scotland).

Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness

The next morning, Christa and I caught the bus into Fort William and sat down for a yummy cappuccino then took a bus to get to Urquhart Castle where Nessie likes to hang out. We stayed at the castle for a few hours and had a snack, then it was back to the bus to go to Inverness. We sat down and had another cappuccino in Inverness followed by a Diet Coke, which may taste better in the UK. We parted ways after that, she went to her hostel and I went to Culladen battlefield. I met a trio of girls at Culladen who are studying Gaelic at Aberdeen University, they were super nice and taught me how to pronounce the Gaelic words correctly! That night I had my first experience with Couch Surfing. My host was hosting a guy from Indiana (Cody), too, so it wasn't too awkward. We went out that night to a place called Hootenanny's and the pub upstairs. At the pub I ran into the girls from Culladen and we became Facebook friends! Afterwards we went to a place that serves fried Haggis, so Cody and I decided to be brave and give it a shot...it was surprisingly good! I just don't want to know how it's actually made! I got a room to myself that night with no annoying German kids!

The pedestrian bridge in Inverness that bounces when you walk on it...way fun!

Elgin Cathedral

Stonehaven

The next day I was back on trains, which I prefer to buses, anyways...trains are less bumpy. On my way from Inverness to Aberdeen I stopped in Elgin to see the ruins of Elgin Cathedral...beautiful! It was, of course, rainy, but the cathedral was really incredible. When I got to Aberdeen I met up with my Couch Surfing hosts for the night, Aurelie & Marco. They were great! They took me to the "Old Town", where the university is, to look around and hear a traditional music concert. Then we went to the cathedral there and found out about a choir concert that night that we decided to go to! So we went home for a quick dinner of salmon and veggies with hummus to munch on while we waited...It was so good! Aurelie and I went to the choir concert, which was great, and then drove along the beach before heading home for chocolate dessert and a movie. They were really fun to hang out with!

From Aberdeen I took the bus to Stonehaven, which is really a beautiful little town. I was supposed to go to a castle from there, but the bus never showed, so I walked along the beach and enjoyed the scenery. From there I took another bus to get to Balmoral Palace, where the Royal Family stay in the Fall.

Balmoral Palace

Gardens at Balmoral

Balmoral was well worth the almost 2 hour bus ride to get there. It was beautiful! The gardens and walking trails were definitely the best part of the palace! After my trip to Balmoral, I took the train to Perth for my last night of Couch Surfing on the trip with Catalina. I had a little trouble getting there...I thought I had written down her number with her address, but I just had which bus to take and her address. My computer didn't work right earlier that day, so I couldn't look up any more info. So I got off at the right stop and walked around for over an hour. One long walk with my suitcase, a stop at some nice person's house to use google maps, and a few tears later, I finally found the apartment...and it was a full house! Catalina was having a birthday get together with some other Couch Surfing friends and they were waiting for me to get there, so they missed their last train back home. We all ended up having a great time playing party games, drinking wine, eating yummy desserts, and just hanging out!

Pretty flowers at Stirling Castle

View from Stirling Castle

My last day in Scotland started with a sunshiny walk around Perth while I waited for the next train.I got off the train in Stirling to check out Stirling Castle. I had to hike a mile uphill with my suitcase to get to it, but it was pretty fantastic once I got there! After Stirling I hopped back on the train to Edinburgh. I did some major shopping while I was there and walked the Royal Mile from end-to-end. I ate a tasty Italian dinner then got ready for my overnight bus ride to London!

Edinburgh Castle

My last view of Scotland