Scotland is by far the MOST beautiful place I have ever seen. It is filled with breathtaking scenery and the most incredible and endless views you could ever imagine. I needed to be pinched every other hour and found myself continuously in awe and staring into space at what was in front of me.
The trip began with a 6 hour train ride on the traditional and oh so classic UK railway. That was my first real train ride which to a European sounds absolutely bonkers, but for me, it was pretty exciting. Even though it felt like it took forever to get there it was such a beautiful ride! The train went all the way along the coast and through the rolling hills of the United Kingdom…gorgeous!
When we got off the train and began walking the streets I was immediately in love with Edinburgh, Scotland. They have a population of about 500,00 and Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow, has about 1 million people. Either way compared to London's rough 8 million estimate, let's just say it was much less crowded and loud than London which I loved! The city was very hilly with cobble stone walk ways and the most gorgeous architecture.
We checked into our hostel, which was my first hostel experience, and it wasn't bad at all - just big rooms filled with bunk beds and community bathrooms, but yeah, when seeing the world all you need is a bed, right?
The first thing we did was get a very touristy bus tour of Edinburgh. Many of my pictures aren't too great because they are from the top of a double decker and there were flurries coming down, it was freezing!, but we got to see the main streets and parts of the city which was nice. It seemed so small compared to London or what we've been used to, but it was such a neat city. There were big and small buildings, gorgeous churches, green mountains with snow caps, rolling hills, and even an underground mall. Plus, everyone there talked like Fat Bastard off of Austin Powers which made the entire trip that much more entertaining - absolutely loved their accents!After the bus tour we had the evening to ourselves. There was a big group going to see the birthplace of Harry Potter and even though I've never gotten into the books or movies I figured it was worth seeing. It was simply a tea cafe located on one of the main streets of Edinburgh where the author wrote the first Harry Potter book - now a historical landmark, so that was pretty cool. Then we went back, freshened up, and decided to check out the Scotland nightlife.
It was a BLAST! We started out at a place called Rush which was a very pretty pub-like atmosphere with funky couches and it was filled with locals. We hung out there for a little bit and then headed to another place down the street for the night called Three Sisters which is a huge 2-story brick building where they have monster flat screens, etc...it's a very popular place to watch all big football games and such. It was a blast though! Every Scottish person we met couldn't have been more friendly - they were the funniest and nicest people yet! After a good nights rest, we got up bright and early for the hostel's buffet style breakfast (sounds bad already doesn't it?) However, it was the most interesting and absolutely delicious breakfast I've had yet. The buffet had scrambled eggs, very weird tasting yogurt, haggas (sausage made from sheep's stomach and yes I tried...so good!), grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and toast - not your typical breakfast. Then we were on a bus, all 44 of us, and off the Highlands! Our bus driver was red headed, balding with big bushy eyebrows, and greeted us with a big smile saying, "Halo lads and ladies! Get ya knickas pulled up and off to ye Highlands we go!" Needless to say he made the trip with his very Scottish comments throughout.
The beginning of the ride felt like we were going through the mountains in North Carolina...very steep and really windy. After we got past a couple of hours of that we soon reached an open stretch of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever come across. A straight endless road surrounded by rolling hills filled with sheep everywhere, mountains of all shapes and sizes, some snow capped and others not....incredible! There were also the occassional backpacker and photographers in the middle of the scenery, but other than that no sign of life. Our main stop was at Glencoe which is part of the Highlands. We stopped, had a picnic and then hiked through the Highlands. It was UNBELIEVABLE!!! I found myself standing still and just staring trying to soak in what I was looking at and the fact that I was actually in Scotland. It was gorgeous! We had about a 4 hour ride back to Edinburgh and kept up with the very Scottish things to do. They are known for their beef, shortbread, whiskey, and fudge - quite the combo! We went to a local restaurant on a cobble stone alley and ordered "ultimate burgers" and a whiskey/ginger ale. Best burger, minus the ones Bobby or my Dad cooks, that I have ever had! It was huge and so so so good! I'm also not a whiskey girl, but when in Scotland....the drink was great as well. Uncle Tony and my brother would have had a field day!
After another breakfast consisting of tomatoes, mushrooms, and sheep stomach we spent Sunday morning in the Edinburgh castle. A lot of people say that once you start to see a lot of castles they all begin to look the same. Well, I agree but I am still continuously fascinated. This particular castle is where Mary Queen of Scotts was born which we saw the very room as well as the original royal dungeons (pretty creepy) and most of the original canons used were still there. It was one of the few castles where as little refurbishment as possible has been done; therefore, most of the castle is pretty open and almost feels like ruins rather than a castle. It was still a very very cool place to see. Afterwards we had about 2 hours of free time before we headed back to London. Knowing that golf originated in Scotland along with the famous St. Andrews course being there I had to stop by the Edinburgh museum because there is a famous golf exhibit there which Papo would have gone nuts over! When we got there the entry fee was out of this world, so I just took a picture of the entrance to the exhibit and then the guard (wearing a kilt may I add) made me delete the picture. I knew pictures weren't allowed in the exhibit, but not even of the entrance?? Anywho, I then headed to the gift shop in hopes of getting a score card of the course or something along those lines and the only thing they had were books...I feel like I could find the same thing at Barnes and Noble haha Anyways, other than that bit of a downer the trip was absolutely incredible and completely surreal!!! Along with everything else going on it flew by and was absolutely amazing in all aspects! If and when my family ever makes it across the pond Scotland will definitely be visited. Until next time, cheers mates!
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