The Trouble with Scotland... is That it's Full of Scots!

**This is a REALLY long post. So I'm sorry if you get bored.**

No, the Scottish peoples are certainly some of the most warm and friendly people in the world. They cling to their roots and their heritage and it’s still evident in their styles of life and living today that they have been through as much as they have. After listening to continual tales of the Highland clans and their ways, I am proud to have come from such a resilient people. My heritage on my mom’s side stems from Glasgow in the Lowlands, however from what I can gather through connections in last names and the clan systems, we could have come from one of the more powerful clans in the north, The MacDonalds, or we could be part of a clan known from further north in the Highlands, The MacDougals. Either way, along the line a McKee was married and that would set us also under the umbrella of the MacInnes clan. I don’t know much about any of these clans other than knowing that the MacDonalds are known as one of the more powerful clans in Scotland and they are eternal enemies of the Campbell clan. But enough history!!

I finally got to spend a FULL day in Edinburgh, unlike last time I was there, and I saw the woolen mills, the Edinburgh Castle on the ONE free Sunday a year and I climbed to the top of Arthur’s Seat where I got rained on and tried to walk down an old river bed only to slip constantly and end up dirty as well as soaked on my way back to the hostel. Day one of my tour left from Edinburgh and I learned quickly that the bus was full of girls and Aussie’s. We had 22 girls and 6 guys, 20 of the total was from Australia and New Zealand. We had two Taiwanese girls, a Chinese guy and girl and our token Americans, a lady from Florida/Alabama and I. The day started in Edinburgh and took us to Stirling and the Wallace Monument. These I had already seen, luckily enough, because our guide didn’t find it worth our time to go up into the monument and this was a photo stop only. It turned out to be the first of many AMAZING photo stops and the first of just under 1,100 pictures that I took in total that week. From Stirling we headed north into the foothills of the Highlands and stopped for a rest and a look at Hamish, a Highland hairy coo. Yeah, they say coo and not cow, but either way, he was a nice looking bull. A little further north, Rob Roy country, we stopped at a small church nestled in a valley that just so happened to be where Rob Roy, his wife and his son were all buried. Now I have to watch Rob Roy! We took a lunch stop and headed west towards our nightly destination of Oban, a coastal town on the central west coast of Scotland. We stopped another time or two for photo stops at random Lochs (I’ve never seen so many lakes in all my life) and each one was better than the last. The further we went North, the higher the mountains got, each one covered with fresh caps of snow and clothed with what will be brilliant heather come late July. We went deep into the mountain passes and randomly the bus stopped. Time for a walk. We hiked for about a half hour or so up into the hills where a gorgeous little waterfall was running. It was about 60 degrees and the sky was as blue as could be. A sip from the stream, since it is fresh mountain water, and we were off again with more tales of Campbells betraying MacDonalds and found even that there is a hotel, to this day, that will not allow Campbells to stay because of the atrocities they performed centuries ago. We drove until we came to Oban and checked into a nice little hostel on the seashore. A quick stop at the local castle ruin, fish and chips and the sunset on the beach, and everyone headed over to the Maccey Dannies for the night. There we met James (yeah, another James), a sturdy Englishman living in Scotland who owned a nearby café, Roxy’s. Pints and pool were the nights activities, although strangely a couple of us found an xBox in the back and played a little racing along with some darts while the rest either played or watched pool with the locals. I tried to armwrestle James (seriously, this guy was about 6’2”, 265 lbs.) and lost. The night ended with a walk in the rain back to the hostel.

The next day started cloudy but was soon bright and sunny, following the tone set by the previous day. We headed to the Isle of Skye, which was the end destination for the night, and we had a few photo stops on the way. One led to my favorite photos; the mountains behind a clear view of a lake that looks exactly like a map of Scotland. Pretty amazing scenery, although Scotland is the kind of place where, no matter WHERE you are, you can just throw your camera in the air in any direction, click the shutter and you have a postcard-quality picture. Arriving into Skye and Lochalsh we passed mountains that looked to be both on and in the lochs, mirroring themselves in the clear blue waters. A photo stop at the castle where the movie Highlander was filmed and we made it across the bridge to Skye. We stopped for lunch at the beach across from our hostel for the night and a few of us tried to skip the rocks that were there, not really having any luck. After lunch we headed into the Isle and it’s endless fields of peat and heather and stopped at a legendary stream for a quick dip. It was said that if you dipped your face into the water for seven seconds, and seven seconds only, you will have eternal beauty, so obviously, those who go on Haggis Tours are the most beautiful 80 year-olds in the world! We’ll find out! Continuing deep into the island we finally stopped for a FANTASTIC view across the channel to the mainland as well as a waterfall and some cliffs that resemble the folds in the back of a properly folded kilt, aptly named Kilt Rock. My camera SADLY ran out of battery at that point, so I didn’t carry it with me on the afternoon hike up the muddy mountainside towards the Old Man of Storr, a rock jutting form the hills said to be an old man crying over his wife who fell many years ago. They used to love walking up the same path we took to watch the sunset. They did this every day for years until finally the woman just couldn’t make it up what with being so frail and all. The fairies decided to do them a favor and allow them to sit upon the cliffs forever so they could watch their beloved sunsets and turned them to stone upon the mountainside. For years they stood, watching the land and the sunsets until the old lady stone fell, because that’s what rocks do sometimes. The view from where we stopped was easily the best view of the week and when you had as many great views as we did, that’s saying something. After playing fetch with some workers’ dog once we got to the bottom, we headed back to Saucy Mary’s for the evening of traditional music. Dave and I, one of the Australian guys, waited until the end of the evening and headed out to the bay for a very cold, but memorable and refreshing swim.

Day three took us to several different places, lots and lots of photo stops as we headed east through the heart of Scotland to Invershin where we stayed at a “haunted” castle, Carbondale Castle. We stopped several times during the day, but it was mostly leisurely driving. There were photo stops for a couple of waterfalls and lochs and the main leg of the day was spent rummaging around a couple of old caves in a valley. Nothing spectacular, but it was fun to get a little dirty. We also stopped at the best beach in the whole world. There was no sand, but rocks. And every rock you laid your eyes on was the best skipping rock the world could offer. So after about 30 minutes of laying bets and losing and winning them on who could throw the farthest and longest and most skips, we headed to the castle for the night. There was only one VERY small pub we could go to that night, but it was by far the best night of the week. Inside the Invershin Hotel pub, there were traditional-style dresses for the girls to try on and kilts for us guys. The kilts weren’t real, but they were fun to wear and we all had a great night pretending to be Scottish. I played the bódhran wrong until one of the locals showed me how to properly beat the head and move my fingers to change the pitches while Dave played some bongos. I must say, it was a rather Scottish night sitting there in a kilt with a bódhran and a glass of Highland single malt, but I felt rather at home.

Day four was more driving, but lovely driving as it would take us to Inverness and Loch Ness where we tried to spot Nessie. There were several photo stops along the way and of course, we stopped at the Loch Ness gift shop where some Nessie hats were bought and some of the best licorice I have EVER tasted. The highlight of my day was stopping at some old cairns and standing stones. I got to walk around inside of a cairn carrying a stick for a spear, pretending I was an old Celtic warrior. It’s nice to be a kid again. Our last stop before staying in a hostel near the coast of Loch Ness was at a small thatched hut where a TRUE Scotsman showed us what life would have been like in the Highlands way back when. Truly we are SO lucky to not have to deal with what they did. Their women would have had to be tougher than most of us men today, working from dawn to dusk taking care of the animals and the children, fixing the meals, attending to the upkeep of the house, hunting, fishing, gardening whatever they could and just making sure the house is in order. Apparently the men could be away up to 9 months out of the year in battle and on hunts. The way he explained how the kilts were made and worn and used made us all gag. A guy and a girl from our tour got to try on the traditional dress and kilt of the old ways and they looked pretty good! I was the lucky sucker who he demonstrated the weapons on and I must say, those are some TERRIBLE ways to die. I bought a nice hat at his shop and we headed to the hostel for live contemporary music, which was good, but way too loud. Games of Jenga, Twister and Limbo were the choice activities for our last night and eventually the night was over.

The last day was a lot of driving again back down to Edinburgh and was rather a quiet day. Most of us were rather beat from the long week and didn’t want to get out for all of the photo stops. There were several good pictures taken, but really, to say it was a fun-filled day would be a lie. So I’ll just leave it at we stopped several times for photos and ended up back in Edinburgh safe and sound. If I were to compare the Ireland and Scotland trip I’d say Scotland wins hands down. The people on both were amazing and I made some pretty good friends all around. The country and activities and nights were fun on both tours as well. All in all, up to this point, I’d say they were at a dead heat. But once Scotland’s mountains and lochs are put against Ireland’s rolling hills and coastal scene, Scotland is the place to be. I am SO glad I didn’t go home for these two weeks and decided to stay here; I would have regretted it had I known how awesome these two weeks were. Heck, if I knew these two weeks were going to be this good, I wouldn’t have even considered coming home. But now it’s the last full week of my travels, I’m on the ferry to Italy from Greece and there is one GREAT post coming about our trials and tribulations dealing with this ferry. I’ll just say that we should have been on this ferry yesterday and should be in Rome right now. We’ll leave it at that. Until then, Cheers and I hope you enjoyed to SUPER long post about Scotland… my land…

KALO PASCHA!

That's Happy Pascha in Greek, or at least I hope it is. Anyway, Pascha spent in Greece was a good experience. I can't say it was my favorite Pascha thus far, that still is the first with Archbishop Job, and the Greeks don't get quite as excited as we get, but it was still a COOL night. We spent the day sleeping and preparing for our feast of feta, salami, olives, wine and some amazing chocolate tiramisu cake and around 11pm headed across the street to Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church where we found we weren't late AT ALL. Apparently the Greeks over here are on Greek time as well, if you know what I mean. The services lasted until around 2:15 and we headed back to the hotel for our feast and the amazing wine that Jon picked out for us. Now 8 hours later, we're heading to Athens for the night and on to Italy tomorrow night. A week and a half of Italy, Paris, Oxford and the traveling in between and we'll be home to complete the journey of a lifetime. Quite an amazing time these last months and certainly weeks have been for yours truly. Hopefully, if I get time in Italy, I'll get to catch you up on some Scotland, but if not, I'll just have to do it when I get home for those of you who won't be able to come over and see all the pictures and videos I've got. Until then though, I love you all and Happy Pascha! Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Cheers!

Where to Even BEGIN!

I really don't even know where to start. I can't really explain how amazing the last two weeks have been. I can't describe the places I've been. I can't portray in words the friendships I've made. I can't begin to tell you all of how my life has been since I've left Scotland. I can show you pictures, but I've got WAY too many to put on here or on Flickr so I think I'm going to just have to wait until I get home for that. I'll do my best here to simply tell you where I've been and put up a picture or two.

It all starts in Ireland.

I spent a day in Dublin tasting Jameson Whiskey, having a pint of Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse and just generally walking around the great city of Dublin. I felt like I had already been there before for some reason, so maybe that's where I am in my dreams. I've discovered that the more I travel the easier it is to find your way around new cities. It just becomes natural to remember which was is which and where the bus or train station is, which usually becomes your center point of focus since it's where you start your journey in each new place. I went to Belfast for a day and took a tour of Northern Ireland by going up to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and up to the north coast of Antrim where the Giant's Causeway is. THAT is an interesting place. Perfect 3D hexagons jutting from the ocean. Upon arriving back in Dublin that night I readied myself for the week-long tour of the Republic of Ireland that was to follow.

We spent 5 days in Ireland traveling the perimeter of the whole Republic. Day One was spent driving through central Ireland stopping at the Hill of Tara (seat of the high kings of old), Trim Castle, the John Locke Whiskey distillery, Knock (a popular place of pilgrimage) and our final destination of Westport where we spent the night with our pints of Guinness and traditional Irish music. Day two was the beginning of the GREAT scenery that followed in the days hence. It started with Clew Bay and on through the Connemara and the Valley of Doolough to Galway where we finished the night with traditional Irish dancing and a bit of clubbing at a place called Central Park. Day Three was through the Galway Bay to the Pol na Brone Dolmen and the Burren, which is basically just all limestone and is said to look like what the moon would look like. We stopped at a GORGEOUS beach for lunch, then we went to the Cliffs of Moher, which is REALLY a place to see. The water was turquoise and simply beautiful. We finished off in Doolin where we had more Irish music and I had a lovely chat with two couples from Glasgow who wanted me to call them when I got to Glasgow so they could walk me around. Day four was easily the most photogenic. We crossed the river Shannon before heading to Dingle via Kerry and it's beautiful countryside. We stopped on Slea Head for a view like THIS:

The whole day was basically that kind of view. We finished off in Killarney where we didn't really enjoy traditional Irish music but a cover rock band instead. Not exactly fitting, but fun nonetheless.

I spent my days trying to be cheap but ending up spending money on food and Guinness anyway, but it was in the company of those we met on our trip who, by the end of the week, seemed to be childhood mates. The quick bonding on the bus with the Canadians and Australians and Scots and fellow Americans made the week so much more invigorating and worthwhile. Traveling in Ireland was great not only because of the views but because of the people who we shared our views with. It was amazing being able to spend time with other people my age who LOVE to travel and who are simply making the most of the life that God has given them. Some do it for reasons other than that, but it all came down to getting out of our boxes and exploring some of the world around us. I will DEFINITELY go back to Ireland someday, and now I at least know some places that I'd like to go back to! If any of you want to go to Ireland for a true Irish experience, I'd just say go on the same tour that I went on, but if you don't want that, Doolin and the Dingle peninsula are the places to go. Small and surrounded by gorgeous hills and mountains and coastlines, these truly capture the heart of traditional Irish living. I LOVED it and unless you're weird, you would love it as well. Now that you've read about Ireland and if you think that was nice... just wait till I write about Scotland. It was the same trip, only different people (mainly Australians and New Zealanders) and views MUCH better than Ireland. I didn't think it was possible, but it happened. Yeah... wow... cheers...