You all may not have noticed this but Bridge and I have not yet posted our last post about our time in Scotland. And since Bridge is busy with kids and work, and I am just busy with drinking beer, cooking bok choy, running and drinking beer, you’ll have to deal with me writing this post instead of Bridge. So please excuse the lack of spitting-on-your-computer-screen hilarity that you expect from Bridge and try to deal with the lameness that is an Al post… Bridge here… my comments will be in bold and italic. I’ve been changing my life around since my Europe trip and haven’t had time to be on here.
Wait, I need some music.
AHHH that’s better. A little Toad the Wet Sprocket, anyone?
“We spotted the Ocean at the head of the trail, where are we going so far away? Somebody told me that this is the place where everything’s better and everything’s safe.” Sounds like a perfect intro to Scotland…
So when we were originally planning our trip, we wanted to ride the train from London to Edinburgh. That is, until we found out that it would take us half a day and cost us more than if we flew. So we flew. On British Airways. AND. THEY. WERE. AWESOME. I completely agree with Al on this. The flight was quick and easy and I felt appreciated as a customer. Much better than the experience Jess just had.
I cannot stress this enough. We had free breakfast that included at least 2 types of meat (Bridge, what were they again?), eggs, coffee, juice, and some bread. AND the flight attendants were some of the nicest I’ve ever had the pleasure of flying with. I can’t remember the meat Al. I totally forgot! download kryptos
HERE’S OUR VIEWPOINT OF THE NORTH SEA AS WE’RE COMING IN FOR OUR LANDING AT THE EDINBURGH AIRPORT buy Resistance
Is anyone else here worried that Al didn’t mention the delta in the last picture? I am. We successfully navigate yet another airport and bus system and check into our hotel (our room here was at least 75 times larger than the one in London) where we promptly figure out how to get to the Castle. Getting back to our hotel was a different story. Our bus driver was supposed to take us back near the airport and then loop back to our hotel, but he decided to drop us off “early” so it would save us time. A mile later we arrived at our hotel after that same bus passed us.
EDINBURGH CASTLE FROM THE BUS
I didn't know Edinburgh Castle was built on a volcanic neck. I overheard this tidbit of info from a chick on the bus, who was explaining the whole thing to her BF. Lucky me... Saved me the trouble of explaining it to Bridge. (A volcanic neck is... you see why this is important!)
Blah, blah, geology.... I must of missed the part about the volcanic neck Al. I did hear volcano, but then I heard something about a pub and I was diverted.
BRIDGE ENTERING THE CASTLE. BEST ENTRY BY FAR ON THE TRIP
We finally get into the Castle and wouldn’t you know it but there’s a wedding taking place in St. Mary’s Church. So I forced Bridge to video the bagpipest (is this the right word) so we could preserve it for her posterity and I snapped a photo of the guy in the kilt (sorry, ladies, because it was a wedding we decided NOT to find out if the rumors were true…)
BAGPIPEST AND GROOMSMEN IN THE WEDDING PARTY
BRIDGE LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT
AL LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT
These were examples of the armor, etc. that Scottish soldiers (?) wore during the Galloglass period of Scottish history, from the late 1200s to the early 1600s. And let me tell you, this stuff was HEAVY! It must have weighed at least 40 lbs. But we were laughing our assess off when putting them on so it was worth it. A line formed behind us to put on the armor. Everyone had to copy us. Thirteen ipod
Most of the Castle was closed to the public so we didn’t spend as much time there as we thought we would. So, we decided to go find a pub (surprise, surprise, right?), have a few beers, and grab some dinner. Remember the guy who kept hitting on us Al? It was like 4 in the afternoon and he was already drunk. I blame you for wanting to go into another White Horse pub. How many pubs did we go in that had the same name?
WE DID NOT GO HERE… BUT SHOULD HAVE
Loch Ness, Oh Loch Ness! You may have been the thing Bridge was looking forward to the most (after seeing her family, of course). That is, until our first stop where she saw this house… Which she wanted to buy so she could raise and slaughter sheep! Yeah, Loch Ness was where I really wanted to go. I’ve wanted to go there since I was little. That house rocked. I would move in tomorrow. I would want the cute fluffy sheep with the black heads. I still think they are probably yummier than the plain white sheep.
BRIDGE’S NEXT HOUSE (START SAVING MAX!)
Our tour guide talked in a continuous stream about the villages we were driving through, the rivers we were passing… etc. Most of it was pointless and Bridge was upset that of all the bridges we passed, one of them WASN’T the Harry Potter bridge (I wouldn’t have known even if it was…). Al should mention here that we did see where they film Haggrids hut, but she probably didn’t care. /sigh Oh, and our tour guide harased us the entire trip. Although most everyone was from America, he particularly picked on us. He would talk really slow and very loud to us. Then he would ask us to repeat it in English. It could have been annoying, but that day I thought it was funny.
Our guide did tell us of a village where most of the inhabitants were slaughtered during some clan wars. Except there were 3 sisters that got away and hid in this glen. It was one of the most beautiful landscapes I think I’ve ever seen. What Al is not telling you here is that she wanted to barf. The bus was going a million miles per hour around sharp corners on a quaint road that winded around the landscape.
THE HIDDEN GLEN
AL WONDERING HOW LONG SHE COULD SURVIVE IN THE HIDDEN GLEN
All of these things were just a build up to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. The people who used to live here (I think they were of the Urquhart Clan, I was not feeling well during the little video they showed) blew up their own castle during a battle because they didn’t want any one else to live there. What Al means is they raised their own castle so the other clan could not have its strategic position.
I WONDER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE IN A CASTLE THAT WAS SOOOO CLOSE TO NESSIE?
We wandered around the remains of the Castle and talked about how great it was going to be when we saw Nessie (on our boat tour from the Castle to Inverness).
AL CONTEMPLATING HOW TO CALL NESSIE TO THE BOAT
And as it turns out, Bridge is deathly
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afraid of lake monsters!
BRIDGE HIDING FROM NESSIE.
The boat tour was awesome! It was only the 2nd time the entire trip that we felt a rain drop! Good thing Bridge had Nessie beer to help her cope. It was a black beer. Not a porter, but a black. DELICIOUS! Oh, and I also had an umbrella to help me cope that I put into good use until it totally almost blew away. I was filming at the time and the dance I did with a beer, the video camera, and my umbrella was priceless.
NESSIE BEER… IF HAVE A FEW, YOU’RE GUARANTEED TO SEE NESSIE. Gnaw hd
We didn’t see Nessie… we were so disappointed and Al even cried a little. But at least we got to see the infamous Loch before heading back to the good ol’ US of A. I really miss Al now. I had such a great time with her and was glad she went with me. I’ve been a friend of Al’s for a long time now, but this trip made me realize how much I appreciate her. At first I had reservations about traveling to Europe with her. I eat meat. She doesn’t eat meat. Things like that. I thought that after a week we would want to kill each other. We didn’t. I can honestly say that Al is the best traveling companion I have ever had. Thanks Al.
LOCH NESS’S SHORE NEAR BOAT DOCK
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