The final stretch... SCOTLAND!

I made it!!
20 amazing weeks in Europe. The best time of my life!!
Im so sad that its over and that i've left all my new friends behind. But now its nice to know that I have people abroad who will welcome me back!
It's great to be home though and I can't wait to see you all! Its so nice not to need a map or directions for once! AND NO MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT! I've sat on enough buses to last me a lifetime.

I thought I would throw on some of my last photos though...WARNING. This post is a doozy.

Scotland was amazing. The weather was horrible and I caught a bit of a cold, but I met 2 of the greatest guys around!! We met early on in Aberdeen at a couchsurfers flat and found out that we had the same plans for touring Scotland. We were able to meet up in a few different cities and it was so nice to spend my last 2 weeks with friends rather than on my own. By this time, I was fed up with touring but they were able to motivate me to get up and get moving!
Anyways, back to Scotland. First up, Edinburgh!
I was able to find a CSer from Italy who was simultaneously hosting a fellow from California. We had a few good days wandering through the city and I was lucky enough to have been there during the Fringe festival! There were a ton of free acts in all the local pubs and cafes.

Clayton, Paolo and I with Edinburgh Castle behind 

See the lumpy one in the middle?! We climbed that!!



Of course its up....

From Edinburgh I headed North to the coastal city of Aberdeen. There I met my host Artur from Poland, Eric from Paris and my 2 buddies Simon (from France) and Cedric (from Belgium). Our first evening was spent together under a concrete shelter at the sea having some beers. I think this is where I first started developing my cold...



Poor bird

Due to Arturs horrible organizational skills and his ity bitty flat, there was some confusion as to the sleeping arrangement. There was only one pull out couch for the four of us! Luckily though, because im a girl, I got the couch! But we were in bed so late (thanks to Artur) and up so early (thanks to Artur), that it didnt matter. NOTE: if you would like the full story, just remind me by asking me about the polish clock guy. Its one of my most memorable stays.
Anyways, the next day I bid farewell to my new friends and toured the city with my host. Luckily it was a super sunny day.



Saying farewell to Simon, Eric and Cedric. Thats me and Artur in the front



A sunny day! Having lunch on the patio

Down by the sea

Poor dead jellies! They were all washed up on shore

Fun at the fair!

The next morning I was up (bright and early, thanks to Artur) and off on my way North, to my next destination!


On the road again!



Inverness!!



Inverness Castle. My hostel was just around the corner!

Inverness, right in the highlands. It was as far north as I was gonna get. Its a lovely little town - really beautiful at sunset. From this point on I was going to be stayin in hostels - there aren't many CSers in Scotland apparently. I met 2 really nice South African fellows at the hostel and they got me all checked in. Later that evening, I met up with Cedric and Simon for a nice dinner. Mmm baby lamb! After dinner we went out for "a" drink.
Well... one drink SOMEHOW turned into 6

Weeeee, iz shoooo PRETTTyyYY!!

Turns out we were all fans of white russians. Luckily, they helped me to my hostel!! I had a GREAT sleep. I was up pretty early though, since I had promised the boys a fantastic Canadian hungover brunch. Bacon, eggs and PANCAKES!! delicious.
NOTE: You can get real Canadian maple syrup in the UK for less than it is here in Canada.

That afternoon we headed out for a hike through the woods and up some mountain. Not ideal for hangovers. But the pizza that followed was fantastic!



Its harder than it looks...Nahhh it was easy!





Beautiful views



The next day I was headed out to catch my bus to the village of Drumnadroichit! (Drum - na - drock - it. Thats where Loch Ness is)
I was only staying for one night so I got there early enough to get groceries for dinner and schedule a trail ride for the late afternoon! It was a private trail so the guide was able to take me up some nice hills at the canter. The views were stunning at the top, and by the time we were done I was pretty wiped. But you dont feel the pain till the next day... and the next.

Loch Ness Backpackers! Where they party till 3:30 am! How annoying...

 

Wren and I after our lovely trail ride

 

Finding my way to Loch Ness.


I was pretty lucky to find that everything was relatively close to the hostel. The farm was only a 10 min walk, and the Loch and Urquhart Castle were only about 2 km after that. So I took a nice tour down to the lake after my ride since I wouldnt want to walk the next morning before I left!





Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle



The long walk back

 

All you hear are sheepies



BA HA HAHAHA!!

That evening I made myself a lovely dinner and then headed to bed pretty early. I was exhausted from the previous few days and needed some good rest. I didn't get any though. I caught my next bus at 1pm and headed off to SKYE! I couldn't wait. Everyone was telling me how lovely it was and that I HAD to go see it. So I did...

Turns out its just a big rock in the sea. A great big, rainy wet rock.

I was staying in Kyleakin (Kyle - ah - kin) for 2 nights, so I had PLENTY of time to tour the Isle.  I stayed in town for the first day and decided to explore my surroundings.

Skye Bridge



Castle Moir

 

Great big mountain



View from Skye Bridge (which connects the Isle to the rest of Scotland. Aside from boat, its the only way to get on the isle)

 For the next day I had planned to tour Skye by bus - the city had a 7 pound ticket and you could use on any bus, any route to any city/village.

First destination - Portree - a village in the middle of Skye. This was on the way.



Portree. The largest village on Skye.



Portree Harbour. It was pretty chilly

After wandering the village (which is the size of Port Credit) I hopped back on the bus around lunch time to Dunvegan to see the big castle!



Thats all I saw... who wants to PAY to see an old building. I was back on the bus in 15 mins, back to Portree!

From there I headed to Armadale Pier at the very bottom of the Isle. I went on a great little walk to search for seals!

Sooo fat. I was actually pretty far from them and never actually SAW them. I only noticed they were there when I heard a funny grunting noise. After realizing it wasn't my stomach, I figured it was seals. So I climbed down some slippy rock cliff thing and got as close as I could. When I saw some blob thing moving around and climbing out of the water, I figured it HAD to be seals. So I took photos and video but didn't see it till I got them on a computer. And voila! Seals. Big fatties

 

So cute!

I didnt get back to Kyleakin till 730, so after dinner I headed back to my room to relax. It was a pretty long day... and pretty lonely too! I was so used to having company in Inverness, I got pretty bored all by myself on Skye. I didn't mind too much though, I had planned to meet the guys again on the bus to Glasgow the next morning.



Weeeeee MORE SCENERY! For 6 hours..



We arrived in Glasgow at 2pm - but had nowhere to go! Both of us were couchsurfing at different locations but we didn't know where our hosts were. So we wandered around and tried to find an Internet cafe. It just so happened to be beside the pub! Convenient... after a round of cider and irish coffes, we headed out for something to do. We couldn't go to the movies because of our luggage, and we didnt want to wait around all day trying to catch a glimpse of Brad Pitt (who was filming a movie in Glasgow at the time!!). What were we to do? Well, what all the other Scotts do of course! Head to the pub. 

But eventually we had to stumble to our accomodation. I met my host Willem (from South Africa) at his flat and he treated me to leftover curry dinner and wine! Quite delicious.  But I was quite drunk by then so who knows.

NOTE: Do not judge me! This is what they do in the UK. They drink. All day, everyday! I was just blending in...doing field research.

The next day I woke (with quite the headache) and went out to do some SHOPPING! I had 200 pounds in my UK bank account that had to be spent! 100 for the day, the other 100 for the airport duty free! But of course, as it always goes, you dont spend money when you have it. I met up with the boys later in the day and they decided to treat me to a lovely home made Belgium dinner! Of course, accompanied by beer and cider.



Glasgow!



Dinner time! The boys gotta get cookin.

It was my last night in Europe and they would have none of my bullcrap about not drinking because of an early flight! So we left the flat and stumbled our way to the university house where students were protesting (aka drinking) about budget cuts.


Some good old Scottish tunes. Oasis?



We chatted and laughed our way till the early morning, where I was then peeled away from my friends and stuck in a cab to go home.  My host made me yummy eggs on toast for breakfast when we got in (it was 3am) and I eventually decided to go to bed - I had to be up and out of the flat by 630am for the cab to go to the airport. My flight left on schedule at 10 am, and after a horribly bumpy ride, I landed safely in Pearson airport at lunch time! It was the LONGEST day, ever.

But now im home and pretty much settled in. It was very strange at first, but its slowly all coming back to me. I've unpacked my bags but there are piles of memories covering my floor which need to be sorted, as well as many phone calls to make! I decided to take some time off work to get it all done, so I hope to see you in that time aswell.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog! I loved making it, and although my trip is over, I think ill keep it up. But for now, im done - that post took 3 days!! So till next time, 

x x

K