Snowing In Scotland

First, a note to any readers who may not actually know me, my last name is Snow, that might help with the title of the blog. Also, the person in the above picture with me is my sister, Lauren, she's four years older than me and is working on her master's in education but she was stressed enough over fall break that she needed a vacation and so she came to visit me for a week.

Just some quick background info. for everyone. When I was deciding where to study for a semester I only had two countries in mind from the beginning, Scotland or Wales. I'm sure its quite evident that I chose Wales but what about Scotland? I've always wanted to travel extensively there and when I decided on Wales I promised myself that I would see as much of Scotland as I could. Unfortunately, time and my friends' schedules wouldn't allow for more than a weekend in Edinburgh (you'll see more of that later) so I asked Lauren to go backpacking through Scotland with me and about a month later we were on a train to Glasgow and all points north on a four day backpacking trip. Below is a quick tour of the following Scottish cities; Glasgow, Fort William, Loch Ness, Inverness, Aberdeen, and eventually London. Four days, six cities I don't know how we did it. so sit back, relax, and enjoy the stories of our misadventures in Scotland. I hope that you can laugh at this post because we're still trying to.

Just a random tangent, we were in Swansea for about two days before we left for Scotland. To the right is a picture of Warwick Castle which, according to our uncle, used to belong to our family back in the 1500's. We took a day and hopped across the Bristol Channel to England to see what we thought might very well be a fancy pile of rubble. Clearly we were wrong.

Below is,"The Mound," which was built by William the Conquerer. If our family did in fact own Warwick Castle this would be part of what would have been theirs.

Above is a picture of, yes, my foot but the significance is not my attractive shoe but the several hundred foot drop under that thin metal grate that I'm standing on. Auntie Jean, are you nervous yet?

A picture for the family, this would be the Dudley coat of arms that Uncle Bill mentioned. Lauren and I were looking for an actual shield on the wall like they have in all of the other castles and just happened to be observant and notice the stained glass window instead.

Below is a list of all of the Earls of Warwick as the sign says. If you read closely you'll see two John Dudleys and an Ambrose Dudley. They are supposedly our relatives. Its amazing who you run into in Europe.

Me and, "The Mound." Isn't it ironic that Warwick Castle was built by William the Conquerer and, if you'll notice, our family has an abundance of Williams. Coincidence perhaps?

Lauren and I at Warwick Castle in England. Don't we look happy? Now on to Scotland!

Below is Lauren and I at George Square in Glasgow, Scotland. Its in the heart of the city center. They were already beginning to put up Christmas lights and as Lauren and I noted, "Its not even Thanksgiving yet!" I guess that doesn't really matter over here. Either way it was still mid October.

A random archway on a back street in Glasgow. Just an example of the the architectural differences between Scotland and the States.

To the right, just because I find it amusing, is a statue of Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish author, with a pigeon on his head and his plaid worn over the wrong shoulder. The statue was in the middle of George Square.

In addition to Sir Walter Scott we also found, "Ralph," in Glasgow. Only the brother-in-law's family will understand this picture, my apologies to everyone else.

To the right is Lauren and our hot chocolate in a Costa coffee shop in Glasgow. She surprised me and got marshmallows in the hot chocolate for an extra 50p and although they were great we were both a bit stunned to realize that they were pink and tasted a bit minty. Well that's it from Glasgow now lets catch the four hour scenic train to Fort William with a crazy old lady drinking and glaring at us the whole way and trying to freeze us by opening the window. Don't you just love trains?

Lauren on the train to Fort William.

Warning on the train, I told you they had strange signs over here.

A view of Scotland from the train. Just imagine it in the summer when the hills are green. See I told you dad, it looks like a natural golf course.

A statue in the center of the park in the middle of the town.

The church in the park in Fort William.

Just another road in Scotland. Well, if you're ready, we're going to hop a (hi its rhys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) bus to our hostel at Loch Ness, which by the way doesn't have heat, we're going to be on the bus for about an hour so stretch your legs.

Lauren making the bed in our hostel. We didn't have heat in our hostel and it was so cold that we ended up sharing the bottom bunk. We found out the next morning that the hostel closes after October because its too cold for it to stay open.

This would be the view outside of our window at the hostel and, yes, that's Loch Ness.

Lauren and I at Loch Ness. Just some future advice for anyone who goes to the loch never turn your back to it like we did, it gives Nessy ample opportunity to leap out and eat you. Live and learn right?

Me at Loch Ness and no I'm not falling in, just contemplating it. Lauren was trying to get a picture of me with my hand in the water but the wave was going out and so it looks as though I might be going for a bit of a swim.

Now if you will, meet me at the bus stop. Its across the street and up the road but remember to watch for the lorries (18 wheeler trucks) and the puddles and bushes on the side of the road when you try to dodge the traffic. In the dark on the way to the hostel I managed to fall into a puddle that had to be at least as big as the lock and Lauren ended up in a bush. If you're ready to get cold continue on.

This would be the road that we had to sprint down in the dark. That wide spot in the road up there on the left is the bus stop. Notice the sign on the right. We must remember that Britain is one of a handful of places in the world that drives on the left side of the road. Either way its an interesting sign.

So about that damn bus. It was scheduled to come at 10:00. We checked out of our hostel at 9:30 and were at the bus stop by 9:45 but it ended up not mattering. The bus came on time like the schedule in the hostel promised but instead of stopping the driver just made eye contact with us and drove on past. We chased it for a second with flailing arms and then quickly gave up when a lorry came around the corner. After standing in the freezing cold and mist for thiry minutes we walked back to the hostel to check the bus schedule but instead we were greeted by a note on the door which read, "The hostel is closed until five. Thanks." What kind of a hostel closes? Maybe we were expecting too much from a hostel that doesn't have heat and closes after October. We sat on a bench outside the front door and wallowed in self pitty for about twenty minutes before heading back to the wide spot in the road. We stood there, in a muddy puddle, for two hours and ten minutes singing songs to each other including an unenthusiastic version of Rocky Top and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, amongst others. We also watched boats go by on the loch and we stood and stood. At one point we became so desperate that we started adding up our money and tried to guess whether it was enough to pay for a taxi back to civilization in Inverness, 24 miles away. It was the first time in my life that I think I've ever really been stranded. I don't like cell phones but I must admit that I really missed the comfort that they can offer in an emergency. Anyways a bus finally came two hours later and we were soon on our way to Inverness. I don't have any pictures of it though because we were just passing through and in a hurry to get close to anywhere with heat. To describe it quickly its at the north end of Loch Ness and it has millions of touristy shops all lined with Nessy dolls in the windows. Its time now though to climb aboard a train bound for Aberdeen, a port city on the North Sea. If you ever visit remember to bring your waterproof (their word for a rain coat).

Lauren and I waiting in a massive taxi que at the Aberdeen train station.

Our first impression of Aberdeen and the one that stayed with throughout our visit along with the rain. Supposedly there is a law in Aberdeen that every building has to be made of gray stone and be built in 18th century architecture. Its amazing though, the city blends into the sky.

Okay so that night we asked the person at the front desk of the hostel where a good place to eat was. She recommended the hotel and pub across the street. Upon our arrival we noticed that everyone else was dressed in black. We were soon told by the staff that if we weren't part of the, "funeral tea," then we might want to find some place else to eat because they were full. A funeral tea, what the hell is that? Apparently when you die in Scotland all of your friends go to the local pub and drink, not necessarily to remember you but just because you've given them a reason to get totally pissed. Anyways, we ended up at a pub called the Justice Mill on Union Street in the heart of Aberdeen. For anyone who may be wondering what the above picture is its, from top to bottom, neeps, haggis, and tatties. Neeps are smashed rutabaga, haggis is all of the parts of the sheep that you normally wouldn't eat ground up and shoved into a sheep intestine, and tatties, thankfully, are simply mashed potatoes. Haggis neeps, and tatties are considered to be basically the national food of Scotland. So who is still up for trying the local cuisine?

I am and that's me eating HAGGIS! My mom always made me eat three bites of everything when I was little so I stuck with that standard but I out did myself, I ate twelve bites. Its really not that bad as long as you don't think about what you're eating.

We also made it to the North Sea. I have a history of going to closed marine things. I've been to things like closed maritime museums, marine supply stores, and now finally a closed beach as well. They were dredging sand from the ocean to the beach to help stop erosion so at least it was closed for a good cause.

Lauren and I at the North Sea.

To the right is the boat yard and the port of Aberdeen as seen from the Maritime Museum which is free and amazing for anyone who may be curious.

We finally left Scotland on a train from Aberdeen to London four days after our arrival in Glasgow. The view from the train was spectacular on the way back to England. I even saw a whale!! I'd never seen one before, other than at Sea World which doesn't count, but there it was right off shore. It stayed on the surface for about two minutes before descending again into the deep. Below are just some random pictures of the Scottish coast as seen from the train. I hope that its as beautiful online as it was in person.

This was the only sun that we saw in Scotland. Although drizzly most of the time, it is a beautiful place.

This is a picture of me climbing into my bed at The Lodge, our hostel in London. The bunks didn't have ladders and so I got inventive. It was more difficult to climb into bed when I got home from the pub after having a couple of pints. Not to mention that I was trying not to step on the poor Italian in the bed below mine.

My first entire pint of Guinness, yum.

One down.

One more to go. Thanks for the pint Lauren.

Lauren and I in Hyde Park in London. We went to Paddington Station that morning for Krispy Kreme doughnuts since it was a block from our hostel and then we went to the park to eat and watch all of the runners. I was beginning to get sick by this point which might explain my expression above, tired and feeling icky. Anyways we went back to Paddington after breakfast where Lauren caught the 11:40 Heathrow Express to the airport to catch her flight. I sat in Paddington for two hours and took the 1:45 train back to Swansea. In hind site the trip was awesome even though a lot of it is still a blur and as mentioned before we're both still trying to learn to laugh about getting left by the bus. At least I can now say that I've seen Scotland and the part that is the most beautiful and missed by many. Although trains and buses can sometimes be few and far between I would still recommend a trip to northern Scotland and any place that's off the beaten path. Thanks again to Lauren for enduring such a crazy trip with me, it was amazing. I know that I promised shorter blogs but four days was too much to cram into a couple of paragraphs. I'll write more tomorrow about Aberystwyth, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and a night out with the flatmates. Until then, as my flatmate Rob would say, its sleeping time. I hope you loved Scotland half as much as I did.