Crazy town a.k.a. Glasgow

Glasgow was a very interesting city...Completely opposite of Edinburgh as far as I could tell. If Edinburgh was the clean cut historically important city, Glasgow was the artsy, edgy, a bit grungy step-sister. I'm not meaning that was a bad thing. Glasgow did have some beautiful parts and we did get to see some cool things but man, I saw some really weird people there. I think that Leigh described it best.."Picture a crazy bachelorette party happening all day every day and you've got Glasgow."
All day it was not hard to find someone wearing the most ridiculous outfit ever made. Sadly the next person you saw would top it! High heels, fish net stocking and low cut everything was all over the place. At one point we were a little nervous going through a mob of people waiting to go into a venue because there were like 100 punk teenagers crowded together with their multi-colored mohawks. Now, this is being said by the girl who attended art school in Lawrence, but it has been years since then and I am no longer immune to these insane looks!
My opinion is formed by the fact that our hostel was in the city. When we left the city center and ventured to Glasgow University, it was really nice- great buildings, museums and thrift stores. I really liked that part of the city. It seemed like a completely different world!  We did manage to go out to find some people to take pictures of. I'm sure they thought that I was as crazy as I was thinking they were...
Every part of Scotland that we went to it was easy for us to pick out a part of it that was uniquely special to us. We really felt so blessed and fortunate in every place we visited. God was in all of these places in different ways and it was amazing to see!

I found some bloomin' heather! :)

A wee-sized island...Tiree, Scotland

Tiree my be wee-sized, but it made up for size in awesomeness! Tiree was definitely my favorite place that we visited in Scotland. It really was so different than any place I've ever been and the people there made it even more special. 

We first heard about Tiree in the first few days that we were in Bradford. We met a girl named Emma who grew up on the island of Tiree and when she talked about it we really had this urge to go. At first it was just a thought, but then when we were planning our Scotland trip it became a reality and we really wanted to make it happen!

Emma was so amazing to "hook" us up with her sister Lynn, though she really didn't have to.  And Lynn found us a family to stay with when the hostel on Tiree turned out to be closed! These things were incredible and Leigh and I both have not taken this hospitality lightly. It has shown us Christ love is everywhere- even tiny island in Scotland. AMAZING STUFF!

We didn't even know if this journey would happen. We had heard that the ferry was sometimes not able to dock when the weather was bad, but we schedule it in and bought plane/ferry tickets in faith. As we got on the ferry at 5:30 in the morning we were warned that they weren't able to dock earlier in the week and that there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to today. We were told while on the ferry about 3 hours in that there was a 50% chance that we would be able to dock and get off the ferry at Tiree. If not, we would have to continue on for four hours to return to Oban. Yuck! 

Luckily they were panicking us for nothing, and were able to dock. Emma's sister Lynn was waiting for us when we arrived there. She had rearranged her diary to be able to take us around and show us the island. We realized once we got there that this was a necessity because in the winter, Tiree doesn't get many visitors and there wouldn't be much of a way for us to get around. We are eternally grateful to Lynn. She was amazing! First, we went to a little museum about Lighthouses, (apparently it is never locked, and it looks like a shed, but has some displays in it) we collected sea glass on of the beaches, and we stopped to visit the highland cows of Tiree. 

I had really wanted to get a nice picture of a highland cow, but while we were up in the mountains we really didn't have the opportunity. I went into Tiree depressed that this didn't happen, so I was very excited when Lynn told us that Tiree had some Highland cows! They are so furry and weird looking. 

I think they might need a haircut!

I'm sure everyone thought we were crazy. 

Cows with the prime real-estate...right next to the coast!

Now, let me tell you about Tiree...

They are a bit like my hometown of Peabody in some ways, but spread out over an 11 or so mile long island. There are under 700 people that live there, so everyone knows  everyone. Everyone knows everyones busy, and if they don't, they make it up. I can identify with that aspect for sure! That is small town life for ya! Now, because it was winter, very few things were open. None of the shops were open. Tiree does have a little grocery shop, and acutally they have a little of everything. Except there are no clothing shops. The people have to go to the mainland for clothes or do some online shopping. All of the roads were single lane roads with these little pull-off that you could go if you met a car. That meant that you had to pay attention when you were driving or a head-on collision could happen.

 Lynn had expressed how nothing was really open, but my favorite example of this was when we decided to go to the hotel cafe to eat because the two other better options were closed and when we got to the cafe we learnt that it was closed because the cook was sick! The whole place had to shut down because the cook was sick! We did have to have a chuckle about this... 

This is one of the houses of Tiree. Not one of the typical ones, but one that we encountered on the island.

I thought that this was a funny thing to have in the middle of nowhere. The best part about it was that there was actually a dial tone of the receiver!

 This is a video of a true Scotsman playing the accordian. Darren, Lynn's middle child was not shy at all, but sadly her two other children were a bit intimidated by us! Poor Bradley hid under the table the entire time we were there. I usually can get kids to loosen up, but even bribing him with sweets wasn't working! 

This is the MacIntosh's home, but it looks similiar to most of
the houses on Tiree. White, simple and clean!

That evening after taking us all over the island and dealing with all of the weird looks from the locals, Lynn took us with the family that we were staying with, Sandy and wife Judith and kids, Calum and Ruth- The MacIntosh's. This family was also amazing! That night we had macaroni and cheese with leeks and bacon in it. It was gorgeous! (that's how we say it here-means tasty) It was really neat to stay with born and bread Scottish folk. Sandy had actually been born and raised on the island and only had left for a short time about University age. Everyone that we talked to said that they didn't think that they could move back to the mainland to live. It would be hard to deal with the way of life. I can understand that because everything was so simple and amazing there. There was no fuss about anything. I feel like I could live in a place like Tiree.

We woke that morning at Sandy and Judith's to an actual sunrise. We had to step outside and document this occasion.  It was so beautiful there!

Anyways, back to the MacIntosh's...The two kids were sweet. I wish that we could have spent more time with them. With all of them- and with Tiree. Sadly the next day we had to leave. This was because flight and ferries don't go everyday so you either go or get stuck there for 3 more days. I would have liked it but we needed to get back to school eventually!

We got to Tiree on a huge ferry and we left of a tiny plane...Conquering all forms of transportation on this Scotland trip...bus,train, ferry, and plane! This plane held 18 passengers and as I got on with a nervous look the pilot asked if this was the smallest plane I had been on and it made me realize that this was the 3rd smallest and good gosh I jumped out of one way smaller! Nothing to be nervous about! ahah

Me on the beach. Courtesy of Leigh :)

Goodbye Tiree!

A wee bit o' Scotland- The Highlands (Aviemore, Inverness, Loch Ness, Oban)

The Highlands of Scotland...what a refreshing sight. Absolutely stunning to say the least. I had another one of those moments similar to the one that happened to me when I was traveling by train through Austria- You look out of the window and suddenly see this Narnia wold that doesn't even look real. Then as you ponder how this is possible, you remember how insanely awesome God is. I looked out the window as the train went on and saw snow covered mountains in the fog so you have no idea where they end and where the clouds start. I saw highland cows going about their business having no mind of us. I glanced around the train to see if there were any other open jaws and I saw none. That made me think...would I ever get to the place where I had seen this beauty so much that my jaw would stop falling. I sure hope not. I want to appreciate his beautiful creation forever!
I try to find it in the everyday things that are around me but it it nice every once in a while to loose your breath and be completely humbled. There were many moments in Scotland that did this to me and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to go.

This was the train station in Aviemore. This small town was similar to some of the ski towns of Colorado with a lot less glamour. There wasn't any snow on the ground, but there was plenty when we went to the top of the mountains. 

Leigh and I were a little early to check into our hostel so we went on a few walks around the area. This one has this amazing view of the mountains that we were going to ski. 

We went on another walk behind our hostel and it turned into a hike and climbing a mountain to a viewpoint that overlooked the town of Aviemore. This half frozen pond was on the way. I was really loving the colors of this hike and was sad when they were transferred in photos.

Because we hadn't checked into the hostel yet we had to carry our purses that had anything we considered valuable in it. This made it a bit more challenging to hike. HAHA! Also my feet weren't liking my boots, but once I got to the top, I realized the pain was well worth it! 

Leigh and I after the successful hike to the top!

I would say the one thing that we really splurged on during this trip, was one day of skiing on Cairngorm Mountain in Scotland. We were quite worried that this was not going to be possible because when we got there we learned that the ski slope had been closed for the past 2 days because of 50-70 mph winds. The road to the resort had to be cut out and the little tram that takes you up to the top had to be rescued too! We got there on a Monday and were only going to be there for one day and had to catch a train on the Tuesday night. The man at the information center said that there was a possibility it would open for the day that we were going to be there, but not a lot of likelihood. Poor Leigh had really had her heart set to ski in Scotland, so you can imagine that there were a few prayers going up that night from us. I will say it now, and I will say it this entire trip...we really had someone looking out for us. 

The next day we woke up to perfect conditions. The sun was shining, and there were 0-5 mph winds on the mountain. The only unfortunate thing was that everyone and their mom had been cooped up for 2 day and as soon as they heard the mountain was open they were going to take advantage of it. The amount of people made me nervous at the beginning of the morning because I am not an experienced skier. It also didn't help that my surgical knee was not letting me switch directions very easily. It also had to warm up! By the end of the day though, I was really going! 

Most likely sliding downhill during this pic!

The wonderful sun graced us with it's presence for most of the day. We hardly knew what it was anymore, but were more than excited to become reacquainted with it again. We even feared we could possible burn because it's been months since we have been in the sun's presence for more than a short time. Luckily- no burns happened...

The top of the mountain was really beautiful. The former wind had made some neat snow sculptures around the fences and flags. I realized that I should have tried the snow blades or something shorter than skis so it would have been easier on my poor knee. Next time I am going to try those for sure!

After a day of skiing we went via train to Inverness. Our hostel was a lovely surprise when we got there because Leigh and I had a room to ourselves! Two Kiwis were working the front desk at the hostel and I heard my first genuine "sweet as" in over two years. That was exciting! Also, while we were skiing we had learned about the horrible earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and this is where one of them happened to be from. It was good to hear that he had talked to all of his family and that everyone was ok. What a blessing. I'm sure he still had friends that may have been hurt or killed. Many of my thoughts were with New Zealand because as most of you may know, part of my heart is still in that country because I loved it so much! Even in the Highlands of Scotland, we were provided with a reminder about the preciousness of the life we were given...
The next day, after a "wonderful" walk to the coast through and industrial part of Inverness---choke.choke, we were off to see the infamous Loch Ness. Since we had the day to do this we thought that maybe the easiest way to do this would be to also see some castle ruins since Scotland has a billion. Urquhart Castle was built around the 1300's and since the 18th century has stood in ruins. Now, some may know this but one of the most famous Loch Ness Monster, or as I like to call her, Nessie, was from the Urquhart Castle. Of course, because of this...we had our eyes peeled all day! And guess what? I saw her...well maybe. I guess it would have been a stick...WE'LL NEVER KNOW!

We were hoping that we would be able to walk around the castle without paying because we were that pathetic, but sadly we learned that you couldn't go much past the bus stop without paying. In the end, I was happy we paid to go in and walk around the ruins and learn about the castle, but at the time I wasn't that happy! :)

It turned a wee bit mistay while we were there...

I had heard from someone once that Loch Ness was really nothing much to see, but it really was the only Loch that we spent much time at and we thought that it was really beautiful. It also had the cool factor that so many people had directed their attention to this lake in the past.

A supper low cloud decided to go over the castle as we were leaving.  Turned out kind of whimsical...

Next Stop: Oban (at least of 10 hours that is...)

We took a 3 hour bus down to Oban which was where our ferry left for Tiree in the morning. Our 10 hours we spent there were not enough sadly. Again we got lucky and stayed in this amazing private room. After days of living in a backpack being able to unpack and repack your stuff is a nice privilege. We wanted to see a least a wee bit of Oban, so we walked down to the wharf and had a look around. When we were coming back we noticed some boys...*cough* excuse me, young men wearing kilts. Now, I forgot to mention that this day happened to be the day that I had a kilt-count so it was extra special to add two more to that figure. I asked them when or why they wear kilts and they said that they wear them on Wednesdays and that a lot of people do. To make things even more Scottish, these boys were stopping to get fish and chips after their piping-band practice!....hmmm...only in Scotland.

A view of Oban on the west coast of Scotland

Scotland was LEGEND...wait for it...DARY!

Haaave you met Stefan? So, our theme of the Scotland trip was formed in Edinburgh by this German, Stefan. I guess it is not his fault that he looked so much like Neil Patrick Harris from How I met your Mother. We may have almost punished him for it. We met Stefan after the Free walking tour when we all went to a pub to eat. He happened to be in town because he had come for an interview for grad school and stayed through the weekend because flights were cheaper on Mondays. We got to entertain him though for much of the weekend, and that is what we did. At least I hope he was amused by our craziness...Sometimes you couldn't tell. I think that was the best part of him, you never knew what he was thinking of you. Many times he would give the "you have got to be the most ridiculous person in the world look", but the way I look at it, he must have liked us because he kept hanging out with us!
Now, because he looked so much like Neil Patrick Harris, we made him say one of his famous lines, but of course Stefan has a German accent and says it with much confusion. So funny! Legend...dary!

A wee bit o' Scotland- Edinburgh

Edinburgh is such a great city! Once we figured out how to say it without sounding like an American, or like a Brit, we fit in like a glove. We encountered such wonderful people there, starting with our bus driver who drove us to Edinburgh. I think he was amused by us and when I asked if he could just tell me when we had crossed over into Scotland, he replied, "Is this your first time? I can do even better. We'll pull the bus over and take pictures with a rock that sits on the border with ENGLAND on one side and SCOTLAND on the other." We really did appreciate this even as we walked back on the bus wind-blown to a bunch of people that I am quite certain were annoyed that they just wasted a minute of their life. 

The hostel that we stayed at was on the Royal Mile, which is the mile between the Edinburgh castle and Holyrood, which is where the Queen stays when she comes to visit. This was very convient because it was easy to walk around to all of the sights. Our hostel was very cosy and nice especially compared to the awful one we stayed at in London. We met some fun Germans, Miri and Thany, that stayed in our room and ended up spending a few evening out with them. 

For most of the trip we had the philosophy that if it wasn't free, it wasn't happening. Now, this sometimes resulted us in the People's Museum-yikes- but other times we got lucky and had a great time like the Free Walking Tour we went on. Our guide Mark took us around on a 3 hour tour around Edinburgh to historical things and we really learned a lot. Since he was working on tips, I think that he was much more committed than a guide normally would have been. Here are some of the places we saw...

This is Edinburgh Castle, probably the most recognizable building in Edinburgh.
Our hostel was not too far away, so we saw it a lot, sometimes at night.

During our tour we learned that wear this heart is used to be
a tax building. This is why there is a tradition to spit on it when
walking past. Our guide did tell us that many people don't know
this and end up thinking it is a cute heart and kneel down to
propose to their girlfriends. Little do they know they are kneel in a
bunch of spit! It was fun to see random locals walk by and spit!

This is one of the streets in the old part of Edinburgh. Back in the day this was considered the bad part of town. I really enjoyed the architecture there, and everything was so much cleaner than I am used to.

This is the cafe' that the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling used to go to write back in the day when she couldn't afford to have heating in her house on. They claim that she wrote the first two books while sitting in there. Funny to, is the school that the cafe' overlooks. It looks a bit like Hogwarts and her kids even attend this school now. The cemetery across the street also may have been the inspiration behind some of the character names. That, or it is a very huge coincidence many names are the same. 

This picture still cracks me up when I look back at it for many reasons. First of all, it is a statue of a dog- the MOST famous dog of all Edinburgh. Now, this dog, "Bobby" was famous because when his beloved owner died, he sat at his owners grave stone for 8 years. People loved this dog and he was treated like a celebrity. So much, that he has his own statue and children books. The second reason that I smile at this picture is because I am starting a new trend of rubbing the dog's toe or "paw" for good luck. One of the other statues on Royal Mile gets his toe rubbed by people for good luck. I really wanted to start and new trend, so that when I went back to Edinburgh in the years to come I can go and watch people rub Bobby's paw for luck. Sounded like a good idea to me, so every time we passed it Bobby got a good rub! 

Some of our new friends...Anna who happens to be Norwegian, Anna from Illinois, and Alex who is Canadian. Add German Stefan to the mix and you have a party!

This is St. Giles Cathedral. It was free to tour this, so of course we did. It was really pretty inside and it had a "Scottish" feel to it. There was even a carving of an angel playing the bag pipes which was cool. Though it was so small we had to ask someone where it was...

Well if you remember the 90's you most likely remember Dolly, the first cloned animal. Poor Dolly has since been stuffed and put on display...Remember how Leigh likes to try to touch things....another prime example!

Overall, we both really like Edinburgh. We met some great people, enjoyed walking around the city and were excited to see how the Scots don't mind being a little "Americanized". (there was macaroni and cheese entrees and baked potatoes instead of jacket potatoes on the menus) Our three days there were thoroughly enjoyed but we were excited to move on up north...