Scotland: 18 - 24 May

Things are wrapping up quickly. After the trip to Scotland I have just a week in Cork and ten days in Europe then I'm home. The trip to Scotland was kind of a weird time, but it was the only chance I had for the tour I wanted. And it broke up the studying, which was really nice since the only exam I have left is the political theory one. It was supposed to be citizenship and human rights but was really just about the concept of democracy. So I went to Scotland instead of trying to understand what the course was about. I left on Saturday morning at about 11, walked to the Cork bus station and got a roundtrip ticket. I took a bit of a risk with that because my flight home was a bit late and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the bus at that time. But in case I could, it was cheaper that way. The driver was friendly...and helpful. I actually got off at the wrong stop because everyone else got off. He stopped again and told me I wasn't at the airport yet and let me back on. That was embarrassing, but at least he was good about it. While I was waiting for the flight, a man approached me and asked me to do a survey. Since there was no harm in it, I obliged. I had to chuckle at him trying to find other people willing to participate. He was really struggling. The flight went quite smoothly, although I really don't fly well at all. After checking in at the hostel, I decided to walk a bit and see what I could see. I got as far as Edinburgh Castle when it started to rain hard. I was forced into a souvenir shop until it stopped. By that point I was quite hungry, so I made my way down the Royal Mile to a pub recommended by the hostel. There I tried haggis (it was stuffed inside my chicken) and Magners. First off, Magners is not nearly as good as Bulmers. Secondly, the haggis neither looked nor felt edible when I stabbed it. It was quite good though. I don't particularly want to know what's in it. It really bothers some people, so I'm avoiding the answer. Anyway, I went back to the hostel for a warm shower after all the rain and did some studying. Yeah, I studied on my holiday, but not a lot. Just in my free time. At about 3 in the morning, a couple came in. The guy was trying to comfort the girl, whose bed was right next to mine. He was comforting her because she was terribly sick...all night...I had to put my iPod on and turn the volume way up. She didn't look too bad the next day, so I don't know if she was actually sick or just really drunk. Whatever it was, I wasn't particularly happy I had to listen to it all night; she kept waking me.

At breakfast the next morning, the guy serving it had an accent. My first thought was Australian, but it turns out he was actually British. I apologized, so we got a chuckle out of it later. His name was Paul, by the way. He pops up again. I set off early because I booked a tour of Loch Lomond. It was just a day tour. Most of the day was foggy, so some of the views weren't very good. Like, can't see past my nose foggy. But on the Loch, it was beautiful. The fog just added to it. When I got back to the hostel, I again studied. Dinner was amazing. Paul, the Brit, was serving cheeseburgers. Oh my goodness, I have not had a cheeseburger that good in a LONG time. After dinner I couldn't bring myself to study anymore, so instead I started a book. ... Not the best book in the world, but it was a free download. And since I started it, I'll finish it...eventually.

Next morning, once again I headed out early to check into a tour. This time, though, it was an overnight (5-days) across the country. Our bus driver was Alan, who also happens to be a professional musician. Other tour members (I don't actually know everyone's names, just how we called them all week) were Team Canada (Gina and Andie), Jean Claude (Ivan, also Jean-Luc, TinTin, and Pascal), Sweden (Frida, also Ikea), Wing Nut (Wei-Min), Team America (Edward and Susan, also Susan and James), and Team Germany (Anton and his mom and sister). I don't think my name was used more than once or twice. Instead I went by Nebraska or Penny. Canada, Sweden, Jean-Claude and myself sort of formed into a group. Alan called us the Crazy Mob. It was fitting. The rest of the week is better told through pictures. There were so many places we saw, castles and lochs, and cities. You name it, we probably saw it. I will put out that we got to ride the Jacobite Steam Train (the one used as the Hogwarts Express). And we saw Skye, which was absolutely beautiful! I think I may have gotten a bit of a sunburn...it was sunny just about every day I was there. My flight back to Cork was delayed, but I still managed to catch a bus and use my return ticket. While I was away, it occurred to me that Katherine was going home...and I wasn't going to see her before then. She made it back safely. One of Jemma's friends was coming during the week, and since I wasn't going to be there, I said she could use my room. I forgot to tell them when I was coming home, so I had to knock on my own door to make sure no one was sleeping in my bed.

I'll link the pictures once again. A lot of them are similar, and some seem to be missing. Not sure what happened there. Others have reflections and are a bit blurry. That's because I was taking them through the coach window. Yay!