Flyin' Solo in Scotland

The past 8 days I had an amazing time in Scotland! The adventure started the same night London program ended on April 14th- I left that night on a bus at 11:45pm from London Victoria. I was a little nervous because I was going to Inverness and there was nothing on any of the screens about the bus to Inverness so I asked- apparently I was supposed to get on the bus going to Aberdeen and change at Perth, nice of megabus to let me know! Lesson: when in doubt ask someone in a neon yellow vest- they know what's up and look sharp while telling you. After a long, 12 hour bus ride I made it to Inverness! Which is way north in Scotland. The hostel was 10 minutes from the bus station and this was the view:

River Ness

I couldn't check in until 2:00 so I went for a walk along the river because it was beautiful and sunny. The banks of the river were grassy and green and dotted with beautiful daffodils and I walked for about 20 minutes and stumbled upon the Ness Islands which were awesome! Here they are:Basically there are these bridges on either side of the river and and you can walk to the islands which have all sorts of walking paths and more bridges connecting each part. I sat a read on the island for a bit and a big black dog jumped up on the bench and sat next to me- I'm pretty sure he was checking out my kindle. First scottish friend: giant black wolf dog who could probably eat me if he felt like it- I'm ok with that. Explored the islands a bit before heading back to my hostel which was very nice. Safe, clean, central location, super cheap- what more could a girl want? Well maybe a dreamy man in a kilt... but I digress. This was the room I stayed in, bottom bed was mine:

It was nice because even though I was in a 10 person room I never actually had 9 other people there. First night only three people who were from Australia. Then second a few more people came but they all left after one night and the last night there was just a very nice French couple. People at the hostel were very friendly and let me use their Internet for free even though I was supposed to pay for it and told me all the places to visit. All in all awesome!

This castle was across the street from my hostel (though I took this pic from across the river to get the daffodils). I think it is a courthouse now or a sheriff's office or something... whatever it is looks super cool. I was wiped from the 12 hour bus ride so I went to bed early and then woke up early the next morning and walked the other direction along the river until I came to the end and it opened up into the North Sea:

Saturday afternoon I did a boat tour of Loch Ness! No monsters unfortunately but it was absolutely beautiful. A bit cloudy and windy on the boat but decent weather and I sat outside since the view was better. The cruise was about half an hour then it dropped us off at Urquhart Castle:

We had an hour to explore the ruins which was cool. The castle was blown up during the Jacobite rebellion back on some important day in history hundreds of years ago that I can't remember... but they did it so it wouldn't fall into the hands of the Jacobites. And speaking of Jacobites the next day I got up early and hopped a bus to Culloden Battlefield, which was where the last battle between the Jacobite and the English happened and the Jacobites were destroyed. Now, I'm going to come clean and say that I am not in fact a brilliant history buff but only know about Culloden from the time-traveling romance-ish novel "Oulander" that I got for freen on kindle (fabulous book, don't knock til you read it!). But dubious historical knowledge aside I went and it was a perfect sunny day, the information center was really good and I learned a lot. I also got to hold actual highlander weapons:You can't see it in the pic but I have in awesome dagger in the hand holding the shield. Which I didn't understand because how do you stab someone from behind the shield? The kilt-wearing guide showed me how they used to swing the shield around and cut their enemies throats- charming. And morbidly kind of awesome. I almost stabbed him with the sword while trying to give him my camera. It was blunt though so no worries and he politely offered to hold it so I didn't stab him or, more likely, myself. This is the battlefield:

Memorial

Actually getting back to Inverness was a bit of an adventure because there are no actual bus stops marked so I just started walking... left. They told me to go left but not how far. I was surrounded by giant green fields, lots of sheep and mountains, but no bus stops. Eventually I found one and hung out for about 45minutes til it came but didn't mind because it was sunny and beautiful. I was greeted with a "hi there luv, what the hell did you walk all the way out here for?" by the bus driver- apparently I should have stayed at Culloden and he would have picked me up there... ah well nice walk at least. That afternoon I wanted to see some nature so I walked to the end of the city and climbed a baby mountain and here is the view:

Hike wasn't too bad and the view was worth it. I don't think I was on an actual touristy place. I was looking for Craig Phadraig but got impatient trying to find the trail so I just sort of picked a different one. Still a train though I wasn't just bushwacking so no worries.

Monday morning I took a three hour bus to Edinburgh! Reminded me a bit of London though it is smaller and less busy. The hostel (Caledonian Backpackers if anyone ever goes) was AMAZING! Basically a giant building covered in these crazy bright murals. What I picture a hippie commune might look like, though without the drugs and "free love." There was a bar with pool tables, a wii, beanbag movie theatre, free breakfast, free laptops you could borrow, huge kitchen, free lockers... awesome. It was clean and centrally located too so that was nice.

Tuesday I did a free 3 hour walking tour (though it wasn't really free since they work on tips and my guide was good so i paid) so that was a nice way to see a lot of the city and learn the fun historical facts. After my tour I decided to climb Arthur's seat which is basically a giant cliff at the edge of the city with a great view. I decided to walk which took an hour to get there and, after my three hour walking tour that morning I was kind of dying before I even started the hike- but I thought who knows when I would get the chance again so power through and climb! Worth it- here was the view:

And this is the cliff:

And this is the spot I sat at the very top:

Wednesday I did a 9 hour coach tour of Scotland that went West basically. Picked me up from the hostel in Edinburgh. We went through Glasgow, the went to Loch Lomond which is Britain's largest collection of fresh water:

View from the boat since there was time for a 1 hour boat cruise. We drove through the Trossachs which is the "gateway to the highlands" and a national park- mountains, forests, lochs whole Scottish nature package essentially. And best part I found a highland cow who basically posed for me:
We then stopped at a tiny village called Aberfoyle for lunch. Met the weirdest goat/sheep thing:

My last day I explored the city. Here are a few pics of Edinburgh Castle and beautiful springtime shots since the city was as gorgeous as the weather:

This is a pic of the Royal Mile which I explored- basically a mile between two castles with lots of shops and touristy things and men in kilts playing bagpipes. I also went to the National Gallery which was free and had a lot of great paintings. For lunch I finally tried haggis! The dish is "haggis, neeps and tatties" aka parts of sheep I don't want to think about, mushed turnips, and mashed potatoes. I ate at a pub called the Last Drop which was famous because back when they hung criminals they would take them here for the last shot of whiskey before hanging them out front. Morbid but cool. But back to the haggis verdict: Not bad! Like groundbeef but not quite, a bit chewier and spicier. I ate it all, I think I had a toned down touristy version of haggis because I learned on my tour that back in the old days the would take all the parts of the sheep like the heart and intestines and such and stick in in the sheeps stomach and serve that. I'd like to think I didn't eat that but.... eh- tasted fine. Except the turnips- gross. I met a few cool Canadians at my hostel and one of them was a magician- not the I do random card tricks amateur but an actual touring magician (we youtubed him) and he did magic for us which was awesome. He also had a lot of good stories about being mugged and chased through Paris... not sure I believe everything, it was a bit Bourne Identity-esque sounding but he was entertaining nonetheless.

So- all in all fabulous trip. I alternated between singing Destiny's Child "Independent Woman" and Nina Simone's "Feelin' Good" all week because that was how I felt the whole time- Independent and GOOD! It was liberating to be by myself in a random country I have always dreamed of visitng- I planned it all and dealt with any problems all by myself, went to some amazing places and meet some cool people. Felt strong, confident and independent and all in all had a blast!