Scotland-Part three!

We were quite excited for our “Loch Ness and Legends” tour, especially since we were promised a kilted tour guide!

So after running to meet our bus, we were happy to meet Andy, our tour guide in a kilt and fleece pullover!

I must mention that in Scotland, the kilt thing is really no big deal. Men wear kilts on their way to the grocery store, to the office, or while walking the dog. Some of the kilts are incredibly nice and worn only for special occasions. But others, like the one Andy was wearing, are for everyday use. Like giving tours of Loch Ness, of course :)

The tour left around 8:15, and for the next four hours we were driven through the highlands of Scotland, being told stories and legends of the places we saw. I hate to say it, but we were all drifting in and out of sleep during the four hour drive.

Could have been the lack of sleep for the past three days, or the fact that we were all stuffed from the breakfast we bagged from our Holiday Inn (stuffed it ALL in my backpack and feasted on the way to Loch Ness, haha!) but the four of us conked out for the majority of the drive.

We were all in it for Loch Ness, though, so as long as we were awake for that it was fine. PLUS, we awoke just in time to see one of the sights where the MacDonald clan kept their cows, and another sight where they were slaughtered by the Campbell clan in their sleep. Sneaky, sneaky!

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful lake, took some pictures, and continued on our journey. Aka-we all took another loooong nap.

When we awoke, we were finally at Loch Ness! AH!

We got off the bus and boarded our Loch Ness “cruise”. The boat was equipped with a sonar system, funded by MIT, to search for Nessie while carting tourists around the lake. They’ve got quite the system going, especially since they are making money (costs 10 pounds per tourist) while conducting scientific research.

Apparently, quite a few photos have been taken of a possible monster in the lake, leading one to believe that Nessie is somewhere in there. MIT just hasn’t found her yet.

The cruise also had a little Nessie sticker on the windows of the boat, so if one’s camera is positioned correctly, it looks like Nessie is sitting there right on the water! Pretty clever, actually, and my dad actually fell for it when he looked at the pictures on f/b. :)

After returning to shore, we bought some postcards, (which apparently held up the tour, since they allotted no time for tourist-like activity after the cruise. What were they thinking? haha) and boarded the bus again.

This time, Andy took a break from telling stories, and turned on the relaxing Scottish tunes. It was nice for all the tired tourists on the bus (those who had been awake the whole trip) and we took the opportunity to sleep a little more, and play the Question Game! Learned a lot about Shannon as we ate bananas and asked each other random life questions, and the view from the bus was incredible as we drove!

We had two more stops on the way home; one at a little town in Scotland, known for their great cafes and restaurants (so says Andy), and another at some magical forest where we snapped a few photos and left. I don’t think he ever told us the significance of that place, but it sure was beautiful!

After, we boarded the bus and returned to Edinburgh about 7:00 pm. Ash and Shannon had a flight to catch that night (we had to split the return flights into two, since Ryanair only had 2 seats left on the Monday return flight) so we booked it back to the hotel. After frantically packing up Shannon and Ashley’s belongings, the two caught a cab to the airport and left that night.

After seeing Ash and Shannon off, Julie and I decided to get dinner in the city. It was so windy that night that Julie and I could NOT WALK properly hahahaha! It was so funny! But we ended up at a cute little pub with local elderly man watching the football match on T.V. I got a tomato and cheese sandwich and crisps, and Julie and I just relaxed and talked for a while. Julie is a great conversationalist, so we chatted for a good hour or so.

After, we decided to hit up McDonalds and get a couple of Cadbury Egg McFlurry’s-a glorious fusion of American and European desserts. Quite a cultural experience, really.

We then braved the strong Scottish winds and walked home to our Holiday Inn hotel. We conked out immediately (after watching a little T.V., of course) and woke up in the morning to catch our flight.

Our flight out of Edinburgh was incredibly smooth, and we caught the airlink bus back to O’Connell Street once we arrived back in Dublin.
Julie and I walked home, reflecting on the trip, our lives in Ireland, and the young women living in Dublin (see earlier post-inspired by our conversation).

All in all it was a great trip (probably one of the best!) and I am so happy I got to share it with such amazing people! I learned a lot about myself on that trip; how I like to travel, what my priorities are, and a little more about how the world works. Also, we learned the origin of the term Sh**-faced on our FREE Sandeman’s walking tour. I’m telling you-that is a hidden gem of Europe!

Side note-I had Lord Chauncy’s marketing class later that day, where I was surprised to find KATE (Lara’s friend from Wisconsin) sitting in my seat! She had come to visit for the week and I was so excited to meet her! She also brought us Easter chocolate, which we shared while Lord Chauncy was using Cadbury chocolate as a marketing example-he had a tendency to use chocolate as an example at least once per class, haha. Torture!

Anyways, it was truly a GREAT weekend and I hope you check out the facebook pictures (under the Album entitled “Hey guys, I think I’ve been Poltergeisted!”) and many of the stories I’ve just told will come to life! Check out part 4 of the Scotland blog series for a few pictures...


Cheers!