SCOTLAND: The final chapter

Ok, here it goes. I'm gonna buck up and finally finish blogging about my Scotland trip! It's weird to think I got home from that trip a week ago...I can't tell if it's been a long week or a short one. Isn't it weird how traveling does that to you? In one way you feel like you've been gone forever and in another way the time has flown by. I only have 11 days left here! That seems like craziness to me. But then it also seems like I've lived here for months...huh.

Anyways, we're going on a hike through the countryside tomorrow then I'll be in Stratford Upon Avon for the rest of the week so I'm not sure if I'll get another chance to blog.
Here it goes. SCOTLAND: the end of my journey

I left off in Orkney. Once we got back from that crazy day of hiking and trying to catch buses in the cow fields we went to our hostel, cooked some frozen pizza and garlic bread, and made hot chocolate. It was so necessary. I thought that we were all just going to pass out right then and there because everyone looked SO exhausted. But we actually ended up talking for a couple hours in our beds and having a good old fashion slumber party moment :-) Got to love those.

The next morning we actually got to sleep in! Kind of. By sleep in I mean like 8:00 instead of 6:00. Isn't it sad what's happened to my sleeping habits? Oh the days when I would sleep until 11... Anyways, we caught the ferry back to Thurso then hopped on a bus for about a 4 hour drive to Inverness. Something I kind of hate and love about Scotland slash the UK in general is that they don't really have freeways, just highways. So it takes FOREVER to get anywhere but on the plus side you get to drive through beautiful towns and countryside. EXAMPLE: I would be reading my book then glance up for a moment to look out the window and there would be an old beautiful light-house on a cliff, or we'd be driving past a small cemetery. Unfortunately these moments would pass by so quickly that I didn't have time to grab my camera. I will just have to make do with my mental snapshots and hope I don't forget :-) Oh the flavor of Scotland...

So once we got to Inverness we had about 30 minutes to wander around before we caught a bus to Drumnadrochit. Another funny thing about Scotland, even in big cities like Edinburgh, is that everything basically closes at 6. Even big stores like H&M or Primark all close at 6! We figured out that the reason for this is that LITERALLY their only form of night life is pub-life. EVERYONE drops what they're doing at 6, goes home for some supper maybe, then goes to the pubs. It actually seems like kind of a cool little cultural thing. The pubs have a kind of homey feel to them, like everyone is completely comfortable. There are no strangers in pubs. I would consider that to be one of the only times in my entire life when I regret that I don't drink. I feel like it's hard to get a REAL feel for Scotish culture without experiencing the pubs but at least we got a couple of good pub meals while we were there.

So we took a short 30-minute bus ride to Drumnodrochit, the little town next to Loch Ness. It was raining and foggy and we could barely see the lake and the outline of the castle but when we got off the bus it cleared up just long enough for this...



One of the many rainbows we saw but this one seemed particularly beautiful...:-)
We had a brief moment of confusion when as struggled to find our hostel, but thanks to that friendly pub-culture I was talking about we were finally pointed in the right direction.



Kind of fun, huh? It was a really crowded, happy hostel. There actually families that lived there which sort of surprised me. Anyways, once we dropped our stuff off we had just enough time to grab something delicious to eat at the only pub in town then go on a quick hike in the rain to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. Here are some of the adorable sheep we saw along the way plus kristen and carolyn bringing up the rear




And then we came around the bend and through the rain we spotted Urquhart castle... it was kind of like a moment from a fairy tale...or at least Braveheart. SO COOL.

This is when I got my second wind. I'll be honest, all the traveling we were doing was wearing me down. I was ready to throw in the towel and go to bed early. But seeing this castle sort of lit my fire again.
After quickly jumping the fence...

We were free to roam around the castle!! We were the only ones there which added to that weird feeling of being in a fairy tale and I loved it. I was ready to scale the walls and everything but I guess there are rules against that or something...but really? I should have done it. You only live once and what are the chances I will EVER do these things again??





Goodbye sweet castle...loved you dearly. I WISH SO MUCH that we had had more time here. I could have explored these ruins forever. Not to mention how beautiful the lake was. Next time I go to Scotland I am definitely making Loch Ness more of a priority. OH! The WORST part was that when we were walking back I saw a farm with a herd of horses and a sign for riding tours around the lake. Kill me now how perfect would that be?? I am definitely feeling a little horse-deprived these days. Ah well. There is only so much you can do in 24 hours...trust me...we tested the limits :-)

Anyways, we went back to our hostel, slept, woke up, caught a bus a plane a bus then two trains and finally got home to our London flat in one piece. Let me tell you I haven't looked that grungy and unlady-like in a while... None of us washed our hair all week so THAT was interesting. Hahah backpacking is amazing but tiring. I kind of like staying in one place for a while...