Fortunately the weather was BEAUTIFUL. It kinda reminded me of San Diego - windy, sunny, and warm. It was a perfect day for a field trip. The first stop was at Achnabreck to see some rock-art. The bus dropped us off at the base and we all had to trudge up the hill to get to higher ground where the rock-art was located. It took me awhile, but it good spiral cup and ring mark is at the upper right hand corner. It's kinda neat to think this was made during any time period from the Neolithic to Bronze Age.
The whole area was sooo green. It was refreshing to be out of the city and getting to see the Scottish countryside. I met a girl from Berkeley named Katelyn and she's in my tutorial group. :) I was relieved to see a face I recognized. We both followed two other girls who was quite a distance away from us. I was trying to find the second site that had the rock art, but I noticed we kept going further and further up. No one else seemed to panic so I tried to do the same. >< Lol. Anyways, the footpath became more and more difficult but it ended up being a loop because the next thing I knew, we were back at the buses.
The next stop was at Dunadd fort. We hiked up the hill to the top of the summit. The view from the top was breathtaking! But it was tough getting up there. The path to the top wasn't really smooth. It was rocky and just so much fun climbing up there. The top of the hill is a citadel in ruins. Kings' inauguration ceremonies occurred there and each king "married" to the land by leaving a footprint in the ground.. Gosh it's so neat to learn about the history of these ruins.
One of my favorite places was the Nether Largie South where the chambered cairn. We went inside and through the cairn. It was amazing to touch the rocks that was built thousands of years ago.
It was awesome eating lunch on the hillside and seeing all the sheep grazing nearby on a beautiful day. Today definitely fulfilled one of the things on my to-do list while I'm here in Scotland. :)
When I got back to my flat, I wasn't sure whether I was able to wake up tomorrow for the Loch Ness Bus Tour...
But HA! I did. :) I didn't know what to expect on the bus tour. I figured I could sleep most of the way to Loch Ness. Except, the bus tour included a bus driver who knew lots stories and history snippets so sleeping was a no-no. =/ When I got into the mini-coach, this Chinese man looked at me and smiled with a nod. I smiled back. I didn't know why I thought it was strange, but I had a feeling he was relieved that there was another Asian on the bus. Hahaha.
We sat on the second row and the bus driver told us that the seats we had now would be the seats we're going to have for the entire trip. I was a bit nervous because I would be sitting next to someone I didn't know. >< And then, the next thing I knew the bus driver was handing out a small bottle of The Famous Grouse scotch whiskey. I thought it was funny because I thought it was to alleviate some of the nerves or something. Too bad I'm a lightweight.
In the beginning of the ride, a Spanish guy who didn't speak much English sat next to me. Okay, I admit it. It was kind of awkward because I didn't know what to say! I thought I should make an effort since I am going to be sitting next to him for the next few hours. I tried to strike a conversation and I failed. :( All I got from him was a "hello" and a "thank you". Lol. It was okay though because I dozed off. The embarrassing part was.. I think I fell asleep on his shoulder. ><
We stopped at the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park for a 20 minute mini-coffee/restroom break. While Ana and Erika went off to get coffee and tea, I ran everywhere trying to see everything because I was so afraid I'd run out of time. Loch Sloy and the surrounding hills was sooo beautiful. After running up the steps and along the loch trying to take as many pictures, I was awake and refreshed. Boo yeah, I was ready for the long bus ride ahead. >:]
When it was time to get onto the bus, I found someone new on the seat next to mine. I was so afraid that I might have offended the other guy because I wasn't very talkative or that I fell asleep on him. After a while since the bus was on the road again, we had a conversation. I'm not sure who started talking first, but I was SO glad that we talked and broke the awkward silence. Hmm, maybe I did because I noticed his University of Glasgow sweater. Gosh, I totally thought I have that shy personality, but I'm not so sure anymore. Anyways, David is from Spain and he's here in Glasgow to work on his PhD in archaeology, which I thought was so awesome and such a coinkadink since I'm taking an archaeology class. It was really cool getting to know someone from a foreign country. I was surprised that he could speak fluent English because his friend couldn't. Oh, and he told me the seat change wasn't because of me. Wheww! He said it was to change up the seating so that everyone could sit next to each other in the back or something like that. Hey! As long as it wasn't because of me, I'm glad. :]
As we neared Glencoe, I was completely in awe. It was absolutely gorgeous despite the grass browning. The bus driver said 5-6 weeks ago everything was green, but its changed now that its almost winter. I was sooo happy that we got to stop at Glencoe for a quick stop for pictures. I felt so small next to these huge mountains.
Oh! and a little fact: LOTS of people attempt to climb up those mountains, which is crazyy amazing. But a few people die each year... O.O
Our next stop was lunch! We were all so hungry. Once the bus stopped, we bolted to the nearest fish and chips shop. The fish and chips didn't come with a lime or lemon so I thought that was weird, but I guess we weren't supposed to put on any from the beginning? Anyways, it was really yummy.
I'm not sure about the history behind Ben Nevis but it was really pretty. We made a quick stop here to admire the sheep! Oh and the highlands. ;] Lookie! Isn't it amazing?!
I was so excited when we arrived at Urquhart [ur-ket?] Castle because that meant WE WERE AT LOCH NESS! We had an hour to explore the castle and souvenir shop. We went inside the shop to find postcards and we also got to see an 8 minute video about the castle's 500 year history. It was kinda choppy. All I remembered was that it was visited/found by Saint Columbus and it is now in ruins because some Scottish guy blew it up so that the English could not seize it. It must have been really pretty back in the day. From the towers, the view of the loch and mountains was breathtaking.
The weather was sunny and the sky was blue! Thank goodness for that because it would have been such a different experience if the weather was all gloomy and gray. At the castle, we climbed the walls and narrow staircases to the top of the tower. It was so much fun. I was definitely a shutterbug that day. Trust me, that's rare.
^ This is to show how narrow the staircase was. Erika is tiny. Use that as a scale to see how narrow it was.
When it became almost time to board the ferry, we bumped into the Chinese man again. He and I started speaking in Chinese and he was impressed that I could have a conversation in Mandarin. He told me that when we saw me getting on the bus, he was relieved to know there was another Chinese person. But when he heard English out of my mouth, he was disappointed because he thought I didn't know how to speak Mandarin. Surprising people is kinda fun. Lol. Yay! for 3 quarters of Chinese courses.
After that we went on the ferry cruise [The Jacobite Spirit] that brought us to the other side where our bus driver/tour guide was waiting for us. The ferry ride was surprisingly smooth. No seasickness. Whoo hoo! Everything was so beautiful. And, I thought I saw something that looked like Nessie...
When we landed, there was a purple Nessie! Puahahaha, I told you guys I would catch the Loch Ness monster.
We only had a few minutes left so we ran to the souvenir shop to grab any last minute things. :] Of course I had to grab some post cards. We were the last ones to leave... the bus driver had to come in and find us. Lol. On the bus, I realized our trip was over. We made one more stop at Pitlochry for a restroom break before heading back to Glasgow. On the way back, David was my seat partner again. I had the lovely opportunity to sit next to each of his friends. Sadly, I fell asleep next all three of them. On the ride back, David and I talked about Spain and other things. But after getting to hear his stories, I really want to go to Spain. Decisions, decisions!
When we got back at George's Square, I was sad. I made two new friends and it bummed me out a bit to know that I might not see them again. But our adventure today was great and I had so much fun! I think from now on, spontaneous trips are the way to go. :]
No comments:
Post a Comment