Edinburgh

After our Inverness extravaganza Amy and I arranged to stay a couple nights in Edinburgh before ending our Scotland visit.  Our bus arrived downtown about 10 minutes before the next scheduled free tour was about to start.  We had planned to do the tour that day because of our limited amount of time in Edinburgh.  We stashed our packs in lockers at the bus station and took off as quickly as possible to the meeting point (theres been a recurring theme of us running to catch tours).  Unfortunately the meeting place was difficult to find and a ways away, by the time we arrived the tour group was long gone.  We made the best of the situtation and decided to go on an underground walking tour.


The church where our tour started.

The tour started out with some history of the city.  The old town of Edinburgh is built on a hill in between two valleys.  During the wars between Scotland and England, Edinburgh decided to build huge walls around the old town.   These walls drove the people to make use of as much of the old town space as possible, building up and close together.  You can say that the first skyscrapers were engineered within the city walls.  The old town grew down one slope of the mountain within the walls and in order to add a level place to build on, a bridge was constructed within the walls.  The South Bridge (as it was named) was made from 19 stone arches, 4 stories deep at its highest point and was a marvel of enginnering back then.  In order to utilize thr space on either side of the bridge, the city began selling land plots.  Eventually, as these plots were developed, buildings were erected on either side of the bridge, concealing all but one arch.  Within these arches, workers worked, goods were stored and sold.

 
Our guide





Eventually, when the war between England and Scotland had ended (Scotland lost) the city opened the city walls and built a new town.  The rich, tired of the cramped conditions in the old town, flocked to the new community, allowing the poor and the hooligans to make their way in.  The archways became a haven for criminals.  They did everything from making illegal whisky to using the archways as temporary storage and thoroughfares for the trafficing of dead bodies between the cemetery and the medical institute (the medical institute paid big money in those days for fresh bodies to disect).

When the town got wind of the dealings in the archways they filled them in with rubble and dirt and sealed them from the public.  Now, centuries later, the archways have been excavated and are used for storage, night clubs, and tours.

After our tour Amy and I met up with our couchsurfers, a nice french couple Antoine and Alice.  We made them dinner (americanized versions of burritos and pepsi) and shared some good conversation.  Alice is a midwife and had a long shift the next day so we all headed to bed fairly early.

We got up the next day and took a bus downtown to catch the first walking tour.  Of course we took the wrong bus and by the time we sorted everything out we missed that tour as well!  But hey, again, we made the most of it and walked around the city's antique and vintage shops.  I bought a scottish flat cap (which you'll see below) and Amy got a dress.  When 1 pm rolled around (the next tour scheduled) we decided to continue to walk around and catch the 3 pm one.  We finally made it to the tour meeting place around 2:45 (the last tour was at 3).  We waited and waited and the guide never showed.  Apparently he wasn't going to give a tour in the light drizzle for only 6 or so people, bummer!


Edinburgh Castle


I'm in a glass case of emotion!

We planned on having dinner with one of Amy's oldest friends (Jackie) who is living in Edinburgh and filled the time as best we could before hand.  We had dinner at a cool little pub called "Holyrood 9A".  Burgers, fries and beers, mmmm.  Afterwards we went back to our couchsurfers place and turned in early before our 6 am flight to Rome.




New scottish flat cap!

A Date With Nessie

If you're going to Scotland, you've gotta go to Loch Ness.   Amy and I booked a quick trip up to Loch Ness to try to get a glimpse of the mythical monster Nessie.  We hopped a megabus from Perth to get there and actually had a chance to enjoy the scenery as it wasn't raining for the first part of the ride.    

Scotland is a very beautiful country.  Its similar to Ireland with its abundance of grasslands and sheep but Scotland is also blessed with thick forests and impressive mountains.  We got a chance to see some of the mountains on our drive through the highlands to Inverness.  They were all covered in snow, not a good sign.  Luckily we are scheduled to be in Rome in a few days.



We got into Inverness around 2pm and headed right over to our B&B to drop off our bags.  When we got in the room we looked through some of the tourist pamphlets and realized that the Loch Ness tours ran the last tour at 3!  We hussled out the door and went to the tourist info center to see if maybe there was another company that had a later tour.  The tourist center guy said we had only 5 minutes to catch the last tour so we sprinted out the door and down the street, luckily making it just before the tour bus departed.


Inverness...raining as usual...

The bus left the station and the driver gave everyone a nice history lesson on Inverness and Scotland on the way to the Loch.  Some interesting facts about Loch Ness is that it is about 735' at its deepest and the water gets very deep only a few feet from the shoreline.  The Loch is so deep that you could fill it with the entire worlds population 3 times over!  The depth helps the Loch maintain a constant 42-45F temperature year round.

The bus arrived at a local dock where we boarded a ferry that took us on a 30 minute ride on Loch Ness and dropped us off at Urqhart Castle, a set of ruins that use to be a strategic stronghold along Loch Ness.  























We saw a double rainbow!






And Nessie!


Unfortunately we didn't catch a glimpse of the REAL Nessie.  There are have been stories and sitings of her from as far back as 500 AD but she just didn't feel like swimming in the rain while we were there.

We made our way back to Inverness, had dinner and a bottle of wine in town, and turned in for the night.  The next morning we got up, ate entirely too much at breakfast and took a bus to Edinburgh.

Workaway #3: Scotland!

When we arrived in Scotland via ferry from Belfast, we were immediately whisked away in a coach bus along the coast to Glasgow and then across the country to Edinburgh. Our bus took the twisty turny roads so fast that we ended up getting into Edinburgh a little earlier than expected so we ventured out to find a bite to eat. About an hour later we were picked up by our next workaway host Hazel and we drove about an hour north to Blairgowrie where we would be staying for the next week. Hazel has 38 acres right at the foothills of the highlands.  We arrived after dark so we had no idea what the land looked like and we had a pleasant surprise in the morning!

While at the workaway for the week we had various chores... We cared for her ponies, a breed indigenous to Scotland for which she provided a rescue. We skipped out their stables, poop scooped the fields and groomed them. We cut down a huge brush forest to make a path from one pony field to another (using only hand tools!).  This job was especially difficult because of the presence of thorn bushes and nettles (a plant that stings you and sucks more than poison ivy). We cleaned out a corner of the barn which included going through and sorting a ton of old tools. We helped with a few small repairs and changed out a washing machine. Last but not least we helped ready the guest apartments for the new guests that would be arriving. 


We got to drive this four wheeler all over the farm!

Only the female ponies were brought into the stables each day. The black one is Ebony, white is Cheeky and brown is Missy.

The view out our window!

Hazel took us around the Perthshire area for a day. Our first stop was in a cute little town called Dunkel. It had a pretty church with a nice scenic landscape.








Next stop was in Aberfeldy to check out a real scottish whiskey distillery... We had to goto the Dewars world of whisky! 



Kurtis pretending to be the CEO of Dewars in the 1800s.

Tons of old whisky bottles.

Illegal picture taken of the whiskey distillers. 

More photos from the workaway:


Our friend smoky the cat who looks like Emily but is nice.

Road to the stables.

Ebony in her stable.

Missy (Mischief) and Cheeky (she was cheeky!)

Kurtis grooming Cheeky, see how small the ponies are?!? They are full grown.

Highland cows on the property!

The work at this workaway was hard but Hazel was very generous and even took us to town for dinner two of our nights during our stay. On Tuesday, Hazel took us into Perth where we caught a megabus up to Inverness to search for Nessie!

The Irish Coast

After our pig farming extravaganza, Amy and I decided to rent a car in Galway and drive up the Irish coast within the county of Donegal (where apparently my moms side of the family came from).




Galway was a cute town.

We got a tiny little hyundai, automatic because the combination of driving a manual and driving on the wrong side of the road would probably have been too much to deal with, and set off.


Everthing is backwards!

Our first stop was Bundoran where we were scheduled to couchsurf. On our way there we stopped in Mullaghmore, took some pictures of the local castle, and spent some time enjoying the coast (even though it was cold and rainy).


You couldn't get very close to the castle unfortunately.













Our first hosts were from Slovakia (Liva and Martin) and welcomed us into their home with a slice of apple pie and tea! They're place was beautiful and literally a stones throw from the ocean.


Us and Liva


Us and Martin

The next day, rested and showered, we headed north along the coast, making a pit stop in Killybegs for some fish and chips (a recommendation from our workaway hosts).


Mmmmmm...

Martin recommended that we stop at Slieve League cliffs. We had to drive through some very rural Irish countryside (the signs were all in Gaelic!) until we finally arrived. The cliffs were beautiful (said to rival the cliffs of Moher) as well as the area surrounding them.







Eventually we had to mozy on over to our next couch surfer's house in London Derry (or just Derry to the people of Ireland. Calling it London Derry may get you a mouth full of fist).


On the way we ran into a bit of a road block. The farmers paint the sheep for some reason that eludes us.

We stayed with a guy named John, a very successful sports gambler (its what he does for a living), and he made us a delicious dinner and treated us to a drink at the local pub.

The next morning John took us to the "Free Derry Wall" where there are some pretty amazing murals painted on the sides of buildings depicting scenes from the bloody struggle Ireland went through to end British oppression.






John still hung over from the night before.

We then left Derry and headed towards the Giants Causeway. We had expected to get to Giants Causeway fairly early in the day but there were some pretty cool places along the way that we couldn't pass by.

The first was an old stone estate called the Hezlett House that sat right on the coast. The interior of the building was transformed over time into a well trimmed lawn. At the back of the estate, through some cool turrets, there was a long path down to a domed library that sat on the edge of the coastal cliff.









Our next sidetrack was Dunluce Castle, a 16th century coastal stronghold that is now in ruins. We didn't feel like paying 8 pounds per person ($24 total) to get in so we did the perimeter of the castle instead which was pretty amazing in itself.






There is a cave beneath the castle (called Mermaid's cave) connecting to the ocean that was used as a hidden port.



Finally! We arrived at the causeway. The causeway is a grouping of hexagonal basalt stones that were naturally formed by an ancient lava flow. The tallest one is 30 feet high!













Close by was the Carrick rope bridge. The bridge extends from the mainland across a coastal gap to a nearby island that fisherman frequent.

We bought only 1 ticket to cross the bridge (5 pounds!) and headed down. When we reached the bridge Amy started to cross it. I told the attendant that I was afraid of heights (not really) and he told me if I could make it down the ladder to the bridge, he would take me across. Free ticket! I happily agreed and headed across.









We left the bridge and headed into bushmills to try to do a tour of the whiskey distillery. Unfortunately it was closed :( so we met up with our couchsurfer David. David was a carpenter and teacher and welcomed us in with a home cooked dinner and a nice bed. He even made us a traditional Irish breakfast the next morning (sausages, eggs, potato and soda bread, mmmm).

Our couchsurfing hosts were perfect examples of how the people in Ireland are extremely welcoming. All we could really hope for was a couch to crash on, but everyone we stayed with gave us our own rooms and cooked for us!


We left fairly early to catch our ferry to Scotland and thus concluded our Irish Adventure.