Ok, so, I've been back from my Scotland adventure for over 3 weeks. Man, that jet lag is the pits! After going through all of my pictures, I sure wish I would have taken more. And, then, there is also that little, ahem, 'detour' I took along the way where no pictures were taken...but I'm getting too far ahead of myself, so without further ado, I present to you my trip to Scotland.
Waiting at the SLC airport. As soon as we got on the plane, I was shoved in the overhead compartment. How lame is that?
Sitting on a rock in Central Park, New York. I think it was about one million degrees out that day and boy, did we do a lot of walking! (Ok, me? Not so much. Ben & Lauren, yes. I had the luxury of riding on Lauren's back the whole time, which kind of diminished my sight seeing, but when she let me out, I was in New York heaven!)
On a bus in New York.
We took the train from the Botanical Gardens to the airport. In America it's "Watch the Gap," but in the UK it's "Mind the Gap." Now, I'm not sure who this Gap dude is, but I can tell you you better watch your step when getting on and off the train because there is a bit of a jump. Not that Lauren tripped one or two times or anything.
We spent some time walking through the New York Botanical Gardens. Man, this place was trippy! Lots of plants, trees, and flowers. The only time I really took a break was on this bench.
I did a lot of waiting with these people. I got used to it, mostly, but my favorite was when we were go, go, going.
The trains in New York were pretty empty that night, at least this one was. It was standing room only on the train from Grand Central Station to the airport.
The Tower of London. I won't lie, this place freaked me out. It was dark inside. There were torture devices. And I even saw some monkey's, a polar bear, and these crazy things called "Beefeaters." I stayed in the backpack the majority of this tour.
In the Tower of London was an exhibit on the animals of the tower. Lauren insisted on getting a picture taken with me--an animal--inside this cage.
In our hostel in London, I was able to take a bath. Even though I'm normally not one to demonstrate hygiene practice on a regular basis, after a few days of travel, it felt great.
After a long journey in the luggage cabin of a coach bus, we made it to Edinburgh. Here I'm posing with Lauren in the hostel after a long day of traveling.
The next day we visited the North Sea. I came thisclose to being swept away out into the ocean. Luckily, Lauren was able to catch me before I went too far. Brrr.
We also walked around some ancient golf course. I don't get that game myself, but I do admit the grass was super green and I liked the flags inside these holes.
Another day in Edinburgh, we walked around the Edinburgh Castle. This place was HUGE and I pretty much was out for the whole thing. Here I am overlooking the city of Edinburgh. This is right before a HUGE rain storm.
I really wanted to sit on top of this huge cannon at the castle. My favorite part of the castle was the old weaponry, including the cannons that circled the castle.
While Ben and Lauren finished walking around the castle, I took in a whisky tasting. Apparently drinking whisky is a cool thing to do in Scotland.
I met back up with Ben and Lauren at the woolen mill where they make tartan kilts and things. We came pretty close to buying me a wee kilt, but apparently I'm not worth the 10 pounds it would have cost. Whatever.
After our busy day, I was ready for bed! Lauren seemed to always forget to put these sleeping shades on, so I borrowed them and slept like a baby the whole night!
This is at our hostel in Aberdeen. It was cold and wet and I preferred to stay in the backpack during that day of travel and walking around Aberdeen in the rain. When we left this hostel, we headed on a bus trip to a pretty cool castle.
Me in front of Drum Castle. I stayed in the backpack most of the time because Lauren and Ben couldn't carry their backpacks through the castle, nor could they take pictures inside. So, I guess I didn't miss much, but I was able to have a good nap and rest up for another journey, which took us to Inverness.
And this is where things get a little fuzzy.....
Meet my Scottish cousins:
Who knew I had Scottish cousins? Not I. When I met them in Inverness at a store, I decided to spend some time with them and leave Ben and Lauren for a few days. It was an adventure, all right. They showed me all around and we even did a little pub-hopping (duh, we're in Scotland, right?!) So, when I met back up with the Hubert's, it turns out I missed out on a few major things: Inverness castle, Loch Ness, and the Battle of Culloden (not to mention them picking up the car and the drive to Glasgow). I begged and begged for my cousin, William (first one pictured above) to come with me, but he declined.
So, anyway, after a few days partying it up Scotland style with my cousins, I was tired. I slept great that first night in Glasgow.
The next day, I went with Ben and Lauren to the Glasgow Cathedral. I figured out by this time that I am not a fan of rain and cold (maybe it has something to do with the fact that I wear Birkenstocks and a vest), so again, I was in Lauren's pocket for a good portion of the day. And, besides, Ben told Lauren it was probably in poor taste to take me out inside the cathedral for a picture by the altar or preacher stand.
I learned pretty quick to not look while Ben was driving....
At Glasgow Green we ran into a distant relative of mine. He was a bit standoffish, wanted nothing to do with me.
We had a few travel days wherein I spent the majority of the time inside the car. I dare say my travel companions forgot about me...the nerve!
But at least they brought me along for the important stuff, like Shakespeare. We watched a play at the Globe Theater and it was excellent.
Here you can kind of see the London Eye (left), Big Ben, and the Thames River behind me.
Me and Big Ben. I was a little annoyed at the construction going on in the area, but was generally impressed with London.
And then my life wish granted--the Buckingham Palace. I thought it'd be different, but it was pretty cool to see. This was kind of like the last big shebang of the trip because after we got back to the hostel that night, I was packed away until we came back to Utah.
I'm pretty stoked about having gone on this amazing trip. I'm glad Mike had the idea to send me along, but I'll be glad to return to his desk...so I can brag about all of these awesome places I've been.
