Scotland...now with pictures! Only 10p each.

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Do you find something funny/ironic about welcoming someone back to the "real" world, after they've just spent the last six weeks exploring the...well, "real" world?

So now I can properly update you! And it helps to put my own recollections down. So here we go.

Scotland was quick. Scotland was amazing. It was nothing short of a homecoming, of sorts, to be back in Glasgow. Just hearing the thick accents on the RyanAir flight from Oslo (which, of course, RyanAir flies out of Torp, which is over 100 km south of Oslo! Just FYI.) made me smile.

Stayed at the Bunkum, which is seriously one of the best independent hostels I've ever stayed at, pure dead brilliant. I never fail to meet amazing people there. My 1st night this time around, I ran into 2 German girls that had studied at Glasgow Uni a few years back and, like me, were back for old times' sake. So we talked a long time about the appeal of Glasgow.

The next day, I rented a car (which, as I mentioned, turned out to be a kickin' Nissan 4WD monstrosity!) and eventually even figured out how to get the thing into reverse. I went to hike Bidean Nam Bian, which is the tallest peak around Glen Coe. The last time I tried, it was covered in cloud and pouring rain. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one, words simply fail here. I almost didn't go, since the weather was calling for heavy rain all day, but I seem to have found a window of almost "good" (only light drizzle) Scottish weather!

That night, my legs were *wobbly* from the effort, and relaxed at the hostel with Marie and Denise, who were 2 other German girls who were on a quick vacation. We were joined by all kinds of great people, including an Aussie that had, the day before, climbed Ben Nevis at night, with a T-shirt, and no food or water. Yeah, he could have died from that. Please don't do that. Still, we had to laugh...he had a way with his stories.

The next morning I dropped the car off and hung around Glasgow in the pouring rain before catching my EasyJet down to Luton. Coming soon...!

-steve g

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