Reaching new heights in Scotland!

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Finally we have reached the third country on this whirl-wind adventure: Scotland! We took a ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan and then a bus took us all the way to Glasgow. The ferry was decent, nothing special. Lots of ocean and blue sky to take pictures of. But the bus ride, oh my goodness it was glorious. The Scottish coast is really a sight to be seen. I wish we could drive all over this country. Scratch that, the whole world. So much of the countryside to explore!

Our first city (Glasgow) was much more exciting than we were lead to believe. Everyone that we talked to said it was going to be boring, but it wasn't at all. At least not for two days! I suppose I should mention the hotel first. It was called the victoria house hotel. It was right on the west end of downtown glasgow, only ten minutes or so walk from the bus and train stations. It was a good hotel for its price. The wifi was not the greatest, and there was a really loud rattling noise every night between 8 and 11 for ten minutes or so, but otherwise can't complain. A traditional Scottish breakfast was served which was enough to keep us full until dinner. But I have to say that Scottish bacon is EXTREMELY salty. The view from the room was the best part. It was a bit obstructed by a office building right in front but to either side we got a grat view of the city.

Now onto the sites. We decided to do a two day hop-on hop-off tour which, for the price (£14), was well worth it. There was a stop right outside of our hotel, and the bus went to every destination we wanted to see in the city. The first stop was the kelvin grove art gallery and museum. It's a bit of a hodge-podge of all sorts of stuff ranging from local animals and sculptures to giant elephants and giraffes. But I enjoyed it, especially because all 8 glasgow museums/galleries are free. I went alone to the GOMA (Glasgow museums of modern art) which was a good way to spend an hour. Most modern art is behind me however. The museum is located right on George's square, which is kind of the headquarters for the twentieth commonwealth games, so it was an excellent area to hang out in, if even just to people watch. To get back to the hotel, I walked along the style mile, which is exactly as it sounds. I guess glasgow has become known for its shopping in the past decade, and there is literally a mile long strip of streets that house all of the cheapest and most exclusive stores glasgow has to offer. I was there on a Saturday so it was as packed as it probably gets, this made it all the more interesting to see.

Our second day in glasgow was spent seeing more of the sights along the tour we purchased. we went to the riverside museum (transportation museum-AMAZING), walked around glasgow university, and saw the glasgow cathedral and necropolis. All of which were worth seeing. Glasgow really is a beautiful city if you give it a chance. The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets around the hotel and watching Wimbledon-I know, we are so exciting.

On the last day of Jube, we spent our day taking a train to fort william in northern Scotland. The train is a bit slow, it takes four hours to reach fort william but the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. I can't get enough of that country. Our accommodation in fort william was the fort william backpackers hostel. It was a small, quiet hostel, mostly suited to people like us hiking Ben Nevis. I really liked it. The receptionist was from canada, so we hit it off right away! The rest of the staff was nice as well, the hostel was clean and breakfast was good. Just scones and toast, but it was all we needed to get going! Another plus about the hostel is that it's on a hill in town and you get a great view of the lake from the back patio. The only complaint I would have is that there were no lock boxes at all and the matresses were incredibly thin.

For canada day, we were fortunate enough to hike Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the British isles. We were told by all the locals to take the local route, so that's what we did. Unfortunately it's not a route at all, but a goat track in most places or no path at all. we hiked the pony trail to the half way point, then descended the mountain on the other sided back to sea level! We were so disheartenEd. We had to climb a second peak, this is where we found a small goat trail. Once we found the goat trail we felt better, but we up to hour five at this point, and only about half way up. We followed a very precarious and thin ridge for about a kilometre. This involved a lot of scree scrambling and climbing over rocks to continue on our path. Don't get me wrong, the views were amazing but I was terrified. If the weather had been anything less than perfect, it would have been impossible. Once we crossed the ridge, it was about another hour of literal scree scramble up to the peak! It was exhausting; 8 hours to each the summit, but oh my goodness it was worth it. We got to see the north face of the mountain, which is not seen from the pony track or the peak at all. I am so glad we did it but I would never do it again and I would only recommend it to people who are not afraid of heights, and only when the weather is perfect. The way down was three hours of switchbacks along the pony track. This was very difficult on our very exhausted knees, but again it was worth the effort. I am so proud of myself and Jay for completing this gruelling hike. Kilimanjaro should be a piece or cake after this...

Day thirteen was spent travelling to Edinburgh. It tookabout six hours total, but the cheap price made it worth it. the hotel we stayed in that night was very clean and modern but the room was absolutely tiny (pretty much a closet) and it had no windows! Though I have to say the staff was very accommodating and helpful.

After just one day in a Edinburgh, I have fallen in love with the city. I spent the whole day walking around, exploring the castle and the royal mile. I wish we had more time. One day is just not enough. We relocated to the kick ass hostel that night, which I have to say was kick ass. I would have loved to participate in events such as the scavenger until or the Pub crawl, but we had an early morning the next day. we did however see Scott, meghan and Kenzie! We went for pizza together and then Meghan gave us a tour of "the birthplace of Harry potter". We even found two more of her friends! we went to the elephant house which is where j.k Rowling wrote the Harry potter books sand we walked around grey friars cemetery where she got the ideas for the names if the characters. Meghan even showed us the most haunted place in the graveyard, which I was disappointed we couldn't go into. Then we all went for a beer send group pictures and what not.

I can't believe this part if our trip is already done! It was beyond amazing, but I can't help but look forward to what is coming meet!

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