The Water of Life: Two Weeks in Scotland

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March 15th 2010

Published: March 15th 2010

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Wiggy

Isle of Skye

Boats abound

Well, the rumours are true.

I landed in Edinburgh two weeks ago and have completely fallen for the wonderful sides of Scotland - and been turned off by the bad. Edinburgh is wonderful. It's ancient, clean, affordable (thank YOU global economic collapse!), and really a good time. I can even understand the local accent - a rarity in these parts. The downside is one common to the UK + Ireland: bad food, too much alcohol, and just a general lack of....hmm....the 'finer' things. Don't get me wrong, you can find them - Edinburgh has a fantastic botanical garden and Glasgow has some wonderful museums. I guess they're just less emphasized than things like X-Factor, mini-skirts and fast food. The warmth of the people, the lovely landscape, and the charm of Edinburgh have definitely left the balance tipped in favor of "great" though.

I stayed in Edinburgh for five great, tiring nights at a hostel just off the royal mile and as you can imagine it's fun to sleep somewhere with a castle just down the street. It's one of those places very condusive to meeting people, although an abundance of long-term-ers makes the place have a sort of strange

Word-famous Castle on Skye

vibe. Overall great though.

I then took off on a three-day tour up to the wonderful Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland. We packed twenty-three people into a sort of bus/van hybrid with a cooky-but-awesome Scot tour guide named Hamish. "Get your asses on the bus you bums, Nessy ain't gonna wait all day!" was how I met him - and he only got funnier as the days went on, although the camoflauge kilt was replaced by jeans far too early in the trip in my opinion. No-one's perfect.

Yes, we saw loch Ness. And yes, it really is just a lake ("NO it isn't! It's a Loch!... just don't ask me to define the difference", says Hamish). The highlight of the drive up had to be seeing the highlands in perfect weather, complete with a hefty blanket of snow and a redyellow sunset over a crumbling castle. Absolutely stunning.

Castles, hairy cows, and whiskey - just the way a tour of Scotland should be summed up. Oh and great, great people. Life is tough.

I then went to Glasgow, accompanied by a german friend named "Julia", to go visit my friend Andrew. Again the rumours

Castle on Skye 2

proved accurate: if charm or haut culture is what you're after then maybe you should keep Glasgow off your list (smokestack and concrete fans rejoice!). But Andrew proved to be an excellent host, leaving me, four days later, with fond memories of the city - just not thanks to the city.

And now I am back in Edinburgh, taking a day to catch up on email and NOT spend money (eek). Tomorrow I go back to Lyon for 2 nights and then off to Amsterdam for a four-day weekend. Hopefully with clean laundry. The fun continues !!!

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