Life on the wrong side of the road

So I'm FINALLY getting the chance to update.  Not much Internet access for longer than 10 minutes in Scotland.  Anywho,  here's the story of my week.

I left Dallas last Sunday, layover in Philly, and arrived in Glasgow, Scotland early Monday morning!  Claire (our family friend) met me at the airport.  As we put my luggage in the back seat, I immediately opened what I though was the passenger door and stared at the steering wheel for about 4 seconds before i remembered how they drive in the UK.  I probably did this about 12 times in the first 2-3 days of my trip.  I stayed at her house in Port Glasgow, about 20 minutes outside of Glasgow. 

Getting used to the Scottish accent was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.  First of all, the Scottish LOVE to talk and tell stories.  They also speak in a lower tone than in the US.  Almost what we would call a mumble (only sometimes though).  They also speak VERY fast.  If I wasn't paying close attention to the first few words, I'd end up getting lost in what sounded like a completely different language.  There were a lot of "excuse me's" and "come again's" from my side of the conversation.   But I got used to it quickly.  In fact, I found the accent to be very catchy.  Sometimes, on accident, I surprised myself in how I would pronounce a word.   I'd practice my Scottish accent (which is horrible) while Claire practiced her American accent (equally horrible).

Some other interesting differences besides driving on the wrong side of the road:  It's not uncommon for the hot and cold water to come from different faucets.  Where we, in America, would have a dishwasher, the Scots have a washing machine...for clothes.  No dryer.  Also the Scottish heat their plates before their hot meals.  Keeps the food warmer.  Also, there's no ice! Things are still pretty cold though. Apparently, this is common throughout Europe.  I guess I'm just sheltered.

When I arrived, they immediately fed me breakfast.  Claire had to work, so I hung out with her parents.  We went into the town.  Her parents went to mass (they go everyday) while I look around.  The weather was pretty overcast and chilly.  Since I packed mostly for Spain, the only jacket I had was my windbreaker we got for SROW this year.  The rest of Day 1 was pretty low-key.  I took a huge 3-hour nap to get over the jet-lag and Claire drove me around a bit that evening.

The rest of my week was incredible!  Tuesday brought strange weather with it.  It would rain, then the sun would come out, then cloud up for about 20 minutes...all within an hour.  It did this all day.  However, I got to meet a girl about my age named Roslyn.  We walked around the the neighboring town waiting for Claire to get off work.  After she did, we went and explored more.  We went hillwalking at an area they call "The Cut."  It was beautiful.  I use the word "hill" loosely in Scotland.  They are what we, in Louisiana at least, would consider mountains!  Our path led us along the sides of the hills overlooking the cluster of towns and the River Clyde.  The surrounding scenery was so green and beautiful.  The view overlooking the river was nothing but spectacular, despite the iffy weather.   After dinner we went for a drive.  We ended up in Houston!!  Houston, Scotland, that is.  We went to a little pub called The Fox and the Hound where I bought my first legal beer!  Not that I even got ID'd.  The beer was brewed right there in Houston so, naturally, it was called the Houston Texas.

Wednesday and Thursday brought on more adventures!  We went into Glasgow Wednesday afternoon and explored a wee bit.  Thursday Roslyn and Rachel (another girl I had the pleasure of meeting) took me back to Glasgow. We went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum as well as the Glasgow Museum of Transport.  Very interesting!  Everything from fossils and statues of Elvis to double decker busses and motorcycles!

Friday, the weather was absolutely incredible!  Cloudless skies with temps reaching the 70s. we went to the Burrell Collection before heading off to Stirling.  Burrell was a famous collector in Scotland who, upon his death, donated all of his artifacts to be put on display.  Everything from Ancient China and Greek artifacts to Rembrandt and Degas paintings to ancient Egypt artifacts that dated back to almost 2500 b.c.!  After that we headed off to Stirling.  There, we saw the Castle of Stirling as well as some areas that were used for the filming of Braveheart.  The movie tried to use most of the actual locations of the battles while filming.  Stirling Castle was my favorite!  I slept kinda late this day, so we didn't get there as early as I had hoped.  We didn't go into the castle but we did accidentally go hiking around it!  There were a few paths we found, then a few more and eventually we made our own.  It was incredible.  So free and adventurous!  I didn't want to leave!  On our way back I decided to climb a random hill to the wall of the castle (or as close as I could get).  Luckily, no policeman came.  After a little more exploring we ventured to the Wallace monument (named after one of the characters in Braveheart, which is about the Scottish independence or something like that).  It was a steep walk up a hill to the top.  Come to think of it, ALL of Scotland was like this.  Nothing but hills; so different from flat Baton Rouge.  Anywho, after that we went and explored Loch Lomond (one of the only lochs with no spottings of the Loch Ness Monster) and then went home to catch my first Scottish sunset.  ps.  the sun doesn't set until about 10 pm!  After that we went to a local pub and chilled.  Ps. went to four or five pubs while in Scotland and never got ID'd.  However the 18 year old with us did....I felt old.

Saturday, my last day, brought back the same great weather!  We went to Edinburgh for the day.  By far my favorite part of the trip was climbing up Arthur's Seat.  It's a peak among a group of hills that overlooks the entire city.  The path up seemed pretty easy.  Too easy.  So Roslyn and I decided to make our own path.  We went around the back side of the Arthur's Seat and climbed the less traveled area.  It was so worth it!  I felt so alive, so empowered!  We spent the rest of the day walking the Royal Mile that leads to Edinburgh Castle.  It was closed by the time we got there, but oh well!  We finally made it home that night and I couldn't sleep!  Spain was the next day and it was all I could think about!  I got up at 4 am for my flight to Madrid to find that it was already light outside.  By 5 am the sun was up over the hills!  Crazy!

I had an absolute BLAST in Scotland.  I will never forget my experiences here and hope to return one day.  As sad as i was to leave it, I was more than ready for what awaited me.  Adios Scotland. Spain, HERE I COME!!!!