Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, not enough time.

One day is never enough for any city.

My time in Edinburgh was too short to say I actually been there. The city offers a wide array of culture, history, and many sites to see. Unfortunately, I was finishing the last leg and invested my time into the Highlands and Isle of Skye for this journey. I may return in August, if time permits, for the famous festival and some better weather. The weather was typically cloudy and didn’t allow the best opportunity for satisfactory pictures. Edinburgh has a great pub nightlife and I highly recommend a trip there, its a place to see.

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Fort William To Sterling

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Fort Willin’ to Sterlin’

Ye last o’ leg o’ me trip’ ye comes’ ye’ end

Some of the most scenic parts of the highlands were from Fort William to Sterling. Our group stopped for some Hairy Cooin’, snow fightin’, Glencoe wanderin’, water tappin’, Castle Stalkin’, Scottish food eatin’, and finally some William Wallacin’. This tour came to a close and was a last minute unexpectedly well worth it decision.

It was very interesting seeing the William Wallace Monument and the controversy of the statue really portray the message of ‘Freedom’. First of all, it’s locked in a cage. That’s because the Scots hate it and try to chip “Braveheart” off the shield. Coincidentally the statue looks like Mel Gibson (Australian) and was erected outside the William Wallace Monument AFTER the movie was released. Do you agree with how American culture is altering the culture of other countries?

Check it out.

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Highlandin’ Around to Fort William

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Glen Shiel, Eilean Donan Castle, then we met our tour guide’s parents.

From Kyleakin to Fort William, I jumped back on the next energetic circuit of MacBackpackers tours. This tour was interesting with its new tour guide ‘assistant’ Joanna and jumpin in his seat Graham. They made the rest of my trip really enjoyable. They took us around to Eilean Donan Castle, Glen Shiel, and then we went to Graham’s house to visit his parents and experience the ‘highland hospitality’ of Scotland. Afterwards a girl from South Africa, Nicola, decided to make us a memorably delicious curry for dinner. Tonight was the Rugby game in Edinburgh versus England took place and from being exposed to a Scottish perspective of history I can understand the underlying meaning and aggression from this turf’ fighting game. The English won and celebrated the ‘proper’ way with tea and crumpets, but if Scotland were to win, Graham would guarantee the country going absolutely crazy. Apparently soccer is already banned between the two countries because the last time the Scots won and crowded the field to grab parts of it. The tour helped me understand the distinctive differences and hatred between English and Scottish.

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Isle of Skye

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Skye’s My Limit

A venture around the beautiful island and its volatile weather

Skye is a must see portion of Scotland. It’s the northern western island that fronts the Atlantic Ocean. The island is inhabited by few people and after experiencing it, I can understand why. The weather was somewhat brutal and changing. Clouds move rapidly and the weather shifts momentarily, at least during my experience. Also there isn’t much other than you and nature, so it may take a ’survivor’ to actually find the rewards of living there. What you will find on Skye is a great appreciation for nature as cliffs confront the ocean. I found it very interesting how Skye is obviously damp, yet the botany on some portions of the island can look somewhat desert-like. Although people find time to spend weeks of their life on Skye, I was short of this time so renting a car with another macbackpacker, Adrian from Australia, was the best option to introduce me to this ‘talked-about’ place.

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From Inverness To Kyleakin

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Jumping off in Kyleakin

I decided to see the Isle of Skye the next day, so I jumped off!

From Inverness to Kyleakin I saw few sites in the span of a couple hours. The tour would directly go from Inverness to Fort William today but I decided to jump off in Kyleakin, Skye, to see the Isle of Skye. We ventured into Rogi Falls, Loch of Carron, and finally Kyle of Lochalsh which connects via a new toll bridge to Kyleakin, Skye. Kyleakin is a small little town so there was hardly anything to see or do, so relaxing in the ‘homely’ hostel was the best option. Because MacBackpackers don’t operate a tour of Skye unless there are more than 6 people booked, Adrian (Australian) and I figured we were going to rent a car and do it ourselves.

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Battlefields, Monsters, and Dancing

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Battlefields, Monters, and Dancing

The first day of my tour of Scotland.

From Edinburgh to Inverness our tour stopped at the Hermitage, Culloden Battlefield, Pitlochry, Ruthven Barracks, Loch Ness to see ‘Nessie’, and then some cultural Scottish dancing in Inverness. The day was interesting and rewarding. I was glad to hook up with MacBackpackers tours because I was starting to experience parts of Scotland I had in mind.

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Glasgow, Scotland’s Largest City

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Glasgow

A more modern part of Scotland with fewer historical sites.

Glasgow is the largest city with an industrialized port. The city is known for its famous architecture by Charles Rennie Macintosh, who designed many of its buildings. The Merchant City (older part of town) was once a pivotal part of Scotland’s iron production following the American Industrial Revolution and the innovation of James Watt. Glasgow has changed into a shipbuilding culture encompassing a more modernized city. Glasgow with its local universities is also exciting with its excellent nightlife provided by a college town environment.

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