Scotland baby!

Ben, James, Lynne and I decided to go to Scotland during the 1st Half term (week long holiday). Kate and Nicole headed off to the land of the leprechauns.

Being the students that we are, we booked the cheapest train up to Glasgow...this meant that we had to spend the night in Birmingham train station, sleeping on the oh so comfy plastic chairs with arm rests between each one...we were highly amused when we went into one of the waiting rooms to find a guy lying ontop of the radiator, dressed in a suit. We thought we were bad!

Lynne's family was throwing her a wee birthday partytjie, so Autie Tish took us straight to Uncle John where we stayed 2 nights. The first night was Lynne's party so we got to meet loads of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. It was good fun jamming with some scots. He has an amazing house! Looks normal from the outside but then the inside has a huge flat screen tv on the wall, all black leather furniture, so much space, big mirrors, high tech computers and black marble floors which look like they have lil pieces of glass on them which glitter...

It was so good getting home cooked meals and being able to have as much protein and cheese as you could :) We were spoilt everywhere we went-we got lasagne, steak pie, roast turkey, chinese and bacon and sausage sandwhiches! Bit sad having to go back to cantiene food again...

Glasgow didnt have much for us to see. We only spent a day in the city just walking around going into random shops (including ann summers' lingerie) We saw St.Georges' square and the cathedral which were basically all there was to see.

From uncle John, uncle Brian took us to visit Lynne's great gran who is 92/93!! She was suprisingly still really funny and on the ball. Of course, being a typical granny, she kept offering us tea or something to eat :) Then we went to Loch Lomond which is one of the biggest Lochs in Scotland. It was beautiful!! The water was so still that the surrounding landscape was reflecting perfectly in it. Ben started a strange habit on our drive, that similar to a dog. We'd just be sitting in the car, driving along side the Loch and there would be a gush of wind in the car. Ben had once again just opened his window and, eyes closed, was enjopying the breeze on his face. All he needed was to stick out his tongue and pant.

Our next stop was in a cute little town called Calendar. Apparently it gets very busy with tourists during the summer which I can well believe!! There's a peaceful river where there are apparently duck races in the summer. People get a yellow rubber duck, put a number on it and race them down the river :) We just walked up and down the little streets before going into an old bank to have lunch. Seeing as though we were in Scotland, I thought I should probably get something traditional, so I ordered the soup of the day-Chicken Broth. It was devine!!

We got dropped at Granny and Grandpa Stark, just outside Sterling, where we were going to stay for the next 2 nights. They are so nice! Welcoming, friendly and eager to have a good chat over a cup of tea!

That night we went into Sterling to see what the night life is like. We relied on the taxi driver to drop us in the right place which worked amazingly!! It was a really cool club called Dusk. Nice and big, with an upstairs section and good music. What is really good about going out overseas is that no-one is allowed to smoke inside. This means you can go home afterwards and not have to worry about airing out your clothes and washing your hair immediatly to get rid of that siff smoke smell...

The next day we ventured into Sterling to visit Wallace's monument and Sterling Castle. Luckily we had watched Braveheart the day before so I knew what was plotting in the monument. I preferred the monument to the castle. It was just more interesting and better laid out. But it was cool walzing the streets of Sterling, knowing that everyone else is probably sitting in a lecture bored out of their skull!! :) hehe.

It got really cold that night! There was heavy fog that came in which took the temperature down to -3 degrees! The others went out again that night. I wasn't in the right mood, so I planned an early night...Little did I know that by just going to sit in the living room to be polite and chat with the granparents for a bit, we'd end up chatting for 3hrs!! Meaning I only got to bed at about 1:30 anyway. They have awesome stories of places they've travelled to and things they've done. The only continent they haven't been to is Australia, which is still on their list. They highly recommend a hot air balloon trip over Victoria falls...It's nice to see people that have actually done something with their lives and made the most of it. Guess it kinda shows that money's worth nothing if it's not being spent so you might as well spend it all and die having only the best memories with you. That's my excuse for travelling anyway :)

Wednesday was the day we went to the haunted house...dum dum dum!! :) Wendy and Bert were our kind hosts there. Bert was such a laugh! He kept trying to scare us, knowing that we'd be edgy being in a haunted house and all. He would creep along and turn off all the lights and then tap on the window and press his face up against the glass. We had a great time staying with them, having a tour around the haunted housse, playing pool on an over sized pool table, (Lynne and I lost BADLY to the boys!!) and chickening out of sleeping in the Haunted section. Well it was actually just Ben who wasn't so keen, which made James not so keen. Boys-what Chickens!!

Finally, we headed off to Edinburgh for our last 2 nights in the Highlands. Here, the 4 of us stayed in a hostel. Bit of a let down after 3 warm family homes, but it's all the budget allowed...Rather fowl weather when we arrived, so a movie was called for. The cinemas are really cool here! You can even push up the arm rest if it gets in your way :) We watched Definatly, Maybe which was a cute film. Saw trailors for 3 other movies that will probably be good. (The other Boelyn Sister, 27 Dresses and The accidental husband, i think)

Up early for an interesting shower in communal toilets and all you can eat breakfast of toast and cereal. Then off to explore Edinburgh. It truly is the beautiful city everyone says it is! It's amazing having the castle We took one of those big, fat, red Hop On Hop Off buses like you see in all the tourist brochures. Felt so cool riding around on the top, open level (even though it was FREEZING) being such a tourist! First stop was the White Hart Inn which is the oldest pub in Scotland. Right next door was a dress up shop which was just too irrisitable...This lead to us trying on funky animal faces which make noises when you press on the nose, or snout, or beak, depending on what you were...

We also visited the kilt making factory which was quite interesting. There is a section where you and your family can get dressed in your clan clothes and have pictures taken :) cute!

We then went on a Scotch Whisky tour which was interesting. James was in heaven, being the avid Whicky drinker he is. He ended up 'forcing down' 3 glasses of complimentry whisky. Lynne and I are not that keen of the sting in the throat as it slides down. It was crazy how expensive some of the whisky was-the oldest one was £2700! Thats like R30 000 for those who aren't impressed!

Edinburgh Dungeons were how we finished our day as a tourist. They aren't as intense as the London ones, but were still pretty scary. In all honesty I think we phsyched ourselves up for it, especially Lynne, but it was still good fun. It starts out with you walking through a hallway of mirrors, so you have no idea which way you should be going and keep screaming everytime you look around and see people's faces. Then you realise you just screamed at your own face and quickly look down feeling rather sheepish. The one guy was hilarious! He commented on Lynne's lovely use of french while 'disecting' a body, throughing lovely bodily organs at us and squirting us with bodily fluids.

We went past the Castle, Parliament of Holyrood and the illusion museum. Let's just say our wallets were looking a little empty being the end of our trip and all...so a glance of the outside and a photo were all we could afford. We did however, spend a lot of time walking up and down Princes street looking in all the traditional scottish shops buying hats, badges, post cards, magnets, Edinburgh rock (for my darling mother), etc etc. That's what's so nice about Scotland-they have a rich culture and there are so many places where family tartens are available. We even saw 3 men walk past in their tartens on their way to a wedding at the castle.

Edinburgh is officially the hardest place to go out and have a good time in! Maybe we just picked a bad night or were in the wrong place (again relying on the taxi driver), but it was impossible to find somewhere worth staying. We had an awesome meal in a cute little italian restaurant where the waitor was bonkers but made us laugh. We think he thought we were on a double date...but he was still cute, waving us off saying 'chou bella.' Going out on the other hand was so hard! Where are tinners and waddles when you need them?! We must have gone to about 5 or 6 places, one including a building consisting of 4/5 floors each with their own music, dance floor and bar. But nowhere had us staying for more than 15min. At about 12:30, we surrendered, got something to eat and headed back to the hostel.

While getting ready for bed, James let out this odd groan. Well, we thought it was James until he jumped up from his bed claiming there was a guy sitting on Ben's bed who was groaning. Right he was. Sitting upright on Ben's bed, half asleep was a guy reeking of alcohol, bottle in his hand, groaning occasionally. Lynne and I held in a scream and ran out of the room, the way you run around when your sibling is chasing you. (when your heart is beating uncontrollably even though you know you're going to be fine) It took about 30min for Ben and James to talk to him and get him to move into his own bed while Lynne and I stood outside tucked in a corner away from trouble, not wanting to go back into the room, but oh SO glad we had the boys with us!

Was weird going home again after a week away, but there was something nice about going back 'home' cus there's no place like home :) I would highly recommend visiting Edinburgh if you go to Scotland! It is beautiful, simply looking up to see the castle, especially at night when it is lit up...