Scotland

Well my trip to Scotland nearly ended up going all pair shaped as I had managed to organize a 10 hour bus trip to Edinburgh which arrived 30 minutes before the tour started no problems there surely. Unfortunately I didn't count on a pileup on the motorway in the wee hours of the morning. So after a few stressed phone calls I managed to get onto the other bus where my 3 day tour of Scotland was to begin.

In true Scottish tradition the weather turned it on for us and had a beautiful summer’s day of pelting rain & freezing winds, just how you expect a summers day in the UK to be like. For the rest of the trip the rain managed to hold off, although the winds where still quite chilly, it all turned out pretty and the first day of rain definitely added a Scottish touch.

Weather aside it turned out to be a fantastic trip. It was basically 26 guys and girls from all over in a yellow mini bus tearing across Scotland all day with our tour guide Davey and although it was only 3 days we managed to see a fair deal.

On day one we pretty much nailed most of Scotland, starting in Edinburgh and heading diagonally to the North West for the Isle of Skye. The scenery in the highland is absolutely amazing, massive mountains with water cascading all down and a big rain cloud sitting on top covering it in mist, I kept thinking we were on some deserted island like Jurassic Park, cept without the dinos.
Shacking up in a hostel on the Isle of Skye for the night, we spent the next day exploring the island before heading to Fort Augustus on the bank of the Loch Ness for the next night.

The final day of the tour was another biggin, heading from Loch Ness & Inverness in the north east back down through the lowlands to Edinburgh where I would spend the night before heading back to London on Saturday arvo.

A big thanks to Anna for putting me up in her wicked flat for the night. Cheers mate!

So after being cooped up on a bus for a far share of four days I was keen to check out the night life this city had to offer. Apparently Edinburgh has the most bars per capita in the UK, or something like that but the clubbing scene is definitely lacking, well at least when I was thee. After hearing about one of the major clubs in Edinburgh I was keen to check it out and see what the city had to offer. I was treated to some dude playing the sax with his female companion doing some kind of bird mating call all set to trance in the background, all very random. More so than the guy wearing a kilt and playing bagpipes at 3.30 in the morning to a mob of drunken Scotts in the middle of the street and the fact that everyone thought I was a drug dealer of some kind!

On my last day in Scotland I was eager to check out the sights of Edinburgh. First on the list was the infamous Edinburgh Castle which turned out to be the most overpriced attraction EVER, quite a cool castle though. Then it was off to check out the newly formed Scottish Parliament then to the underground "streets" of Edinburgh.
Now I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole ghost and supernatural thing, but apparently these underground streets that have being discovered under Edinburgh are the most "active" supernatural site in the UK. The guide certainly did a good job of trying to make us believe with the telling of stories of past tours where people are being thrown across the room and all other sorts of freakish things. It is a truly amazing thing though, under the streets of Edinburgh there are chambers and passage ways said to be 6 levels deep where hundreds of years ago the poor of Edinburgh lived. Although I'm still not sure about the whole supernatural thing, I wasn't about to go stepping into a circle of rocks where its said that demons will enter and poses you and all sorts of kooky shit will happen, maybe next time

It was then time to leave this beautiful country on the train back to London where I'd be for a couple of hours before heading to Spain. Giddy Up!!!

Check out the pics here >>> http://redmonkey.smugmug.com/gallery/1659154