Chronological Scotland/Rich

SO, our time in Scotland has been defined by shockingly good weather, our first set of randomly met travel friends, a few glorious hikes, some great soccer, and entirely too much sheep poo. We started in Edinburgh, which was notable mostly because our strange hostel owner got short with me for walking into the reception area with my shoes on. We spent our time there in size 9 slippers instead of our shoes, which were entirely too small for my feet but pretty funny when you saw dozens of young folks meandering around in extremely clean, but much too small, white slippers. This effect was doubly funny because everyone had to wander the halls while the bathrooms (three single-person bathrooms for three stories of huge dorm-style rooms) were constantly occupied and everyone impatiently waited their turn. Also in Edinburgh: a lot of jokes about the awfully designed Scottish Parliament building, a fairly miserable hike in the rain through Arthur’s Seat which got all of our plane tickets wet, and a little sadness realizing that we had just watched the second to last GOT episode of the season.

After Edinburgh, we headed up to the Fort William area to base ourselves for some hikes in Ben Nevis and Glencoe. While we were in the area, Tirrill discovered what will probably be his first and his last true love: Beunos candy bars. Despite being named by a Spanish toddler with a small vocabulary, the candy bars are delicious. Unfortunately for Tirrill, a Beunos Bandit came tearing through the hostel and stole/ate his last few bars and when we checked the grocery store, there were no more in stock. Much grumbling ensued, both from his mouth and his tummy. It only got worse when a drunken old Scottish guy accosted Tirrill in the bar and accused him of checking out his daughter. Because we could only get wifi in the bar, we also had to set up shop in that same bar every night to plan out our hikes for the next day. Lots of awkward eye contact there.

Tirrill’s luck turned around when we were hiking on a wet day in Glencoe. Despite being the only person who hadn’t invested in hiking shoes, his trusty New Balances were true to their word and kept him balanced over all of the rainy rocks. The rest of us would not be so lucky; Zeke spectacularly tripping over himself and doing a somersault inches away from falling off of a bridge, Evan trying to hop over a river and slipping on some rocks, cutting his hand open, and myself slipping down the side of a slanted rock, opening up some cuts on my legs and hands. Despite all of our falls/wounds/wounded prides, it was a really pretty hike:

The next day was hiking Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK. It was a great hike because there were different stages of terrain to keep us from having a monotonous view. We went from sheep pastures to gravelly uphills to stumbling into lakes on top of some of the smaller nearby peaks to hiking through snow to climbing over rocks in the mist. The variation and the feeling of conquering a mountain combined to make it a really great day that all of us really enjoyed (until Evan had to sprint down the mountain to find a bathroom). Here are some various shots from the day:

At the hostel we met some Dutch friends. At first I figured it was just going to be a fun conversation, but then we ran into them at a bar later in the night. I kid you not, we also ran into them again the next day in the Isle of Skye at another bar and then AGAIN on some random cliffs in the middle of Portree the next day. At that point we figured it was destiny and agreed to meet up again that night for drinks and to watch the World Cup. Turns out they both were also both 22 and had graduated with law degrees. It was just crazy coincidence after crazy coincidence and they were great fun to hang out with:

Our time in the Isle of Skye has been pretty awesome. The Old Man of Storr was a spectacular hike and had some great rocks for me to sit on. I have a little bit of an addiction to sitting on the edge of things; rocks, cliffs, whatever. I never feel more alive, both powerful and insignificant, than when I’m looking out over things with my feet dangling. I also had a really great run in the evening, looking out over the ocean and jogging over a pretty epic bridge:

After more than ten miles hiking today, tomorrow will be a day of rest. It’ll also be a day of sadness, as the fourth season of GOT comes to a close for us. It’s a show that we’ve spent hours talking about, debating, and dissecting. With almost a year before the next episode, it’ll be back to a ton of games of Six Degrees of Separation, Twenty Questions, and Word Association for entertainment on long walks and hikes along with Spades, Scum, and Rummy to pass the evenings. On to Inverness!