It was a nice change of pace from our big trip to Spain and Italy, because instead of there being ten of twelve of us all traveling and trying to go places at once, there were just a few of us. We got to spend a lot of time leisurely walking around and seeing whatever we came across.
We trained up to Edinburgh on Thursday night, which, with all of the train changes, is nearly a five hour journey. We made it in the middle of the evening and had a chance to walk around and look at all of the Christmas lights. Because it was the weekend before Veteran’s Day (or Armistice Day, as it is officially called in England), all of the gravestones at the churches and cathedrals had poppies on them in honor of those who were killed during World War I. It was very pretty and also very moving to see that sort of large scale memorial.
One of the things that Scotland is most known for, besides bagpipes and kilt, is Scotch Whiskey. There are so many distilleries all over the country that brew different kinds of scotch. While we were in the city, we took a tour of a distillery in Edinburgh and got to try scotch from different regions of Edinburgh. We also got to stand in a room that houses the world’s largest scotch whiskey collection. All in all, a fun afternoon.
On Saturday, we trained up to Inverness, Scotland, the city that is closest to Loch Ness. In the afternoon, we took a boat tour of Loch Ness. Our boat’s captain was a very nice old man who let us each take turns driving the boat. He was a member of the Loch Ness Investigation team back in the 1960s, and recorded one of the first camera sightings of the supposed Loch Ness Monster. He showed us a video about all of the work he did, and gave us some explantations for what Nessie could be. It was a very interesting tour, to say the least.
View from Loch Ness
That evening, we went to a pub called Hootenanny’s. This was my favorite part of the entire trip because we got to sit and listen to (or dance to) traditional Scottish music for three hours. The live band consisted of an accordion player and a guitar player. The accordion player is actually pretty well known, because not only is he a musician, but he has his own band and is also a professional athlete in a sport called shinty. The guitar player was one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard in my life, so it was a great night to get to sit and listen to the two of them.
This weekend, we’re traveling as a group to several castles, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and Stonehenge. Hopefully it’ll be a fun way to wrap up our time abroad, which for most, is quickly drawing to a close. We’ll all be back in Valpo before we know it!
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