I finally made it to the ancestral home of the Montooth clan; Scotland (Edinburgh to be exact), and I must say it really did fee like coming home again. The Scottish people remind me of the fam; chatty, friendly, and a little bit inappropriate from time to time. I must say the entire trip made me feel quite adventurous. I traveled out of only a backpack (due to RyanAir's strict baggage regulations) wore one pair of jeans for four days, and stayed in a hostel for the first time. Much to my surprise (and relief) the hostel was amazing. It was cozy, the staff were helpful, and there were a lot of really interesting people to meet from all over the world. The first night I arrived, I ended up in a pub (big surprise) for (super delicious) dinner. Anyway long story short, the bartender took a liking to us and we ended the night with about 14 free pints from the tap lines being cleaned out. Needless to say, it turned into a fun evening, and the perfect welcome to Scotland. In the morning (despite the hangover), it was off to the castle, to see the stone of destiny. Coolest thing ever. It's like the stone King Arthur pulled his sword out of, but real life version. I also visited the war memorial and found some (possible) distant relatives in the memorial books who gave their lives defending Scotland. I even found my family crest which was pretty neat. The next day it was off to Loch Ness and the Highlands to try and wrangle myself a monster. Unfortunately no Nessie, but I did see some unbelievable things, like these mountains;
Which are unfairly beautiful, and definitely helped to contribute to what I think might become a life long love affair with Scotland. On the last day of my trip I climbed Arthur's Seat, an inactive volcano, that overshadows Edinburgh. The views were breath taking of course, and cannot be done justice by a simple photograph. But here's one for trying's sake
It is a pretty high mountain it turns out, and I have to say that I was pretty damn proud of myself for making it to the top, so I asked a nice German man to snap a photo.
On top of the world(ish) WOOHOO! :)
After that climb, I needed a pint and some food so I bravely ventured where few American's have gone before and sampled a bit of the local cuisine, a.k.a haggis. It. Was. Delicious. Must be my Scottish blood craving for it's mother land's food. Sadly in the morning, it was back to Germany and reality. Have to say though, being in an English speaking land where the people weren't so closed off really made me miss the good ol' US of A. So to cure my homesickness I made another little trip last weekend to Kaiserslautern to see our old friends the Birdsong/Doulaveris family. It was just what I needed. After catching up with (really) old friends, who I seemed to not skip a beat with, eating some home cooked meals and some good old fashioned American junk food, and holding a crisp new Jackson in my hand I feel much better. But I still can't wait to see my family again (49 days and counting) and set foot on American soil. In the mean time though I plan to make the most of my time here, and remember that I will most likely miss it a ton when I'm not here.
Great Post Honey! Keep it up, see you in a few weeks :-)
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