On Thursday, March 4th at 3pm I was part of a group of 29 AIFS students gathered at Kings Cross Station with suitcases and backpacks. We made our way through the station (no, we did not see platform 9 3/4) and got on the train. After only a few minutes of settling into our seats I looked around at all the other people who were looking around and asking "Are we moving?". I saw the train next to us out the window and I said, "no I think that train is moving" but I was wrong. We had begun to pull out of the station. It felt awkward because our section of seats were facing the back of the train. The train ride was fairly smooth but it took some time to adjust to the backwards-ness. The sun set somewhere between London and Edinburgh but I didn't notice because Gillian and I were enthralled in our games of Go Fish and Garbage. Upon arrival in Edinburgh (pronounced kind of like Ed-In-Bra) we had to climb the stairs out of the train station and then climb a steep pathway up toward our hostel. My night in Edinburgh was spent celebrating Levi's 20th birthday and Gillian showing me around her favorite places because she had been there before.
In the morning we gathered our belongings and waiting outside our hostel was a fluorescent yellow bus that said, "Haggis Adventures: WILD AND SEXY". Yes, this bus was to be our home for the next three days as our WILD AND SEXY tour guide, Dan, drove us around Scotland. On Friday we saw the Doune Castle, The William Wallace Memorial, and we toured the Ben Nivis whiskey distillery. The Doune Castle was featured in the ever-popular and hilarious Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I climbed up part of the William Wallace Memorial because.. I do things like that. The whiskey distillery smelled like a burning wheat field, and the whiskey tasted the same. We spent that night in a hostel called Morag's which is located at the southern tip of Loch Ness. We learned how to tie a Scottish Tartan (kilt) and we tried them on and had a tartan party. (if you see pictures of this event, I will stress to you that I was NOT DRUNK. I was just having a good time.)
On Saturday we drove up into the Isle of Skye and walked around the Eilean Donan Castle. This is "the sexiest castle in Scotland" according to Sexy Dan. Other than being sexy, it was also featured in the movie Made of Honor. (yes Ladies, I walked the same ground as McDreamy) Also on Saturday we stopped at a mysterious bridge and Dan told us that we needed to become completely committed to him at that moment. He took us down to the stream below the bridge and we heard a legend told by the bus driver of the other Haggis bus we were touring with. According to legend, the most beautiful princess was on her way to the church on her wedding day when her face was severely injured by her horse. She was dumped at the alter because she was no longer beautiful. She sat alone at that bridge crying until a fairy told her that this stream would restore her beauty ten fold and her beauty would last forever if she stuck her face in the water for seven seconds. She did and her beauty was restored. Later on the prince who she was supposed to marry asked again for her hand, and she said no. Supposedly she lives today, 800 years old and still quite sexy. The tour guides told us that we were not allowed back on the bus until we were all thoroughly sexy. Seven seconds with my face under the freezing cold stream was SO WORTH IT! Later that day we stopped at a good hiking point. From this high point in Skye we could see the mainland of Scotland. I had to pause for a good few minutes to take in the scenery. It was probably the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I had a hard time coming down from the hike because I knew I would probably never see it again. Cest La Vie.
We stayed the night in the Isle of Skye at a hostel called Saucy Mary's. And boy did we get sauced! (details not necessary) I recovered well enough to be out of my room by 7am Sunday morning to catch the sunrise. It was a very cold, windy morning and of course the wind was coming from the east. I stood on the dock facing the wind for a half hour. Tears rolling down my cheeks from the breeze, I finally saw the sun peek through the mountains and show his reflection on the water. It was worth the wait.
All day long I felt connected to the sun in a way I never have before. I felt like I had learned one of God's secret recipes. We visited Loch Ness and heard marvelous legends about Nessie. ( I really do believe in Loch Ness monsters.. yes, there are more than one) The sun was bright and warm over the Loch. We made our way back to Edinburgh to get on the train back to London. Down in the station I paused to take a picture of the sun setting through one of the station entrances. It was a bittersweet goodbye.
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