Scotland: Loch Lomond, Glasgow and Edinburgh

I arrived at Glasgow airport Wednesday night to find my best mate Stu waiting for me. It was so great to see him after a year since NZ. I am staying with Stu and his family in a small town on the West Coast of Scotland called Fairlie, near Largs if you google it. Largs is a quaint little town with everything you need and well off the tourist path which is nice. As you'd expect its very cold and wet here now which is hard to adjust to. It seems there is no escape from damp cold and the wind is freezing! This is also the most Northern country I've visited as well, the days are very short and the sun is low in the sky. When it sets, the sunset is across the whole South horizon, not just in the West, what a trip!

(Largs)

I'm finding Scotland very nice thus far. It seems a bit more polished than Ireland and definitely the most disciplined and socialistic country I've visited. The trains are strictly on-time, litter is scarce, and people just seem to have a social responsibility to care for the greater good of their community. Its interesting after coming from a place like America which seems to promote greed, collecting assets, and looking out for only you and your family. There is more personal responsibility here; things are not as obvious. For example, pedestrians don't have the right away, there are no warnings near the train tracks to keep away, and getting on and off the train takes some paying attention, as they don't make it so obvious (I didn't press the open door button in the allotted 10 seconds of stopping, so I rode the train to the next stop! haha)

I took my first day trip up to Loch Lomond, a beautiful lake just North of Glasgow. I arrived there by train for only about £8 (yes, it is so connected here, I can ride the train from out in the sticks all over Scotland). The setting here was amazing and complete with a castle built about 1000 years ago.

(Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond in the background)

(An old church with an erie graveyard at Luss, a town on Loch Lomond)



(Ballock Castle)

This land was inhabited by clans dating back to the 600's and the castle was built to guard the Loch. I just can't fathom how old this land is and I try to imagine the people walking on this soil long ago and it brings a magical presence to this place. An excerpt from my journal if you wish to read it:

I went down to the water at midday. The brisk, cool wind was at my back as I grimaced a smile for my camera positioned faithfully upon a mossy rock in the wind. I climbed up the mossy exposed tree roots to the path on hard earth protected and fought over by Scots 1000yrs prior. This reverence hits me and gives me the fortitude to brave the cold wind longer and somehow embrace it. They had it so much worse. They were so much tougher. I can't seem to thoroughly feel with my body how historic this soil is. I try to imagine the burly men and resourceful women that lived at this Loch long ago. The smell of smoke of coal fires in attempt to keep warm in the damp cold. Its not light for long here in the winter either.

(Braving the cold at Loch Lomond)

The Scots have kept their land well. One of the few places in this region to never fully been taken over. The Romans, even at the height of their empire couldn't gain complete control. Hadrian's wall was built to keep these savages out of the Roman empire (now close to the present day border with England in the South). The Scots were crazy and the Romans were afraid. The Vikings, known for their fierce raping and pillaging of villages were held off at Largs. The English defeated many times by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

The Scots must be proud. The must be pure. You'd expect an arrogance rivaling that of the USA or France, but instead I'm finding a humble, mature society that support each other, a true socialistic society. I wish I could have this history in my blood, or at least live here for a while to let it soak in. I guess with this small visit, I will remember this every time I get cold.


Over the weekend, I got a chance to visit Glasgow city. There are several museums there with free admission as well as lots of shopping, cafes, coffee shops, and sights. Glasgow is Scotland's biggest city, but Edinburgh is the capital.

(Wet Buchanan St., Glasgow)

(Museum of Modern Art at night)

(Glasgow)

(Kelvingrove Museum)

I took another day trip to Edinburgh and wow, what a gorgeous city! Second in my mind only to Barcelona, this city is full of old buildings, art, history, and culture. A well-preserved mixture of Medieval, Gothic, Roman, and Baroque style architecture with a bustling cosmopolitan population at its feet. The gem of the city, Edinburgh Castle, sits atop the highest point reverently looking over the city.

(Edinburgh)

(Buildings along the street called the Royal Mile)

The history of this city dates back to around 600 and first served as a stop-over place for warriors during battle. It was called 'Din Burh' and eventually a castle was built here which housed all of Scotland's Royalty from the 1330's on and continues to be a center of Scottish Royal affiliation. The Royal Honours are kept here: the crown, the sword, and the scepter. I couldn't believe I was seeing the actual crown worn by Robert the Bruce in 1334! It was beautiful. These honours were lost for over 120yrs at one point and were also hidden during WWII.

(Edinburgh Castle)

The rest of the city is laced with ancient buildings amongst new ones, like the modern Scottish Parliament buildings. I walked up and down in awe all day. It's like walking through a painting.

(Good night, Edinburgh!)

Ireland

After making the long journey over the big pond, I found myself in rainy, misty and cold Ireland. Ah Ireland. Just as I expected it to be: green rolling hills and farm paddocks dotted by oak and willow trees and divided up by old stone walls dating back 500 years or more. I had the pleasure of staying with my good friend and old flat mate from NZ, Kat, and her family. She lives in a beautiful farm house in the country South of Dublin in a town called Rathdrum. Her and her family were extremely accommodating and made it a great place to overcome jet lag. So much more comforting than living in a hostel with lots of people you don't know!

(Road to Kat's house)

(Kat's house)

The first day I spent visiting places close to where Kat lives and took it easy. The buzz of being in a place so foregin, coupled with jet lag makes for a somewhat dreamy experience. We drove through the country, winding through narrow roads lined by stone walls and occasionally passing by extremely old castles in a non-chalant manner as if no one cares that they were built 1500 years ago. We visited one such place, Glendalough (pronounced Glendalock), which actually was a monastery built in 600 AD. It was very erie here since we stopped close to dark and passed through the graveyard full of over-sized tombstones that obviously lasted eons longer than the bodies they represent.

(Glendalough Monastery)

(Avoca)

On Friday, Kat drove us to visit the small and lovely township of Galway on the West coast. A cute and beautiful place full of cobblestone streets lined with pubs and cafes. The pubs here are what you imagine, with intricate woodwork and dark colors and a few Irish in the corner playing violin and fiddle. Its true. The beer here is amazing! I couldn't believe how good the Guinness was here, and it does taste completely different from the shit back in the States. I couldn't get enough.

(Galway)

(My first Pub)

(Guinness!!)

(An Irish Pub called The Quays)

(The Quays Pub)

The next day we headed through a barren seascape on the West coast called the Burren, home to unique species of flora and fauna. There are no trees here because of the peculiar outcroppings of rock that make up the mountains.

(My friend Kat at Dunguaire Castle, Kinvarra)

(Ballyvaghn Castle, Burren)

(The Burren)

Further down the coast was the Cliffs of Moher - an absolutely beautiful seascape. It was so surreal here as the rough sea crashed into the cliffs hundreds of feet below, sending mist upward, bellowing toward your face. They say several people have fallen to their death here, both voluntary and involuntary. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place and iconic of Ireland.

(Cliffs of Moher)

A few days later, Kat and I made it up to the city of Dublin for one short afternoon. We got to see the famous Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells (a gospel book of hymns written near 600 AD, there are only 4 existing), and an ancient library with millions of books dating from 500 AD to the 1600's. I read one book on plants that was discussing nap weed, written in 1637. There was an amazing picture of it and the written English was slightly different that we see today. It's funny how letters are dropped and pronunciations change the spellings of words over the years. The art work in the Book of Kells was beautiful, it was amazing how long it has kept.

(Trinity College, Dublin)

We also saw the area of vibrant night life called Temple Bar and had lunch in a pub. The food here was excellent and service was always timely. I fish and chips washed down with a fresh pint of Guinness (of course).

(Temple Bar District, Dublin)

(Temple Bar)

I had an excellent time here and more importantly a nice visit with my dear friend Kat. It was so unique and much more relaxing to experience a country having a tour guide and being taken into some one's home as a guest. Kat's mom was so nice and cooked wonderful meals for us all the time I was there. Thank you for the lamb, the ham, and the chicken! So I dedicate this entry to Kat and her family, thank you for the lovely time! See you in Scotland.