This picture was taken at 10:30 at night in Edinburgh.
To get to Edinburgh involved a bus to Belfast to catch a bus to the ferry to take a ferry to the boat. The boat to another bus to walking to our hostel.
Holly and I were VERY tired. We got on our bus and after some funny shenanigans, we were on our way. The drive up to Northern Ireland was gorgeous. It’s what I think of when I think of movies. Green grass and sheep on hillsides. Absolutely gorgeous. But British flags appeared and the differences between the North and South became evident.
We got on our “ferry” to Scotland. I say ferry in quotes because what they call a ferry is what I would call a mini cruise ship. This boat was unbelievable. Free iPads with free wifi to use. Xbox systems with Kinnect set up, free to use. Movie viewings, all free. All kinds of comfy seats and areas to relax.
We get to Scotland and the view is outstanding. So much more green and trees than Ireland I think. We get on our bus and the drive was a long the water and gorgeous. But because of this it was windy roads, so I thew my headphones in and shut my eyes to sleep. But before that I was listening to the Scottish people on the bus talk. I have to PAY attention when they talk. If I didn’t, it didnt even sound like English. Those accents man!
I wake up when we stop, as does Holly and everyone seems to be getting off. We get our bags and walk in to the bus station almost instantly to realize we are at the wrong station. We immediately turn around to watch our bus drive away.
Here we are again, finding ourselves in a transportation pickle.
In that moment a man I a uniform is passing us. Holly stops to ask him and clarify of we are in fact at the wrong place. He confirms it and tells us his bus is going to Edinburgh and thinks we can join his. In that moment another worker walks up eating a burger and asks what’s going on. Holly says we got off at the wrong stop, I say we’re tourists and he was so nice he said “ah! Don’t worry about that.” That bus driver tells that worker and the worker says “yeah, that should be fine. We can do that if they can each pay 100 pounds each” and he shoots a look at me. I could tell he was just kidding but I give him the face of yeah right. I look at Holly who has the kind of smile on that says “I can’t understand what he is saying but I don’t want to be rude.” She couldn’t understand his accent. Then the worker, driver and I all laugh. I say “point me in the right direction, I’d rather walk there” and then the worker laughing says “no, that should be fine, no problem. Maybe not 100 pounds but a kiss for the driver!” Holly understood that part. We all laughed, and Holly and I got back on track.
We get to Edinburgh at 10:30. We need wifi to get the directions to the Hostel. We are trying to connect. We also need to convert money because we have to pay the hostel in their local currency. That wasn’t happening that late. Tensions were a bit high. But eventually we got the directions to the hostel and just needed to find the starting point. So we are now walking out of the bus station, ready to pick a direction to walk when a man passes by and asks if we know where the bus station is. We laugh and say yes and point to where it is. As he begins to walk away, I say “hey wait, worth a shot, do you know where Princes street is?” he laughs and says yes. He points to it, says he has two maps, pulls them out, orients us and lets us keep the maps. What a nice guy!
It’s so late now but because Scotland is so North of the equator, it’s still very light out! It’s crazy. That’s when I took that above picture. We turn on princes street and there are people everywhere! A busy busy city. It was so exciting!
We make it to our hostel, check in, and leave to find food. End up eating pizza because it’s the only thing open and call it a night.
Today, our first full day, we do what we have been doing everywhere and just explored on foot! This morning in the hostel we made friends with Andrew from Utah and he joined us for the day. The buildings here are unbelievable. The architecture everywhere is gorgeous. I did some family research since I Scottish and found which clan my family belongs to, so that was awesome! We watched a street performer, went to dinner where the waitress thought my first name was a last name. After we ate, we went to a marker to buy water where the Scottish man behind the counter bopped me on the head with a plastic hammer after learning we were American and thanked us for not voting for Romney because he would have started world war three. I swear this happened.
Tomorrow we are going on a walking tour and to the farmers market tomorrow!
The Wandering Sandals 