No wonder Canadians are nice

Scotland part of the United Kingdom and Great Britain is home to some of the nicest people. People there seem to be in quite a good mood contrasting with the gloomy Londoners.

This was a tour booked through International Friends, a tour company I used for my Amsterdam trip. The downside of being on a tour was the long rides on the bus. After the 5hr train ride departing from King's Cross station in London. We arrived at Edinburgh, Scotland. The brief introduction and around  the bus tour gave us a brief overview of the city. Edinburgh had a Harry Potter quality about it. The city centre was not too big and can be toured thoroughly in a few days.

Edinburgh

The first day consisted of a LOT of walking. Walking to our apartment booked separately from the tour, walking around the city getting lost, taking a bus to the city centre, walking to Edinburgh castle, enjoying the night scene of Edinburgh. I remember going into the part of the castle that kept prisoner of wars and found the though quite disturbing. Learning about the tragic story of Mary, Queen of Scots made life seem so matter of fact with many ups and downs and maybe more downs for some.

One detail to note about booking accommodations with a service apartment instead of a standard Hotel or Hostel is that there is no 24hr concierge. This was a big problem as I quickly learned the toilet would not flush. Otherwise the place was nice fully equipped with all the necessities including a full stocked kitchen.

The scots are famous for their Haggis and I did try a little bit for dinner on the first day. I can't remember the dish so distinctly so it couldn't have been bad. The restaurant was found on the Trip Advisor App and it was very local and overall quite delicious, Angel's and Bagpipes. Most of my notes were jotted down on my phone which had all its data wiped when it needed a full resuscitation. But I did manage to retrieve information in my handwritten book.

Hamish

The next day was for the famous Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. I learned about the stories of the Glencoe with the McDonald and Campbell family rivalries. There was a pitstop to visit Hamish the famous Scottish  cow, and there was when I realized I couldn't find my phone. On the tour bus I dropped my bag when it braked on the windy roads. I would never leave the hotel without my phone and there was just way too much information on it for me to loose. This is really a sign of how vulnerable I am to information technology. I really was down about it and looked up and down the tour bus and found nothing. But since I was on this tour, I could not just use my entire energy to look for something I could not find. Then I proceeded to tell myself, that I should just enjoy the rest of the day.

The Urquhart Castle was where we boarded a ship to sail across the Loch (the Gaelic word for Lake) Ness. The day was quite sunny but unfortunately we didn't spot any monsters that day. When I arrived back at the apartment, there was my phone sitting on the kitchen table. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't thing I had such a careless quality about myself, but now I can confirm, my guards are definitely down when I'm not traveling alone.

Beside Rosslyn Chapel

The Scottish Borders, Merlrose Abbey were some highlights on the last day. What most people came for was Rosslyn Chapel, made famous by the Davinci Code. The castle was very unique and detailed but I felt really rushed when touring with a tour with time constraints. Though I did manage to visit the house beside the castle that was made famous in the ending scene of the Davinci Code movie.

On the way back to the train station, I somehow managed to leave my purse on the tour bus. Another very important thing I should have kept with me at all time. I left on the compartment space above the bus seats so I could have a nicer ride. The tour guide was nice enough to retrieve my bag as he was picking up a second round of people.

The train station from Edinburgh to London was packed that day. And everyone was waiting on the platform. It was a crowding experience similar to a train station in China. Everyone crowed on the platform not sure which train carriage compartments were and trying to get on.

Scotland is a truly beautiful scenic country with some proud and cheerful people. The best way to explore the country would be driving around in your own vehicle to truly take your time to take in the air.