Scotland

After an 8 hour ferry ride from Santorini to Athens, two flights and several metro rides, I arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland. When I first started planning my trip, I wanted to visit Scotland while my friend Lisa was here visiting her family. Lisa is one of my closest friends from Corpus Christi and grew up outside of Aberdeen. Mary, another close friend decided she wanted to come too. We have been planning this part of the trip since February -- when I officially decided to go traveling. This is one of the segments of my trip that I have most been looking forward too. Partly because I have always wanted to visit Scotland and England, but mainly because I will get to spend time with great friends that I have really missed since being away.

We kicked off the Scotland portion of the trip in the proper way -- in a pub! We all flew into Aberdeen within a couple of hours of each other, so we just planned to meet up at the airport pub before we met Lisa's family. Nothing like drinking a pint at 11 a.m. in a full pub -- welcome to Scotland! Lisa's family was absolutely wonderful. They were so good to us and spoiled us rotten. They were constantly feeding us or handing us another drink. It felt almost exactly like being at home! After travelling for almost 3 months and staying in hostels and hotels, it was really nice to feel like I was with family. The Nicol's (Keith and Diana) were wonderful hosts -- so good that Mary and I threatened to move in permanently!

Lisa's hometown of Inverurie is absolutely beautiful. Exactly how I would have pictured a Scottish village before I came here. All of the houses are made out of stone and granite, and the entire town takes just a few minutes to walk around. Plus everyone knows everyone else! Everywhere we went Lisa ran into old friends and classmates. Our first night in Inverurie we were introduced to Jocks -- Keith's local pub. By the end of our week in Inverurie, we had ran into several people we met in the pub at least 2 or 3 times. It was great fun and we were definitely the entertainment!

Scotland is amazingly beautiful. Rolling green hills dotted with stones houses and stone fences, cows and sheep grazing -- totally idyllic. Our first full day in Scotland we drove up to Balmoral, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. Since she wasn't in, we were able to take a tour. It is a beautiful castle in a beautiful setting. The highlight was a cricket game going on at the castle's cricket pitch. We watched to try and figure out what was going on, but all I could decipher was that it must not be that challenging because half of the players (and officials) were drinking heavily while playing. We also stopped off in Ballater, a very quaint village near Balmoral, for high tea. It seems that we spent most of our time in Scotland either drinking tea or a pint! (And going to the bathroom every 10 minutes....)
I enjoyed the drive admiring the scenery as much as I enjoyed touring the castle. Just absolutely beautiful! I think of all the places I have visited on this trip, Scotland and Switzerland have the most amazing landscapes.

We spent the next day in the countryside around Inverurie. We hiked up Bennachie, the tallest mountain (hill?) around. It was a great day for a hike and the scenery was stunning. That night we enjoyed dinner with the entire Nicol gang -- Keith and Diana, Lisa's brother Mark and his wife Kelly, and Lisa's brother Darren. It was so fun to meet them all and get to know them. Plus of course we can't forget Buzz! We also really enjoyed meeting Lisa's Nana and Granda, and her Uncle, Aunt and cousins. They all made us feel so welcomed!