hotel of nothing, but beautiful city.
I’m sitting on the floor of our current hotel - but I'm writing this in Word and copying it into LJ because the internet sucks. We’re in Skye, Scotland. It is this tiny little hole in the country. There are about 2 pubs in the entire city. One of which is in the lobby of our hotel, and hilariously when we ask people where we should go out for the “night life” they tell us to come here.
But what makes up for the lack of people, and the fact that I don’t think I have seen a single person my age in the town, is the spectacular view.
Yesterday was filled with a bus ride from Glasgow to Skye where we stopped at two different castles. One that was from Monty Python, where I climbed on top of the roof and stood at the ledges as if I were a maiden fair. I liked it a lot because it was the most preserved castle in Scotland. Very little renovations. And the second was the castle where the current movie Made of Honor was filmed - apparently people still live there and it was fully furnished with wax people and etc. They were both beautiful.
Finally we arrived in Skye. Last night some of the girls and I went to a quaint dinner, had the infamous Black Cuillin beer which is only brewed in the Isle of Skye, and came back to the hotel to goof off in the room and wake our professor who was sleeping across the hall.
Today I woke to the view of the ocean and went downstairs promptly at 7:45 to get breakfast. I have never been a breakfast person before, but I cherish it now because it’s the only free meal I get. Eating has proven the be the most expensive part about the entire trip. And the added cost of cigarettes. I paid $12 for a pack of cigarettes in Dublin. Ridiculous. But now my wallet is full of pounds (another variety of monopoly looking money).
After breakfast we took the bus along the curving and winding roads to a dock for our boat ride. We had to stop multiple times to let sheep and cows cross the road. We rode across the sea in a boat that was barely able to fit us all in it. We viewed the Cuillin Mountains and baby seals that scattered the various islands. We arrived on the shore of an island. The island was also breathtaking. I took so many photos, but they all do not do it justice. I feel like my background was green-screened.
Then Bridget, Brandon, Jill, and myself decided it was our job to climb a mountain. So we did. It was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done. I rock-climbed up this ledge of a mountain to hike up the rest of the steep slope. Once we reached the top, the wind was almost pushing me over the edge and it seemed to have dropped 20 degrees. The next mountain was somewhat close by, but it was higher. Since we were already at the top, it was easier to get to. I have no idea the height of what I was climbing, but if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Once we reached the top of the second mountain, I felt more accomplished than I ever have in my life. Just to stand upon this structure created by the environment, and just soak in everything that was around me. Absolutely amazing. It’s the most adventurous and life-threatening thing I have ever done. I’m really proud of myself.
I feel like I don’t know whats going on back home though. Our internet access is unreliable and I can’t talk to anyone. It’s only been a week-ish since I’ve been gone and it feels like months. I know I keep repeating that, but honestly - I feel like I don’t know anyone anymore. And it’s hard. I want to talk to Anne, Sam, Ashley, Liz, Jason, Shea, my mother and father, my sister, etc. and see what everyone is doing. But I can’t. it’s an odd feeling. Not being able to pick up the phone and call someone.
My money is already dwindling. The prices over here are just absurd. Everything is now double American currency.
I don’t know what to get anyone. Honestly, I’m probably not bringing anyone back anything. I’ll be getting your birthday present here, Anne, but other than that my family gets postcards and pictures I take - that’s it. I don’t have the money and I don’t know what to buy. I’m not going to buy some bogus trinket that says “SCOTLAND!!” on it - because, who cares? Who wants that? No one. It’s stupid. The only thing I bought myself in Dublin was a scarf and a new claddagh ring.
And I also have a ton of homework I need to do for my two classes. Sometimes I forget I’m supposed to be over here studying.
Tomorrow we get on the bus all day to drive down to Edinburgh. I’m excited to see what the city has to offer.
But what makes up for the lack of people, and the fact that I don’t think I have seen a single person my age in the town, is the spectacular view.
Yesterday was filled with a bus ride from Glasgow to Skye where we stopped at two different castles. One that was from Monty Python, where I climbed on top of the roof and stood at the ledges as if I were a maiden fair. I liked it a lot because it was the most preserved castle in Scotland. Very little renovations. And the second was the castle where the current movie Made of Honor was filmed - apparently people still live there and it was fully furnished with wax people and etc. They were both beautiful.
Finally we arrived in Skye. Last night some of the girls and I went to a quaint dinner, had the infamous Black Cuillin beer which is only brewed in the Isle of Skye, and came back to the hotel to goof off in the room and wake our professor who was sleeping across the hall.
Today I woke to the view of the ocean and went downstairs promptly at 7:45 to get breakfast. I have never been a breakfast person before, but I cherish it now because it’s the only free meal I get. Eating has proven the be the most expensive part about the entire trip. And the added cost of cigarettes. I paid $12 for a pack of cigarettes in Dublin. Ridiculous. But now my wallet is full of pounds (another variety of monopoly looking money).
After breakfast we took the bus along the curving and winding roads to a dock for our boat ride. We had to stop multiple times to let sheep and cows cross the road. We rode across the sea in a boat that was barely able to fit us all in it. We viewed the Cuillin Mountains and baby seals that scattered the various islands. We arrived on the shore of an island. The island was also breathtaking. I took so many photos, but they all do not do it justice. I feel like my background was green-screened.
Then Bridget, Brandon, Jill, and myself decided it was our job to climb a mountain. So we did. It was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done. I rock-climbed up this ledge of a mountain to hike up the rest of the steep slope. Once we reached the top, the wind was almost pushing me over the edge and it seemed to have dropped 20 degrees. The next mountain was somewhat close by, but it was higher. Since we were already at the top, it was easier to get to. I have no idea the height of what I was climbing, but if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Once we reached the top of the second mountain, I felt more accomplished than I ever have in my life. Just to stand upon this structure created by the environment, and just soak in everything that was around me. Absolutely amazing. It’s the most adventurous and life-threatening thing I have ever done. I’m really proud of myself.
I feel like I don’t know whats going on back home though. Our internet access is unreliable and I can’t talk to anyone. It’s only been a week-ish since I’ve been gone and it feels like months. I know I keep repeating that, but honestly - I feel like I don’t know anyone anymore. And it’s hard. I want to talk to Anne, Sam, Ashley, Liz, Jason, Shea, my mother and father, my sister, etc. and see what everyone is doing. But I can’t. it’s an odd feeling. Not being able to pick up the phone and call someone.
My money is already dwindling. The prices over here are just absurd. Everything is now double American currency.
I don’t know what to get anyone. Honestly, I’m probably not bringing anyone back anything. I’ll be getting your birthday present here, Anne, but other than that my family gets postcards and pictures I take - that’s it. I don’t have the money and I don’t know what to buy. I’m not going to buy some bogus trinket that says “SCOTLAND!!” on it - because, who cares? Who wants that? No one. It’s stupid. The only thing I bought myself in Dublin was a scarf and a new claddagh ring.
And I also have a ton of homework I need to do for my two classes. Sometimes I forget I’m supposed to be over here studying.
Tomorrow we get on the bus all day to drive down to Edinburgh. I’m excited to see what the city has to offer.