I’m now in Edinburgh, and if the crowds I faced the day before on my way to my hostel are any indication, then I should be ready for London and Paris at the end of the trip.
So what’s happened in the week since the last post? The highlight has to be day 5, the West Highland Railway on the way to Isle of Skye. Whoever came up with “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” must have ridden this train from Glasgow. The views were spectacular throughout, and I couldn’t put my camera away.
The middle photo is of the Glenfinnan viaduct, as seen in the Harry Potter films. After the train was a short ferry crossing to Skye. But no sooner had I picked up my jaw from the ground did I see these:
I hope I’m not being blasphemous, but Skye is like God’s country. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, I just wish I could have stayed there forever. Indeed, I left Skye almost begrudgingly, knowing that anything after that would be a complete comedown.
Day 8 included another train ride, this time to Inverness, and the scenery just about matched that of the first trip. When I arrived I got my first frustrating moment. I came out of Inverness train station with no map and a scant one-line direction telling me how to get to the hostel. I got lost and it started to rain. I ended up finding it, but I took a long circuit that was completely unnecessary. My spirits did pick up when I observed a pub quiz that took place later that night. I’ve heard of pub quizzes, but finally seeing one made me want to participate in one, definitely when I get back to Vancouver. (Anyone know if there are any?)
One last thing for now: it’s interesting to see all the Gaelic (pronounced locally as “gallic”) in the Highlands and on Skye. If I heard it, I wouldn’t have known. Sometimes the Gaelic-to-English translation is obvious, but others aren’t so much.
(That’s Bank of Scotland to you)
