Last weekend was simply wonderful. It started with a picnic on Friday afternoon in a park near my house. I got together with some friends from school and we took advantage of the beautiful, absolutely gorgeous warm weather we've been having lately. Yes, spring has sprung in Paris, it has been warm and sunny, and the leaves on the trees are just beginning to bud. Before heading to the park, I stopped at the boulangerie for a ham and cheese baguette and my very first macaroon. A macaroon is a crunchy cookie-esque thing with creaminess in the middle. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it is the best way I can explain it. They come in lots and lots of flavors, and I chose pistachio. It was delicious; sweet, crunchy, and creamy.
The next day I left for Glasgow. I flew with Ryanair, which was a very strange experience because it is a budget airline, and by making up for their low fares, they spend the whole flight trying to sell you food and other random things. Kind of strange, but the flight wasn't too long, and soon I was in Scotland!
I hopped off the plane, and had to go through a special wing of customs, because I wasn't from the E.U. I had to fill out a paper about my intentions in the U.K. and then I had to talk to the border control woman, who was actually very nice and gave me a beautiful stamp on my passport from Scotland.
After that, I hopped on a train that I hoped was headed into Glasgow. After we started rolling through the green country side, the conductor confirmed that we were headed for Glasgow, and I bought a 3.50 pound ticket and watched beautiful Scotland roll by. The countryside was gorgeous. Even though the train ride was only about 20 minutes, I saw some magnificent ocean views. It was just how I had imagined Scotland: green hills covered in sheep rolling towards the ocean.
When I got off the train, and into Glasgow, I had already fallen in love with the city. Lots of people had told me that it was an industrial city, one to miss, but I think it has lots of character. It reminds me a little of Oliver Twist. Very beautiful old sandstone buildings, but also a smoky industrial demeanor. It was very down to earth, and just the right size.
I decided at the last minute to do a mini homestay in Glasgow called couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a website to hook up people who have houses in various cities to people that need a place to crash. I learned about it in my Rick Steve's Europe guide book, and of course I had to trust Rick's good advice. On couchsurfing, you choose who you want to stay with, and the hosts and guests are verified with references. I chose two girls in Maryhill named Sarah and Vicky. On Saturday afternoon, I caught a bus to their flat and was greeted warmly by Vicky. She was born in England, but moved to Scotland when she was only 4, so she had a very Scottish accent. She is currently in nursing school. We couldn't talk long, because she had to ride her bike to meet Sarah at a food market, because Sarah had bought too much to carry home.
Sarah and Vicky eventually returned and we had curry for dinner. Sarah is from New Zealand, but her dad is British so she got a British passport and is now working in Glasgow. She had a wonderful New Zealand accent, and was super friendly. After we ate dinner, Sarah took me out to a bar to meet some other people from couchsurfing. We got kind of lost in town, and it took us a long time to get to this bar. Sarah pointed out interesting Glasgow sights along the way (the oldest house built in the 1400s, a beautiful cathedral, George Square). When we finally made it to the bar, the couchsurfing meeting was over! So we just got a beer and talked. I taught Sarah some French, and since she knew a wee bit of German, she taught me some. She told me about how she hitchhiked all over Ireland and recommended I go there someday. She also told me the story of her love affair with a boy named Francois, that she met while camping, and how she wanted to learn some French to better understand him. At the end of our drink, I was tired and needed to go to bed because I was to get up early the next morning. Sarah was going to a party at her friend's house, so we went our separate ways, and I hopped on the bus back to the flat.
I had borrowed Vicky's keys and I guess was a bit disoriented on returning back to the flat and forgot which door was theirs. I was pretty sure I was at the right door, but the key wasn't working, so I just tried to turn the handle. It opened, and I walked inside, but everything looked different. I walked down the hall a bit to see an old man getting up from his recliner, and realized I was not in the right flat! So I told him I was sorry a million times, then found the girls' flat and slunk off to bed completely embarrassed!
The next morning, I woke early to catch a 9am bus tour of Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, and Stirling castle. There is a time difference between Paris and Glasgow, Glasgow is an hour behind, and my phone did not change according to the time difference. I didn't realize this, and so I woke up an hour too early, and couldn't figure out why the bus was an hour late to pick us up, until someone finally told me that I had the wrong time. I suppose it worked out ok, because I treated myself to an early morning tour of Glasgow and a big cup of coffee from Starbucks.
There were 11 people in our tour, 6 of which were a bunch of women celebrating mother's day. I guess mother's day in the U.K. happened to be that day. I thought it was weird that there are different mother's days across the world. Sarah later told me that mother's day in New Zealand happened in the fall.
The tour guide was jolly and had more than a wee Scottish accent. We drove from Glasgow, and he told us about how Scotland doesn't have a big population and some more interesting facts about Glasgow. Soon we were headed out of town and over the River Clyde towards Loch Lomond.
We stopped in a town called Luss where we got out and I walked along the banks. First, I had to go to the restroom, and while in the restroom, a girl was calling for help from one of the stalls. She was trapped in the stall! I ended up having to kick the door in to get her out. When she finally got out, we both were laughing, and she told me how happy she was that I freed her. I walked with her down to the lakeshore, and she took a picture of me finally standing on the bonny banks. It was gorgeous. The lake was surrounded by grassy hills that came and went with the morning mist. The water was calm and I saw kayakers and fisherman quietly sitting on the lake. I walked through the sand a bit to a dock where I saw more great views of the lake, and then wandered into a tiny shop where I bought some souvenirs.
I returned back to the bus a bit early and talked to the bus driver a bit. I told him I was studying in Paris and he asked if I had met a lot of snobby lads there. I told him I'd met a few, and soon everyone had returned and we were off again for our next destination. The next stop was another tiny town with only a general store and a bar. We stopped there so that we could take a cruise of Loch Lomond. It cost extra money so I opted out and decided I'd take advantage of the tiny town experience. I was the only one who didn't go on the cruise. I took a walk down a hiking trail and ended up at the Loch Lomond boat launch. There was a big steamboat there and with a rainbow hanging over it in the mist. It was beautiful.
It was so quiet and peaceful, and I stayed there for a while listening to the pitter patter of tiny waves coming in. Soon, I walked back to the town, bought some postcards at the general store, and had a coffee at the bar. It was the first time in Europe that coffee was actually affordable; about the same as American, and this cup even came with a free shortbread cookie. While sipping my coffee, I spent a long time writing postcards about my experience. After an hour or so, I returned to the bus, and we left for lunch. I ate at a restaurant ham with broccoli, potatoes, and a scotch meat pie. The best part was the scotch meat pie, by far, and it reminded me of eating them at home for a quick lunch. I wandered into a store near the restaurant where there were shelves and shelves of shortbread cookies. In the corner, there was a fancy whiskey section where they were conducting free tastings. Even though I don't like whiskey, I figured I was in Scotland so I should try it. I chose a bottle called Loch Lomond whiskey. It was horrific. It tasted like burnt motor oil. I drank half a sip and then secretly threw the rest out in the nearest garbage can. I then saw a wall of shot glasses that had various "clan" names on them. I found the Smith clan and took a picture. I then found a book about the Smith clan and their place in Scotland. I wanted to buy it, but it was too much money, and so I just took another picture. I then returned to the bus, and was off to my next destination: the Trossachs
The Trossachs are a group of hills near Loch Lomond that mark the beginning of the highlands. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs is the first Scottish national park. The national park is not like the parks in America. There is a lot of open land and wildlife, but unlike America, people live in the park and there are vast fields of sheep dotting the hills. This national park is also kind of strange because it has mountains, freshwater lochs, and saltwater lochs! I think that is so strange. There ares some lochs in this park that have seals and crabs living in them, but the loch itself looks the same as a freshwater loch like Loch Lomond. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see these other lochs because they were a bit out of the way. But the trossachs were still quite beautiful.
The route was very windy, because we were starting to get into the mountains a bit, and I felt ready to throw up. I think this was a combination of the disgusting whiskey I sipped and the windy ride. Meanwhile, the driver was busy telling us the story of the Trossachs and how Rob Roy used to roam this area stealing cows. He said that he would steal people's cows and then when they found him to get the cows back, he told them they would have to pay. If they did pay, he'd give back their cows, and then follow them down the road until they got tired and "took 40 winks", and he would steal the cows again. If they didn't pay him, he would slit their throat and take the cows into town to sell them. He sounded like quite a brutal Scot.
Finally we stopped, and I was able to take a breather. There was another rainbow over the hills in the distance! I think that Scotland is the land of rainbows, not Ireland or Hawaii. We only stopped for a few minutes which was just enough for me to get some fresh air and feel better. We continued down the road past more sheep and even a highland cow, and soon we had arrived in Stirling.
Stirling is a very very old town. It is the town that most people know from Braveheart. The driver told us about William Wallace and the wars against the English and all sorts of history I won't bore you with. I found it all extremely interesting, of course.
The castle was beautiful. It is set on a volcanic rock and overlooks a vast part of central Scotland. Of course, I took lots of pictures. The castle itself was like Camelot. Nothing like the castles in France. It reminded me of a chess board, with it's big rooks anchoring down the corners.
I walked around the castle a bit, taking lots of photos, then wandered into an old cemetery. It was very beautiful and I stayed there for a while watching the wind blow by and the sun move over the Scottish skyline. When I was ready to leave, I saw another little shop and walked in to find more Smith clan souvenirs. Each Smith clan object had a crest on it that said "Touch not the cat but a glove". I can't for the life of me figure out what that means.
It was getting late now, and we returned to the bus and headed back to Glasgow. I talked to an Australian on the bus about the differences between Australian gas prices and American gas prices and the differences between the "uni" in Australia and the university in America. Soon we were back again, and I was so satisfied with a wonderful whirlwind tour of Scotland. I loved how much open space and quietness there was in Scotland. Not like the bustling city with sketchy men peeing in the corner of the metro station. The air was so fresh and crisp in Scotland, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to all of a sudden become a shepherd, buy a few sheep dogs, and live on a green hillside for the rest of my life. But alas, it was time to return to reality.
In Glasgow, I went to Borders, and then to KFC (there's lots of American franchises in Glasgow!) to get a drink, then took the bus back to the flat. Sarah and Vicky were so nice and cooked me some more curry for dinner. They also whipped some cream and put it on a bowl of fruit for dessert. It was delicious, and I'm so grateful for their hospitality. We talked for a while, but I had to go to bed really early to wake up early enough to catch my flight. The next morning, I left quietly and returned back to Paris just in time for class. The city of Paris was the same loud crowded place, and it felt so foreign being back in the land of French speakers. But I adjusted back quickly, and now am fully recovered and in French mode again. Speaking of which, I have a chunk of cheese and a baguette calling my name...
Until next time,
Leah
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