on saturday, we did a day bus tour up to loch ness. unfortunately, while we passed all kinds of wonderful sites, such as stirling castle, we did not get to stop very often. of course, we did get to stop at hamish the scottish cow. pronounced "coo." because, well, because they don't really look like cows, so they call them "coos." seriously. straight from the tour guide's mouth. which is practically gospel.
which, in my opinion, is ridiculous (so ridiculous that i had to take a picture). i don't need to see cows. i need to see castles. we did get to stop for quite a while at loch ness. we had just enough time to run into a grocery store, grab a sandwhich, and get on to a very busy boat for a one hour tour.
here is my proof that i saw nessie:
it was actually pretty cute. they had this decal on the window and if you lined that camera up just do, it kinda looks like the lock ness monster. with baby. you can't really see the baby in this one, but its there. apparently there was a movie filmed, years ago, about loch ness. the hilarious part: they didn't film it at loch ness. i now know why: its pretty unremarkable. its a lake. in scotland. nice scenery, but no ruins (there is an abbey), no old castles, nothing. its beautiful, as are most of the lochs and the highlands, but its not "special."
the tour guide makes the tour. this is a fact. in greece, mom and i had to suffer through seven days of this horrible old woman named "effie." i have no idea how to spell it. it was pronounced "F-ee." she was sour and boring and lead the group around by holding up an umbrella. if i could trace my resistance to authority back to one moment, it was would be the first time she uttered, "this way group."
on our saturday tour, we had both driver and guide. it was a long long tour, with too much driving. it was kind of how i feel about churches now: you've seen one, you've seen them all. this is absolutely not true, i just suffer from church overkill and now can no longer feel that sense of sacred space. though i do not consider myself spiritual, i do believe that churches are hallowed places. and i used to be able to feel it. now, i am just terribly desensitized. after six hours on the bus, i was desensitized by the highlands. i could feel it happening, and just like churches, i hated that it was.
the best tidbit of scottish trivia gleaned from the tour was not from the guide, but from a reference book of the various clans. as i looked up mackinstosh, my grandfather's name, (both my maternal grandparents are scottish) it listed the typical: flower, motto, and a brief history. which included our feuds. we mackintosh's love to feud. especially with....the cameron's! (my boyfriend is a cameron) jarrod and i are freakin' modern day romeo and juliet's. tristan and isolde's. the main characters from west side story.
our sunday tour, then, was in every way better than the first. we were not traveling as far, so we did not have to spend as much time on the bus. get this: we had a whole hour and a half for lunch! holy moly! second, the tour guide/driver was a young-ish scottish man, who, unfortunately had the habit of sounding like mrs. doubtfire. now, i didn't notice this myself: my mother did. actually, her pointing it out ruined him for me. he was just so soft and gentle. like mrs. doubtfire. damn it.
we also got to visit stirling castle. we had one of those audio tours.
it was lovely. i could have stayed there much longer than the time allotted. indeed, we were even late getting back to the tour bus. which is crazy. because i am absolutely insane about not putting other people out. this means, not being late. not talking on cell phones. not putting my seat back on airplanes when i am not sleeping. moving seats if i am by myself and a twosome wants to sit together. (i like to believe that what goes around comes around).
on the way home, the tour guide (also named alli) quizzed us: who was the author of chitty chitty bang bang? i answered: ian fleming. now, the thing is, i knew the answer because the tour guide the day before had told us. (he also wrote the james bond stories and the school he set them at is in edinburgh) the tour guide was astonished that someone knew the answer. and one of the other ladies on the tour that we had been chatting with hollered out that i was studying to be a librarian. victory to alli (as in me). no one had to know where i really got the information from. but of course, mom, being honest, told the bus driver where i got the information from. no, she couldn't let me have one. nope. honest honest honest. the bus driver laughed and told us that Gavin (the previous bus driver) was the one who told him as well...i am comforted by the thought that perhaps he would have put it together on his own, in one forehead stamping moment.
i am sad to have left scotland. mom asked me at one point how i felt traveling through the highlands, this being the land of my ancestors after all. i said that it was just scenery, but that isn't really what i was feeling. i was more just feeling crabby and not sentimental. but the truth was, i did feel something in the highlands. something that i certainly do not feel in england. can blood really call out to blood? well, if a atheistic twenty four year old can feel humbled in a churched, i am willing to believe that something inside of us can recognize what our minds cannot. or, maybe, i just think it would be wonderful if that could be true. but that is a whole other posting and i think my mom wants her computer back.
one last picture: edinbugh castle, from afar.
1 comment:
How is Leuven? I didn't know you were going back there.
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