I'm all moved in to my new flat now (yay!), I've started applying for jobs around the city, and we just got back from a road-trip to Glencoe.
My new flat mates (Liam and Scott) are really nice and we've been having fun getting to know them and some of their friends. The lease I signed on July 1st is for 12 months - so I guess that makes this whole thing official. I won't be coming back for awhile. Which is a good thing!
The job search is still ongoing, but I have faith something will come up. Handing out more CVs tomorrow.
I suppose our most interesting news to share was our trip to Glencoe. We decided it would be nice to get out of the city for a bit and get to really see Scotland - namely, the Highlands. We decided on Glencoe. Site of the famous Macdonald clan massacre (not our direct ancestors per se, but we were sentimental nonetheless).
It was about 4 hours by bus, but it felt much much longer...
Immediately after boarding, our bus driver informed everyone that what he'd really like to be is a tour guide bus driver (we were NOT on a tour bus fyi) and that he would be trying out some of his tour guide 'knowledge' during the trip. Now to be fair, some of his route info was actually interesting: pointing out famous castles, the train bridge used in Harry Potter films, Hamish the cow, etc.
However.
When he was not pointing these things out, either loud bagpiper tunes were being played through the bus speakers, the driver was telling really horrible jokes, or he would (often) forget to turn his mic off so everyone could hear him loudly breathing/humming through the speakers. Hahaha right? Not for 4 hours. At least the scenery was beautiful. Actually, the scenery was breathtaking - especially as we got closer to Glencoe. I can honestly say it is a landscape I have never seen the likes of before. Kayla and I were both amazed, to say the least.
 |
| View of the Glen and Loch Leven |
 |
| The Massacre Monument |
 |
| Trying to find our hostel... |
After walking for about 30mins in the wrong direction completely, we returned to our starting point and tried to call a local taxi. They take Sundays off apparently. Guh. So we tried another direction and walked for nearly an hour before finally arriving at the hostel. And the hostel was perfect. Located in the woods at the base of several mountains.
 |
| Our lovely little hostel |
We rested for a bit before deciding we wanted to do something crazy. Specifically, we wanted to go swimming in a creek we had passed earlier. Now, this is crazy because July in Scotland is probably more like March or April in Ottawa. As in, not hot at all and nearly always raining.
It was so much fun. A moment to remember for sure.
 |
| SO COLD. |
 |
So anyways, we loved Glencoe. The most beautiful place I've ever been - hands down.
Sidenote: when we were climbing on the bus to come home today, who should greet us but our old bus driver from the day before! No joke. The same guy drove us all the way back to Edinburgh and he retold all the same stupid stories and bad jokes as before. This time however, he spent part of the journey singing Celtic songs to us over the intercom. And not even to get a laugh. Just because he wanted to. So unbelievably awkward.
That's it for now! Hope you're all doing well.
Love,
Amy (+ Kayla)
