Final hours…a happy departure

Today was a fun filled last day in Scotland. Once a year Glasgow does a “Doors Open Day” where private clubs and other interesting buildings open their doors free of charge to the public for tours. Robyn, her friend Emily and I headed into the City Centre to take a look at a handful of them. The first was the Merchant House where a handful of skilled workers from fleshers (butchers/meat carvers) to barbers organized. Next we went to the Glasgow City Chamber which provides a rare look into the building and where the government officials meet. You will see many pictures of these spaces in today’s blog post, I hope they don’t bore you!

Robyn and Emily headed to another Merchant house while I hopped into a restaurant boasting free wifi to check into my flight tomorrow. I was hoping to be able to upgrade to more legroom but there was no such offer today. I did move my seat from a window to an aisle as I couldn’t imagine being trapped again in such a small space with no way of exit.

After checking in to my flight Emily left us and Robyn and I went to one final Open Door, it was an old performance hall called “Panopticon Music Hall”. Here there were mannequins dressed in historical clothing and the walls were littered with music pamphlets and advertisements from the past. I immediately saw an piece on Sir Harry Lauder, who my Great Grandfather composed for and with. I kept looking and to my delight and surprise I saw a representation from Mr. R.F. Morrison!!! I can’t even tell you how proud and excited I was to see this! My whole body was consumed with goosebumps! I spoke with a couple of the historians there who were quite excited to chat with me about my Great Grandfather. They indicated I should talk to their boss as she would be very interested in talking to me. When I spoke with her she curlty said in a bored voice ” did you find a family member on the wall?” I said yes and she said, “ok, I would be happy to send you a picture of the piece we have.” That was it, she had NO desire to even know who I was speaking about, perhaps she gets this often? It didn’t matter, she couldn’t squash my excitement! I wanted to find one thing, just one thing and I found it two hours before I caught a cab to the airport.

I am now at a hotel near Heathrow and will relax and sleep in tomorrow with a late check out at 1:00pm, I will get to my flight in plenty of time and head home around 3:00pm.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me! I have had an amazing time and I can’t wait until Jane get’s to travel again!!

A couple of things I now know:

Traveling alone is empowering
Compressions socks are worn by all the cool kids on the plane
Ice is hard to come by in the UK
Adapting to driving on the left side isn’t too difficult
There is typically only one or two brand options when ordering a vodka soda with a lime
They don’t understand vodka soda and end up giving you tonic with fake lime juice squeezed in
I miss my iPhone and it’s fully turned on capabilities,I had a dream about 3G last night.
I am going to be eating Top Ramen for the next couple of months.
Umbrellas are called Brolly
Pants are actually underwear
Sweaters are jumpers
If you were to form your fingers in the Peace sign and then turn it that is like saying “Up Yours”
When you have to put your hotel card into a command center to turn the lights on you must leave it in or you will find yourself in complete darkeness in minutes.
I am an independent woman capable of taking care of myself in a foreign country!
I miss my family and friends and I am ecstatic to come home!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

Tripping over roots

I made it to Glasgow, sadly not in time to return my rental car so I had to pay for an additional day. It ended up working out though as I used the car to drive around to some old addresses I found of my Great Grandparents. I woke up early this morning to ensure that I would have plenty of time to get lost and spend time walking in my ancestor’s shoes and paying my respects. The first place I went was an old tenement that actually looks exactly like the one I am currently staying. I found the address amongst some old articles my Father loaned me, it was the residence of my Great Grandfather (and Great Grandmother I assume) when he was twenty seven years old. It took a bit of time to get there without my gps turned on (too spendy though I have had to turn in on a handful of times in emergency situations, aka too lost to find my way) and some unruly roundabouts but I found my way. It was next to a nice looking park however the building looked like it was pretty rough. The number on the address 22 Preston Street looks now to be a roll up garage, so I don’t know if they changed the numbering or if what is now a storage unit use to be a flat.

The great thing I forgot to mention is that I am staying in the same neighborhood that my Great Grandparents and Grandfather lived, the South end of Glasgow, all the addresses were within two miles. My second stop was to the Cathcart Cemetary where, armed with a picture of the headstone I was going to go and pay my respects to my Great Grandfather. I zigzagged all over the South end, honing in on my target knowing that it was only a handful of blocks between my first and second stop. When I finally found the cemetery I discovered that it was no longer open. What the hell? Can you do that? Close a cemetery? There are grave sites that people would like to visit and pay their respects! I am not sure how long it has been closed but the grounds looked pretty rough, and the lock on the gate was pretty rusty.

I felt a little defeated but decided to keep on to the next destination. This was another address that I found in the items, it was 130 Thistle Street, in the South End as well right before crossing over the bridge. This area was known as the Gorbels I have recently learned and well, some things have changed. Where once there was housing at this address it is now an Islamic Mosque. I couldn’t help but laugh a little, I mean really, what luck?! I guess it has been 90 some years since these places were referenced in the documents I have but I was hoping for a bit more for me to pay homage.

Next up, an address that my Great Grandmother received a Jury Summons from in 1927, 74 Albert Road. I crisscrossed my way back across the South End looped around three too many times and finally found the address. The building was standing, looked a little worse for the wear but I was able to actually visit where they lived, though I didn’t know which unit they might have lived. I had no more addresses and no more room for disappointment so I decided to call it a day and return the car.

Xoxo –

Sarah Jane

Final city: Glasgow

Tonight is my last night in Scotland, the jig is up, time to head home. I had a rather difficult time getting into Glasgow yesterday, so many roads, so many cars, this town is BIG! My host thinks it is about the size of Portland but from this untrained eye it feels much larger!

I finally found my friend Trisha’s place and her roommate Robyne warmly greeted me and showed me my room (aka Trisha’s room, thanks Trisha!). I was suppose to be to her place by 11:30 so that I could get the car back by 12:00 but I got lost so I kept the car for another day and used it this morning to go and find some old family addresses (see next post).

Robyne had to go to work at the University of Glasgow so I gave her a ride and then walked around campus and went to the Kelvingrove Art Museum. It was mayhem on campus, as it was Freshers Week, when all the Freshmen move onto campus. This was at first quite thrilling to be back on a campus alive with the bustling of new students until I realized that I could pass more for a parent dropping their child off than an actual student. I felt VERY old!

I quickly toured the main administrative building which I am told was the model for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies, I could see how this could be the case, it was quite similar. Glasgow is up and coming in the art scene and part of the downtown was recently closed to film a Brad Pitt movie.

After touring campus and the museum I met Robyn and some of her friends for a coffee. We sat at a cute table outside of this adorable coffee shop for about two hours with each of us only spending about 3pounds, that would never really have flown in the States, or I would have felt so bad that I would have ordered something or left. It was lovely to meet some new people.

We finished up coffee and Robyne and I took a little drive before going to dinner at a wonderful restaurant called “The Left Bank”. One of Trisha’s friends invited me along to dinner with her friends and Robyne joined as well. The meal was spectacular, I had a lamb shank and a glass of wine. Nicola and her friends were incredibly fun and friendly and I had a very good time.

Today was filled with the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art and the Glasgow Art School where I got a quick tour of well known Glaswegian architecht Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Robyne is working on her doctorate and is an Art & Design historian so I couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide, she even did her thesis on Mackintosh.

Tonight, Nicola and I were to meet to go to a comedy club and dinner but she ended up having to work so Robyne and I had dinner at a local place and then I went to catch a band that Trisha suggested at a place called “Ivory Blacks”. The band was good but it felt awkward to be there alone and again I felt really old so I left after about four songs. I am here now blogging for you!

Please enjoy some pictures from my day!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

Oh – Oban!

I had a wonderful day today walking around the town of Oban. This is my final stop before I head into Glasgow and return the car. I couldn’t have chosen a better place to stay. The room is affordable as I had told you earlier but most importantly it is clean and cute! I have an amazing view of the water and the town of Oban and I was even able to share it with my parents today via FaceTime!

While talking to my Dad I noticed that there was a boat apparantley giving out morse code, six quick light blips followed by a long blip. This happened repeatedley. I truly thought someone was in distress. I had visions of using the number on the pamphlet in my room for emergencys, this guy was very persistent. Thankfully I didn’t jump the gun and looked across the water and saw several other “boats” the same shape, another one giving the signal as well, I settled on them being some sort of maritime beacon and saved myself the embarrassment of calling the authorities to save the distressed ship. : ) In fact, as I type it is giving me the same signal.

I met my first American’s today. They are staying in the same B&B and are just at the start of their journey. They told me they prefer remote and desolate areas, finding Oban to be too much of a city, this is quite different from me, I can’t wait to get back to the city. They just came from Glasgow and had nothing but bad things to say, I am very excited to poke around the big town.

I plan on leaving in the morning and driving straight there. It is a little over a two hour drive and I need to have the car back by noon or they will charge me for another full day. I then am planning on staying at my friend Tricia’s place, who I introduced to you all in my first Edinburgh blog. Oddly enough Tricia is in the states for an unexpected trip due to the passing of her Grandma : ( so I am going to crash with her roommate. Tricia was also kind enough to introduce me through Facebook to a friend of hers and we will be meeting for dinner tomorrow night in Glasgow.

I don’t know much more. The trip is slowly winding down and I have had a blast! I have done quite well being on my own so long and it is just now starting to get to me. I will be happy to be back among new friends and in a social scene tomorrow. As you will see in my pictures I met some new friends today, though they weren’t very chatty. : ) I know I have mentioned talking to sheep and now posing with “soldiers” but I promise you I have not lost it, just having some fun!

I don’t want to wish the remainder of my trip away but I am ready to see all my loved ones back home as well. I am not homesick, not in the slightest but ready for my own bed, my own car, to drive on the other side of the road, to drink an iced coffee and to have some fruit and salads!

As always, I have added some pictures of my day.

I hope to chat again tomorrow!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

The motion of the ocean!!! Ferry from Talbert, Isle of Harris to Uig, Isle of Skye

I had driven the road to the Talbert Ferry terminal yesterday and it didn’t take me much more than 45 minutes. I was to be to my ferry today by 11:00am for an 11:50am departure. I was making good time until up ahead I saw a line of cars stuck behind a vintage vehicle going a maximum of 45 in a 60 mile zone. I knew that if i didn’t pass I would not make my ferry so I waited for some of the other cars to clear off and then made my move. I feel pretty proud of how well I have adapted to the driving over here, seriously, I am good. : )

I wasn’t waiting in the ferry line long and am now sitting in the restaurant at a table by the window so that I can look out. There is no use really in taking any pictures as it is rainy and gray, my little ole iPhone won’t be able to capture much. I am hoping that I can keep my stomach on this trip, thankfully it is not as windy today and it is a shorter ride.

A man working on the ship said hello and then something in a thick Scottish accent, at first it sounded like “Hello, you are quite the best dressed person I have seen today” I looked at my outfit and thought, hmn, that couldn’t possibly be what he was saying and then he followed it up with, “it is quiet”. I still have no idea what he said to me, after asking him to repeat himself I just smiled and nodded.

The ferry boat sure was rolling! It was worse than the ferry ride two days ago, thankfully it was much shorter! I hope I am never lost at sea, I don’t think I would survive the naseau, forget about the starvation, dehydration and sea life.

I took the scenic drive from the ferry terminal to my hotel and found even smaller roads with a lot more traffic on them than I had previously experienced on Lewis and Harris. This was foreshadowing to the rest of my time in the Isle of Skye, it was filled with tourists. I know, silly for me to call them out when I am in fact one myself but they traveled by the bus loads. It is quite a different experience to stand on the side of the road with just the sound of the wind and the smell of the earth than to be standing there when a tour bus pulls up and fifty people hop off to take pictures.

Like the rest of Scotland the Isle of Skye had beautiful terrain with big mountains and many waterfalls cascading down them, it would be impossible to capture the beauty in my pictures but I was able to get close to a few and take a couple of shots.

I found my hotel easy enough, it wasn’t as pretty as it’s pictures online. It is like it was on a dating site and it chose it’s profile picture from one in its finer days. I was a sucker and bit, the price for a single room was 70£ compared to everything else in the area which was double or more. This place was what I like to call a flea bag hotel. It was rundown, moldy, and old and not in a charming Scottish way. I dropped my items in the room and then went to walk about and as I exited the building I had to dodge 50 some people off loading from a tour bus. Now if I didn’t already find tour busses retched, I did now, they didn’t even put them up in nice accommodations.

I spent the majority of my evening in my room finishing a book as there was no wifi to update my blog, and then went down to the lobby to catch the last bit of the live entertainment, a man and his squeeze box. It turns out I was a bit late but ended up getting into a conversation with several gentlemen including the musician about the song “Just a Wee Doch & Doris” they knew it well though no one knew that my Great Grandfather was one of the writers. Though speaking of…I had purchased a cheap Scottish music cd at one of the shops near the ferry terminal, I had scanned it to see if any of the songs I knew my Ggrandfather wrote were on there and didn’t see any, as I had a little bit of time on the ferry I looked closer at the cd and in fact “Wee Doch & Doris” was actually on there, I opened the booklet and saw that my GGrandfather’s name was in the credits along with three other men. It appears he wrote the song with Harry Lauder a well known Scottish artist in the 20s and several other gentlemen.

I woke this morning after a restful sleep, hopped in the shower which left me feeling a bit dirtier than when I hopped in, the shower curtain kept sticking to me, the ceiling had all these mold marks and I was quite sure that I should be using some sort of shower sandal. I went to turn off the shower and it wouldn’t turn off. I fiddled with it for about fifteen minutes when I decided to leave it and to tell them upon checkout. Wrapped in a towel I heard housekeeping knock on the door, I said I was not ready for her to do the room but that the shower wouldn’t turn off, she asked to enter to turn it off for me. She couldn’t figure it out either and said she would send one of the men up in about fifteen minutes. I quickly got dressed and ready and was about ready to leave when they turned up to work on the shower. He struggled a bit but finally was able to get it turned off and told me that I turned the wrong knobs, that I should have only turned the center knob. I indicated to him there was no heat so I thought I had to turn those other knobs, he said no, you just had to wait for the hot water. I wanted to tell him I thought he was a knob. : )

I am checked into a lovely B&B that cost me half what yesterday’s place cost and is 100 times nicer. I am going to blog more later but want to catch some of the town’s sites before it gets too dark.

More later!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

Isle of Harris & Isle of Lewis

I had an amazing rest in my luxurious B&B and woke up rested to a hot Scottish breakfast, including blood pudding. Yep, you read right, blood. pudding. I can’t say that I took a huge bite but I did take three rather small bites. It looks a bit like olive tapenade shaped into a large round soap like shape, it is made of oats, herbs, and some other things that sounded lovely when described to me, oh and it also has blood. I survived the tasting and am here to tell you that while I will never order blood pudding it wasn’t that bad. If I didn’t know what was in it I think I would have been able to eat more though as it was I had plenty to eat. I was given cereal, a warm buttery croissant, two fried eggs, and some bacon. It’s a good thing I am doing a lot of walking, but I am scared it will not be enough. The healthy lifestyle comes back into play upon my return to the States. It must, there is no other option.

I took a look at the ferry schedule this morning and the only one that I would be able to catch today would be at 4:00pm, allowing me no time to explore the Isles. I opted to stay another night at this amazing B&B with it’s wonderful hosts and will catch a ferry tomorrow at 11:50am with reservations in hand to the Isle of Skye.

I headed out late morning and headed to the Isle of Harris. This is where my ancestors hailed from. I didn’t see anyone who looked familiar though so I doubt there is anyone left in the area. : ) I drove past so much amazing scenery today, one that I am afraid my little iPhone camera couldn’t properly capture. This is the first day I have been upset that my real camera is broken. Regardless, I will still show you what I was able to capture.

I found the location of my ferry loading tomorrow so that I was prepared and then after lunch I headed on a road my host called “The Golden Mile”. I am not sure if this is actually a mile, it felt more like 100 miles. The majority of the drive was on a single lane road with pull outs that enabled you to let on coming traffic pass. If I wasn’t dodging oncoming traffic I was dodging sheep. When I first saw sheep on the road my initial reaction was to stop and let someone know that their sheep escaped, but luckily I kept on driving, having to slow down approximately every two minutes for rogue sheep in the road. Often times these sheep were hanging out at the parking spots on the side of the road meant for resting and picture taking. I know this seems silly and I have now been informed that sheep are quite dumb and not an ounce mean, but I was too scared to get out of the car when surrounded by sheep, you will see a lot of pictures out of my car window. I think I was confusing sheep with goats who have been known to attack people.

I spent about three hours driving around the Isle of Harris before heading back to the Isle of Lewis to see the sites there. Here I saw the Callanish Stones, which are over 4,000 years old, supposedly older than Stonehenge. It is amazing what people were able to accomplish without modern technologies.

I ended my drive by heading to the Butt of Lewis where I was able to snap a few pictures as the sun was setting. There were three guys there fishing and hanging out in a van. I had a leftover pizza in my car, missing only two slices from my lunch (it was MUCH larger than I had anticipated) so as I was leaving I rolled down my window and asked one of the guys if he wanted an almost full pizza. His face lit up and he said they were just getting ready to eat dinner. I handed the box over to a very cute, happy guy. I could see in my rearview window that he was indeed excited as he shouted to his friends still down by the water and started pumping the pizza box into the sky!

Throughout the day I have been listening to the radio, typically one of the BBC radio stations. When I first got the car every once in awhile the radio would change channels and a lady would start speaking, it was only until my friend Yvonne told me that I understood that the radio stations turn to the traffic report, I had no idea what was happening, I thought my car was possessed. It happened about every half hour today, so I was quite aware of all the weather issues in Scotland, thankfully none of which were in my area. I was listening to the BBC Gaelic station which plays great music but the DJ speaks fully in Gaelic except when saying the singer’s name and song title, every once in awhile I would hear…”Johnny Cash”…”Lady Gaga”…and imagine my delight when I heard… “Robert Earl Keen”!! I always enjoy hearing his music as it brings back memories of going to his shows.

The other funny thing that happened with the radio a while back, the reporter mentioned delays at the Glasgow airport due to chicken problems. I couldn’t figure out why they would be having chicken problems, I heard this report several times before I finally figured out they were saying “Check In problems” not “Chicken”.

Also, I wanted to say a big happy birthday to my sister Tina and her twin daughters Megan & Madeline who turn six today! I love you all so very much and can’t wait to see you and properly celebrate!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

Ferry to Stornoway, Isles of Lewis & Harris

Well, I did it again, I thought that showing up with out a reservation would be no problem. It turns out that this ferry is quite a popular one and even though I got to the ferry terminal five hours early I was put on the wait list. Lucky for me, John the man with the clipboard put me up top of his list as he had seen my car there for so long and I got on!! I didn’t know what I was going to do if I didn’t get on as I already booked my B&B in Stonaway on the Isle of Harris. The agent that notified me of my wait list told me that tomorrow was even worse!

I was directed onto the ferry and when I boarded they held the car in front of me and the rest of us from going any further. They started lowering a shelf from the top of the ferry! It was a car shelf! It lowered about halfway and then one end angled down to form a ramp which enabled us to drive on. I was at a very steep angle heading up a two lane ramp with a car in front of me in a stick shift! Memories of my sister teaching me to drive a stick shift by having me stop on a steep gravel road at the family farm came screaming back to me. The big difference then was there were no other cars around. I was able to pull up rather close to the car in front of me no problem. The man loading the cars came up to my window, smiled and made the motion of move forward a bit. Was he kidding me? Did he know what he was working with here? I took my foot off the break, accelerated and scooted up perfectly to the car in front of me. He laughed as he walked past teasing me about testing my driving skills. He had no idea how lucky we all were! My skills prevail!

Once the car shelf was full they lifted us up so that we were level. I made sure my parking break was on and headed up to the lounge. I found a seat with a view and settled in for the two and a half hour ferry ride. Two years ago I was on a ferry in Greece and I swore I would never get on another ferry again. I had forgotten that pact until today. I guess this ferry route is known as one of the roughest in the world. I didn’t actually get sick but the color drained from my face and I was quite nauseous. I don’t think I was alone either, the guy sitting next to me kept taking deep breaths and sighing heavily. I surely felt his pain.

It was finally time to disembark and we were all directed to our cars. I got to my car and waited for the car shelf to lower. The shelf lowered the opposite way so that the nose of my car was angled down. I started my car and went to release my emergency break and it was stuck!! I was the second car in the lane. The guy kept motioning for me to drive forward. It quickly became obvious to him that I was in distress. It could have been the sickened look on my face or all the flailing about but he ran up and opened my passenger door and asked if my hand break was stuck. YES!!! He gave it a tug and it wouldn’t budge. I was getting very worried when he reached in with two hands and with quite a bit of effort was able to release it and send me on my way.

I had pulled directions to my B&B, they seemed simple. Turn left on North Street and….and all the street signs were in Gaelic. I hadn’t planned on this. I squinted as I drove past a sign and saw that below the large Gaelic writing was smaller English print. You should be aware that they do not have street signs like we do in the States. You will find them on a building at the intersection which is often times noticed far too late. I drove the wrong way for about five minutes but realized my error right away. I turned around and was headed the correct way but got severely lost. I took a guess at a road and actually ended up on the street that the B&B was located. That was divine intervention. I was still unable to find the place and about ready to turn on my 3G to the tune of too much money when a car pulled up beside me from the opposite direction. He asked if I was lost, I said yes, very and he said “Are you Sarah?” LOL. What? Yes, yes I am Sarah! He had been tracking the ferry and had been looking for me out of the window and had seen a car drive by several times very slowly so he thought it might be me. He came and found me and then had me follow him home. This house is amazing! Ian and his wife just built it within the last year and only lease out two bedrooms. My room is huge! I only paid for a single room but am laying in a large luxurious queen size bed! I have my own bathroom with a huge tub and shower and everything is so clean it looks as if it has never been used!

There is a television which I have on while I type and guess what…. a Steven Segal commercial came on for “The Transporter” coming up next! Ugh!!!

Oh, and I was informed when I arrived that they are expecting gael force winds up to 80 miles an hour tomorrow. I guess it is a hurricane coming from the U.S. They informed me that I picked a horrid time to come to the island and that they are probably going to close the ferries tomorrow. I hope that I can catch some sites and a ferry at the bottom of the Isle tomorrow or the following morning.

Always an adventure!

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

Inverness and Loch Ness

Last night was a very relaxing and comfortable evening. It started with a leisurely stroll down to the river in Inverness, I crossed a pedestrian foot bridge over the river to get to the main part of the town. I didn’t notice until about halfway across that it was bouncing, a lot. I quickened my step and made it across only to decide on a restaurant back on the other side of the bridge, but closer to my B&B. It did sway my decision on going back to town to try to listen to some live music, my stomach couldn’t handle it again.

The dinner I had was at a local restaurant that had a nice ambiance. I labored over what to order as several things looked good. I was craving steak but they called it Aged Scottish Rump Roast, I almost didn’t get it because I couldn’t bring myself to say “Rump Roast” in regards to what I was eating but I was drawn to the menu item. Sadly, they grossly overcooked my medium steak to well done, I know, I know I should have ordered it medium rare, but I don’t like it medium rare, nor do I like it charchoal well done. I hesitated bringing it to their attention but it was pretty much unedible. They apologized and offered to recook the steak for me but by then I was over it, the lady sitting at the table beside me indicated she had ordered hers the same and had recieved a well done steak. Perhaps we should have ordered the haggis. : ) They were kind and just charged me a flat 15 pounds when the full meal with wine would have been closer to 26£. I guess it does pay to speak up about bad food.

My B&B was lovely. I was able to sit in my own room and update my blog, watch some television and relax. I have found back home that at any given moment there will be an old Steven Segal movie on, the same appears to happen in other countries as well. That guy is everywhere, you can’t escape his leather fringe jacket and slicked back ponytail.

This morning I had a shower, which was located in a corner of my room but had hot water and was clean! I had a traditional Scottish breakfast which came with the price of my room. It was a fried egg, bacon (which is not like ours at all, more like ham slices), baked beans, a slice of tomato and a sausage link. It wouldn’t be my daily choice but it wasn’t bad at all, unless you are talking about the sausage link, that was bad, I can’t even talk about it it was so bad.

I packed up my room and hit the road towards Loch Ness to see Nessy, the Loch Ness Monster. I looked for her to no avail, seems she isn’t real! What? I want my money back! Wait, I didn’t spend any money other than the 56 pounds to put a half of tank of gas into my car! Ugh, this is not a nice place for those of us who earn their paycheck in the form of the dollar. The Loch was beautiful and held me captive for quite a while. Notice I said captive, not captivated. I was lost. Big shocker. I finally purchased an actual map as opposed to the screen shots of Google maps from my Ipad. It actually works quite well. I should have known, technology is not always the answer. I have been kicking it old school.

The fact that I am on this trip solo was obvious today when I caught myself saying to a pasture full of sheep “Good morning and how are y’ewe?” It made me laugh, I am a funny travel companion.

I am currently sitting in a restaurant in Ullalog waiting for my ferry to the Isle of Harris and Isle of Lewis. There was little info online so I wanted to make sure I was able to get on the ferry. I also didn’t have hotel/b&b reservations yet as I didn’t want to get them if I wasn’t able to get there! I am the second car in the ferry que so I am feeling confident that I will get on the ferry. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. I was actually going to stay in a hostel tonight but the only way to contact them was via the phone and I am not using my phone due to cost, though now that I think about it it would have been cheaper to use my phone to make a call and stay for 15£ vs the room I found for 70£. Oh well, another private room surrounded by my new best friend Wi-Fi!

Elgin or bust!

I am baaaack! You didn’t think I forgot about you did you? I have been with my friend Yvonne Bouma O’Brien and her family just outside of Aberdeen. I have been spending the past couple of days catching up, eating great food cooked by Shawn, doing laundry, showering in a clean proper shower, playing with an adorable 21 month old named Sophie who at times has better vocabulary than me. We spent yesterday at Castle Fraser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Fraser) located about fifteen miles from their home. It was a nice tour as you could really get a sense for the people who lived there, as with all the other old castles and ruins in Scotland it holds so much history, it is just hard to comprehend how old these buildings actually are and how many generations have lived in them.

Today, Yvonne caravanned with me to the lovely town of Elgin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin,_Moray). Now most of you know that Elgin (pronounced El – Gin), Oregon is the birthplace of my Mother and holds a dear place in my heart. It turns out that Elgin (El-Gen like pen) Scotland is nothing like the Elgin that I know. It is a large town filled with ruins, monestarys and it even has a Starbucks! The drive through the highlands thus far has reminded me of Eastern Washington/Eastern Oregon but with castles littered about. Have I said that before? Am I getting redundant?!

Today’s drive took me by several whiskey distilleries, Glenfidich, Glenlivet and Dewar. I am not a whiskey fan at all, in fact a night with Jim Beam still haunts me, I am sure I am going to disappoint a handful of you when I tell you I just kept on driving.

After I split from Yvonne I headed to Cawdor Castle (http://www.cawdorcastle.com/) dating back to 1454. The drive to the castle was beautiful but I experienced my second car accident scene since I have had my car. It is a reminder that these roads are in fact narrow and that while I feel like I have become a professional driver I need to really be mindful of the road and my surroundings.

The castle was beautiful, it is always fun to get a glimpse into how others lived though it might have topped off my tank for castle tours. They are all very uniquely different yet somewhat the same. I think the next castle I want to tour is my own. Imagine the parties I could host in one of those!?!

In addition to getting the hang of shifting and driving on the opposite side of the road I am becoming a bit more at ease with directions. Traveling without GPS is still not easy but it is definitely not as difficult as it was coming out of Edinburgh.

Tonight I am staying in a B&B with a cute little twin bed and a cute little shower and bathroom all housed in a tiny little room, it is heaven compared to the hostels. 🙂

I had the chance to FaceTime with my parents last night and my brother and his family today with a failed attempt to my sister. My adorable nephew Joe told me that he is unsupportive of my blog, he thinks I am trying to compete with his blog, which we all know is impossible. You should check it out when you get a chance, he is reviewing restaurants, hotels and baseball parks, you can find him at http://joesbigreview.wordpress.com/.

XOXO –

Sarah Jane

St Andrews revealed…well, almost

So I know everyone has been quite interested in my lengthy rambling posts but I am going to have to disappoint you tonight and keep it short. After a horrible sleep last night in the worst bed known to man I am now nestled into the guest bedroom of a friend from high school who lives outside of Aberdeen, Scotland. We lost touch over the years but I am so incredibly happy to reconnect with Yvonne and to meet her husband, Shaun and her daughter Sophie.

I promise to write more tomorrow. We are planning a lunch outing followed by a castle tour, you know just an average Friday afternoon.

Here are some pictures from my tour of St. Andrews today. Remind me to tell you all about it later!

Xoxo-

Sarah Jane