Scotland

(1) Celtic Park in Glasgow - the cause of all my problems. After arriving in Stranraer with the Irish soccer fans, I attempted to hitch a ride to Glasgow. This never happened. Instead, I stood in the cold darkness for quite some time, and finally ended up on a random bus for Ayrn (followed by a train to Glasgow). It was late by the time I got there, and, to add insult to injury, there wasn't an available room in town. One hostel manager told me that he couldn't even rent me a common-room couch because he had already sold them off. Walking from street to street, passing by drunk soccer fans getting into perfect form for the next day's match, I finally found myself by Glasgow University. The short story is that I ended up crashing on the couch of some Scottish law student's apartment. I met him while he was out walking around with his girlfriend. My last option, had he not hooked me up, was sleeping on the floor of an academic building on campus. The next morning, I got out of Glasgow as quickly as I could, hitching a ride to Edinburgh from a guy who, conveniently, lived right next to the Argyle Backpackers Hostel. This was a terrific place to stay, and Edinburgh was one of my favorite cities from the trip. (photo: www.soccer-stadiums.com)

(2) After walking around town, strolling through parks, castles, and ancient buildings, I wasn't surprised to learn that Edinburgh is a rather touristy city. The Royal Mile, as they call it, runs from the Holyrood House at the bottom of the hill to Edinburgh Castle at the top - Holyrood house serves as the official Scottish residence of Britains Royal Family. Cafes, shops, and buskers dressed as William Wallace grace the streets of the Royal Mile, which is all-around stunning in its preservation.

(3) Just on the outskirts of central Edinburgh, rest two commanding mountain structures known as Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags. Visiable from pretty much anywhere in the city, it seemed beyond obvious that this was something I would have to climb. Walking there took only about a half hour, and it allowed me to see more of the city outside the touristy areas.

(4) The Firth of Forth is the body of water seen behind me in the distance, as I stand atop Arthur's Seat. The climb only took me about 45 minutes, and it offered some of the finest views of Edinburgh. Really, I didn't spend nearly enough time in this amazing country, and I would have liked to have seen Scotland's highlands. However, this would all have to wait for another future trip - I needed to get back to London for my flight to The Netherlands. This involved a cozy, overnight busride.

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