[Skye] See You!!!

It’s Halloween! Hence the creepy title “punning” on “I see you!” which just sounds creepy. I didn’t have a scary weekend though. I had an amazing one. So, here it goes.

This weekend, Dorothy, Adrienne and I went to the Isle of Skye. After walking to every wrong pick-up spot suggested by Apple Maps, we finally made it onto our bus. We went on an International Students Tour with kids attending universities all over (i.e. Glasgow, St. Andrews, and all over Edinburgh.)

The tour guide on our bus was from Glasgow, and clearly wanted to find the love of his life on this bus. He was making romantic references all throughout the bus-ride, and playing suggestive songs, as well as literally telling people he was single and looking for love. It was great and not weird at all. (He was really funny though.)

The tour was two-days long, and we spent most of it on the bus. We made several stops throughout, and here are the highlights (if not all of the stops.)

Our first stop was Loch Lomond in Luss (Now I know the Loch Lomond song–and I know how to pronounce ‘Lomond’!!)

It was very cloudy both days of our trip, but the mist was ~mystifying~ (haha.) It was really beautiful, and we got to walk along the beach while at this stop.

Here are views from Loch Garry and Loch Tulla. If you can’t tell, Scotland is beautiful (even when it’s extremely cloudy and visibility is low.)

Along this ride, I had to explain my name to a guy from Glasgow. I thought that since my name was Welsh, people here knew it and had heard of it before. This weekend proved me so wrong. I thought the teachers here had learned my name so quickly because of how common it is (Rather than, in America, when teachers learn my name because they ask me a million questions about how to pronounce it.) I guess the teachers here just know my name for similar reasons in the US, and probably because of how often I’ve panicked and emailed them.

Another life lesson learned on this trip is that I will probably never fully understand Scottish accents. I think I’ve mentioned that I’m not surrounded by a bunch of locals here–I’m making friends with people from all over the world, yet I only know about four people actually from Scotland. Our bus driver and tour guide were cracking jokes with one another the entire time, and it took me until day two (When Dorothy mentioned she’d been eavesdropping on their funny conversations) to realize that they weren’t speaking in Gallic. Now, I’m aware of the issue with the Scottish accents and why they’re so confusing…

First off, the accents vary greatly by region (I realize this happens in most places, including the US.) But it’s a huge difference. People from Glasgow don’t pronounce most of the second half of their words! Additionally, they speak to big crowds of people in different accents than they speak to one another (The pitch and cadence changes (As with anyone public speaking), but the way they pronounce their words does as well!) It’s so confusing. And I’m probably never going to be able to walk along the streets and understand everyone here (Which is sad because last week I totally thought I’d mastered it, and walking to class this morning, I realized this is so untrue.)

But moving on from the struggled of never understanding a word spoken by locals, I actually am getting to see lots of Scotland. I think I’ll actually probably end up hitting all of the areas by the time I leave, except for Aberdeen and Stirling. (Should I try to go to those places as well?)

Here is Eileen Donan Castle. Its located at the meeting points o Loch Alsh, Loch Long, and Loch Duich. It’s one of Scotland’s many castles.

This tour took us all over the Highlands on the first day. We stopped in Fort William for lunch (and ate with our ever-so-flirty tour guide, Ryan.) And saw many more fun places. So many classic Harry Potter areas (and places where Skyfall was filmed–like Glencoe.)

We ended the first day, exhausted and carsick (our bus was extremely bumpy), and stayed in a hostel in Kyleakin, Isle of Skye!

This is a run-down boat in front of Castle Moil in Kyleakin. It’s probably the only photo I’ll ever edit…because…is the pop of blue really worth it?

We met so many great people in Skye, and hung out with them and had dinner that night. The sun set extremely early, so at 6, it felt like 9pm. We went to two restaurant/pubs and had a few drinks and bonded over our study abroad experiences. It was much fun.

The next day, we woke up bright and early again (Although, less extreme because of Daylight Saving Time.)

Dorothy, Adrienne, Nina (New friend thanks to IS Tours), and me atop a mountain.

Our first stop that second day was a very strenuous hike up to see the Old Man of Storr and the Trotternish Peninsula.

Our next two stops were both pretty waterfalls. The one on the left was Kilt Rock and Sound of Raasay (with a waterfall called Mealt Fall going into Loch Mealt) and the one on the right is Lealt Gorge and Lealt Falls (where Kanye filmed one a music video for one of his newer songs. The Kanye stop was covered in sheep poop (Literally, it was an obstacle course to avoid stepping in it. I’m scarred forever. Who knew sheep could poop THAT much?!?) Made me wonder how Yeezy would’ve looked dodging all of the sheep feces. (Hmmm.)

Then we went and had lunch at a place called “Well Plaid” which was such a clever name for a restaurant. Well played, Well Plaid. Well played.

I got fish and chips and it was actually not too bad. The fish was haddock (which is actually why I got it.) I now realize it isn’t the fish I don’t like in the fish and chips. Its the chips. I don’t like french fries here, and that’s a personal problem. But, I’ll live.

Fish and Chips in Scotland are much better than in Ireland. There, I said it.

Our last stop in Skye was Sligachan, where you’re supposed to dip your face in the (actually very clear) water for 7 seconds for eternal youthfulness. There’s a longer story behind it, but that’s the brief summary of it. Obviously, I dipped my face in.

I was so excited and nervous to dip my face in the FREEZING water of Sligachan that I actually forgot to take a breath of air before I went down. I quickly realized that with the fast heart rate I had (because I was nervous to do this) I would be unable to hold my breath in extremely cold water for 7 seconds, and had to get a breath of fresh air before I did this. So, I came back up and had my friend restart the video (because isn’t that what it’s all about?) The second time I did it, I also forgot to take a breath of air in before going under (I was so nervous!! I’d only seen one other person go before me) but I just went with it and survived the seven seconds.

Unfortunately, I cannot upload the video on this website. But this is proof that it happened.

Sligachan was our last stop before the long journey back to Edinburgh, so everyone dipped their faces in the water. It was so funny and so weird. I even got a picture of everyone dipping their faces in, because of how ridiculous it looked, but that picture is for another day.

I’ll end this blog with a picture of the amazing sun shining through on Sligachan and wish you a very scary halloween. Is your Halloween as scary as mine? I just failed a midterm probably. Ok, bye!! Or should I say, “Boo!!” (No, I shouldn’t. See you next week.)

I dipped my face in this very water. Wow this is a fantastic picture. Did I really take this? Even I’m shocked.