Of Friendly Locals in Inverness

After 8 European countries and countless interactions with the locals later, I can safely say that the Scottish are the friendliest people in Europe. Example: we are walking down Church Street in Inverness trying to find a place to eat dinner and at the same time, find Hootenanny's, a pub that was supposed to have live Scottish music. We are discussing the horrid music played at clubs these days when suddenly, an older Scottish gentleman inquired as to what kind of music we listened to.

"We're looking for traditional Scottish music," I said.

He then proceeded to lead us to Hootenanny's, recommending it for both the music and the Thai food (strange combination), as well as giving us two more places we could have dinner. There were no questions asked, no creepy aura, only an inherent friendliness and a desire to talk to newcomers.


Inverness, on the bank of the river Ness

We also made small talk with a souvenir shopkeeper the next day, bonding over common experiences in Lucerne and Paris, while realizing that for young Americans, we have traveled and seen quite a lot. He also gave us a map and pointed us towards the bay near town for dolphin watching. Sadly, you needed a car to get there and I again curse my lack of a car.

Apparently, in order to fully enjoy the Scottish Highlands, you need a car. Or you can sign up for a tour of the area, which is what we did, giving us a bus tour of the area and a boat tour.



Which leads us to Loch Ness, where we sailed down the Caledonian Canal that connects Loch Ness to the North Sea and then proceeded to get splashed by cold Loch Ness water while the other passengers laughed at our soaked frames.

Though we did not find Nessie, Loch Ness did not disappoint as it gave us the right amount of grey clouds to make the lake sufficiently foreboding and mysterious. And out of the mists was the picturesque Scottish ruins of Urquhart Castle. It may have been cold, windy, and slightly misty but I expected that from Scotland. What I did not expect were the friendliness of the locals so every place, as my dad would say, does have its good side. And the Scottish music at Hootenanny's ended up being very good. They even played an old American folk song, "Shenandoah." So ends this part of the UK. Next stop: the Lake District.


According to the shopkeeper, Inverness is deep enough to hold 2 Eiffel Towers.

Inverness, the photo album

Of Ghost Hunting in Edinburgh

The wonderful (and I use this term lightly) thing about living in the UK is that winter, unlike California, feels like winter. It is cloudy, rainy, sometimes snowy, and all the time cold. The real cold, under 40 degrees Fahrenheit and actually warranting of wearing hats, scarves, gloves, and (God help me), Ugg boots. However, the downside of the UK in the winter is that traveling around it is not the brightest of ideas, as exhibited by Allison who went to Scotland in April and assured me that was mind-numbingly freezing (especially the water). Which was why we left places like Scotland, Northern England, and Wales for the latter part of our time here. And Paris ended up being the perfect winter destination anyway so no momentum was lost.

And so it brings me to the first of the handful of last travelogue postings: Edinburgh, Scotland. Or as its known to by those who live there, "the most haunted city in the UK." Did we find ghost? Well, you shall see...

Edinburgh, Scotland's main city and the land of 1000 tartan kilts

Like most cities that we have visited so far, we decided to stay as far away from the center of the city as possible (see Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Rome). Yet this time, being cheap did not really bite us in the back since the view we got of the North Sea under the sunset was breathtaking. The water was so clear along the shorelines and since this was the first time I had been on a beach since I've come here, it felt almost like home (well, home sans the frigid water and the beautiful shells that I found).

Then, there was the obligatory castle which, according to our tour guide, was defended against foreign invaders (at one point) by only 30 troops. It looks like building castles on the edge of cliffs does have its perks.

Edinburgh Castle

Yet, this time, it was not the big structures that were unforgettable. Rather, it was the more unconventional things that were memorable. After all, at this point, I have already seen more than my fair share of ancient castles, large museums, and medieval districts (though it won't be the last of it, as you will see in future blog posts). Like, for example, I dined at the Elephant Castle, where JK Rowling first wrote Harry Potter on pieces of napkin. Sadly I did not receive any artistic inspiration while sitting there but the meat pie and tea was pretty good.

The most unconventional thing was, my favorite part, the ghost tour. Thus far, it had only been sight seeing and picturesque moments so to do something like this was out of the ordinary for us. Yet, it was also some of the most fun times that we had on this trip if only because of the (allegedly) true ghost stories that were told as we walked around the Royal Mile (center of medieval Edinburgh). There were stories of bloody public executions consisting of mutilations and public floggings. Then there was one of a wandering ghost in the many closes of old city, of a man who was executed for murder and now takes to walking around in the mists, scaring passersby with his echoing footsteps.

Or of the friendly cobbler ghosts hanging around the underground tunnels of Edinburgh who has a penchant for shoes. I'm not entirely sure if any of this was true since I do not entirely believe in ghosts. Yet, what I do believe is the otherworldly aura of Edinburgh, especially those tunnels, with their cold stillness from lack of air flow. I do agree that there is something about those underground tunnels that did make the hair on the back of your neck stand on ends and your heart to race, despite the fact that nothing was moving there.

There was moment when I did scream and I'm not sure if it was the story (of a woman who awoke from a coma but found herself in a coffin and her fingers being chopped off by grave robbers), the scream the pierced the air that was both mine and the tour guide, or maybe just the claustrophobic nature of those underground rooms and passageways. Let's just say that I was glad to step outside again.

Until we paid a 10PM visit to a cemetery and my friend Allison took a picture of a moon that wasn't there. I'm not so sure if there's anything after death but sometimes...you just don't know.

It looks like a stray camera light but it only shows up in this particular photo.

Edinburgh, the photo album