Scotland

This weekend we had a group trip to Edinburgh, Scotland and it was an amazing trip. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and it is on the southern shore of the firth of forth. We took the train and it was about a 5 hour ride on a pretty nice train. We played some cards on the way up with a couple of guys who were headed to New Castle and they gave us a briefing on Scotland. Told us we definitely have to check out New Castle if we like Edinburgh so looks like I'm going to have to check that out. We stayed in a pretty nice hostel called Smart City Hostel and all 6 of the guys stayed in one room. Next was a walking tour around 17:30 and it was pretty interesting to learn about Scottish tradition.

I knew about their infamous food haggis but I had no clue how big it was over there. Haggis is a specialty dish that has the sheep's heart, lung, and liver wrapped in the sheep's stomach. Popular folklore has provided theories of where it came from. One is that the dish originates from the days of the old Scottish cattle drivers. When the men left the highlands to drive their cattle to market in Edinburgh the women would prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the glens. They used the ingredients that were most readily available in their homes and conveniently packaged them in a sheep's stomach allowing for easy transportation during the journey.

Everywhere we went they tried to incorporate haggis into it whether it was in it, sprinkled on or was haggis flavored. I decided I had to try it and couldn't go into Scotland without giving it a taste. I ordered some at a small restaurant because there was a sign that said "best haggis in town." So ultimately I believed them.. which was probably a bad idea. I tried one bite of it and decided I couldn't finish it. Swallowing it was a pretty difficult task and after I thought it was going to come back up. I'm not sure if I thought too much into it or if the taste was just really that bad but it was not for me. Everyone said you should try it with potatoes which I didn't know I had to ask specifically for. Well at least I gave it a shot. It's crazy to think that the have kept that tradition alive for this long. Whether or not they love it or just say they do to keep the tradition alive, the Scottish people live and die by that food. It stands for who they are and where they come from.

On Saturday we went on a very long journey to Loch Ness to see the monster. The view going up was just amazing and the mountains were breathtaking. It was very early though and the ride was brutal so most of the crew was passed out. Riding on a bus for that long is very difficult and can ware you out. It was also frustrating because everywhere we stopped on the way we could only stop for a couple of minutes and we weren't able to stop, relax and take in the view. For anyone that is thinking about doing this trip I would only do it if you are in Scotland for more than 3 days and prepare for a serious travel day to see it.

The thing that I was enjoying the most from the trip was the Scottish accent that everyone had. It was insanely difficult to understand them but it was also just maniacal to see that an entire group of people all understood each other when mumbling so quickly. The language that they used was hard to get used to at the start but after really working on listening to them after a while I started to pick up the expressions and phrases they used. Also the great thing about Scotland was how people just loved to hear Americans talk. It doesn't matter what you had to say as long as you were talking everyone wanted to hear what you had to say.