Scotland

At the end of June, we spent about 10 days in Scotland. Most of the time was spent with our friends in Aberdeen, but we did a little tour in a clockwise direction around the country, starting and ending in Edinburgh.

Fort Williams

Even though it was very rainy and cold, we set out on some nice hikes near town.

Castles and Druid Stones

The thing about Scotland is you can just drive to an abandoned castle just about anywhere. We went to an old castle near Aberdeen that was just set out in a field with a trail from the road.

We also went to Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven which cost about $20 to get in, but was well worth it. William Wallace had visited this castle and it also hid the Scottish Royal Jewels during Oliver Cromwell’s time.

On one of our castle excursions, we visited a quiet soft hilltop with standing stones arranged 800 years ago. We just happened to be there just after the Summer Solstice so we encountered somekind of pentagram arrangement with roses and pomegranate.

Loch Ness

We visited the Loch Ness museum, which I had actually been to in the late ’90’s when I travelled to the UK as a young backpacker. It has made significant upgrades, very impressive. The interesting thing about it was it actually doesn’t promote the belief in the monster, it is more nuanced and neutral. We also got to have a visit with a Hanoi friend who is living in Inverness for a bit.

Ceres Highland Games

We had the most Scottish day ever when we went to the Ceres Highland Games, watched giant men do the caber toss, and young men have a raucous fist fight by the port-a-potties.

This is Scotland’s oldest highland games, going back 800 years and blessed by King Robert the Bruce.

The caber toss champion was “Mr. Intensity” who is not Scottish. He is Czech.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is a working industrial city that saw an oil boom in the ’80s and ’90’s.

During the Summer, the sun sets at about 11:00pm. We would go to dinner, friends would have some pints, and then we could watch the sun set and then walk home in the twilight. At one Turkish restaurant, they had a cologne vending machine that would spay you with your favorite scent to really turn up the night vibes.

One day, we went for a long walk along the shore near Trump’s golf course. I guess it has been a popular activity for people to sneak onto the course and poop in the holes. We abstained.

In the sand, someone had written “Happy Birthday William Wallace.”

Edinburgh

This is a very beautiful city, but we did not take many photos. We mainly walked around, got dinner from the grocery store and ate in the park, taking in the views.

One day we hiked up the Salisbury Crags for the view and ended up accidentally witnessing some kind of royal wedding of someone of importance in the Royal Castle at the edge of town.