Noooooo! Hoy nosotros viajamos Scotland. Nostotros gustamos Ireland, no deseamos viajar en Scotland proque no deseamos ir. Muchas personas en Ireland es moy simpatico, interesante, y alegre ayudar.
Yep you read right, this was my last day in Ireland. This morning we got up and ate our last big Irish breakfast (consists of eggs, toast, black and white pudding-Poppy thinks its liverroast, bacon that's three fingers wide, and sausages). After breakfast we went to the Swinging Bridge. This was another long walk that we appreciated. The hike to the bridge was breezy, quiet, and very pretty. We had the view of the ocean to the left, the face of a cliff to our right, and on either side of the path there were lovely wildflowers. We took plenty of pictures on this walk. Ahmee's stomach was feeling queasy again and the breeze helped her a little bit. As we walked down the path I told Ahmee and Poppy about the sign I'd read before we got the tickets. The sign said that the bridge had been used for salmon fishers to get out to the island where they could get into their boats and go after the delicious fishies.
Once we reached the bridge I decided I was not going to pull a Dustin Clausen. When we went to The City of Rocks in Chattanooga, Tennessee he decided he was going to scare Emma by jumping up and down on the bridge. That bridge had lots of cables in it and was replaced often. The bridge we went across in Ireland didn't have as many cables (so it had more bounce and swing) and I read that it was replaced maybe twice a year. Not a good idea to bounce up and down on that!
After we crossed we went as far as we could up the path and looked around. On the island there was a small cottage that was used as a fisherman’s equipment storehouse. We weren't sure if it was still used or not. The locals said there weren't as many fish as there used to be. At the top of the island there was a section that was fenced off due to the rain they'd gotten there recently. All three of us shook our heads at the people who ignored the safety precaution and went ahead past the ropes. We'd been warned that the pathway was muddy and that the cliffs weren't marked. Later on as we continued walking on the path back to the parking lot we recognized one couple that had ignored the safety precaution. Ahmee pointed out their facial piercings and hoped that they weren't from America (the ugly American leaves a nasty smear on Europeans impression of people from the United States). They weren't from the US, I'm not even sure where they were from to be honest. I don't think it really matters though. You get stupid people everywhere.
Once we made it back to the car we hopped back in and drove back towards the village. We made sure to stop at the run down castle to take a picture, we didn't have enough time to walk through. After that we were on the road, and just like the ritual, I pulled out my books and the laptop and did my homework until my stomach began to protest. If I read or write in the back of the car on a windy road I get carsick. It's why many times I end up writing these blogs just before I go to sleep. Hopefully that will explain my poor punctuation and spelling skills. Oh wait! No it won't, I had those to begin with!
At any rate, I was busy reading over my notes and over my books on the road. I didn't stop until we got to Belfast where we dropped off our europcar, our rental car, at the airport. Once we'd handed over the car we grabbed our bags and found a taxi to take us to the ferry. We only caught a glimpse of the city from the taxi, which is a shame because I'm pretty sure that we all wanted to explore some more. We had taken root in Ireland and we didn't want to leave.
At the ferry stop we had a small language issue. When we went up to get our tickets (ferry over and a train ticket to Edinburgh to pick up the car) Ahmee and Poppy had a hard time understanding the man at the desk. Later when we were waiting for the ferry to arrive I told them that every person I'd heard so far had a different accent. This is actually normal. I've come to expect a whole lot of different accents whenever we're in a transportation area. Think about it. In airports you're going to have all sorts of people heading out to many different places and all of these people are from an even greater variety of places. Its fun to listen to the hum of the voices around you in these areas. Even more fun to be nosey and listen in on conversations. Unfortunately I didn't get to do this. I was still busy reading up on US Government and AP US History. The people who were sitting across from me probably thought I was an idiot for being in Europe and focusing on the US instead of Europe. I have to admit, it can be difficult to concentrate on your US Government book and how your countries government works when you're in a completely different place looking at a different government and wondering how IT works. I remember how one time Iain told me that the US Constitution was just a copy of the Magna Carta. I wish we could go over the Magna Carta as well as the Constitution. We are a country that is a combination of many different cultures and ideas, why can't we pay a bit more attention to the different ideas that helped lead us to the system we have today? I'm going to look up the Magna Carta, and other things, whenever I get internet again.
Back to the ferry though. We all loaded on and at first I was a little worried. I've been on two different ferries one in New York, NY, and one in Canada. The one in NYC was small and had an open top to it and not very many places to sit. The one in Canada was huge and it had lots of places to sit, eat, drink, and look out the windows. The Canada one I got to feeling sick because it rocked a lot and shook, I ended up having to go up to the top deck to get some fresh air. This ferry from Ireland to Scotland was bigger than the one for Canada. I was worried at the beginning of the ferry-ride about whether or not my stomach would stay put. I didn't need to worry.
Even though we sat at the back where you could feel the motor running, I didn't once feel sick. This is very surprising because the back end shook so much that glasses in the restaurant were shaking and the revolving chair I was sitting in would turn every so often because of the boats movement. For a short period of time I put my books aside so I could say goodbye to Ireland. I watched out the back window as the mountains kept getting smaller and smaller. I then picked up my books for about fifteen minutes. Only reason I didn't study longer was Ahmee wanted me to check out the rest of the ferry. I discovered that this particular ferry was designed to go very fast to get to its destination and that it had: a movie theater in the back, a game room towards the back, a toddler playplace in the back, several restaurants in the middle, a shopping area in the middle where I could've bought designer items for super low prices (for designer that is), the front had a "quiet area" where people weren't allowed to make much noise because most people wanted to rest, and the front also had a nail salon. I was tempted by the nail salon, by the shops, and by the movie theater. Towards the end of the ferry-ride Ahmee went and watched the movie that was playing. A little bit after she went I joined her. I have no idea what we were watching and neither does Ahmee.
Once we got off the ferry we found out, like so many other people, that the ferry had left the port late and so we had missed the train to Edinburgh. We were told not to worry, that a bus was going to take us to a different train. Ahmee, Poppy, and I all sat in different aisles. Ahmee sat with a lovely woman from Canada, I should know, I listened to their conversation throughout most of the trip. Poppy sat with an older man who didn't talk much. I next to a man who edged away from me and clung to his suitcase when I sat down. We didn't talk at all, but I think that that was fine by the both of us since we both had a good time listening to the people around us and looking at the scenery. Scotland and Ireland are very similar, so I wasn't disappointed. I love the way they both look. This busride lasted at least 45 minutes and many people laughed at their luck every time we got to an area where construction was being done to the road. We'd slow and sometimes stop. The people on the bus were a boisterous and lively bunch, picking on each other, laughing at past occurrences, laughing at their luck so far that day it was very entertaining to just sit and listen.
Later on the train this same bunch quieted down because it was getting very late. The quiet was interrupted however. A group of 31 men got on the train to Glasgow. They had already had quite a few drinks and they were going out for the weekend to party, it was a very large bachelor party. One guy got on the train, took a look at me sitting by myself and exhaled very loudly. Next thing I knew there were five different guys sitting around me. At first I didn't say anything to them, I was watching them to see if I needed to move. The guy next to me refused to look at me, the others were busy talking, and I caught the guy in front of me staring. I started talking to the guy in front of me. We had a good time asking each other where the other was going and what we were going to be doing. He was very interested in the fact that I was traveling all over Europe with my grandparents, and that I got such a great opportunity. He then asked how I like Scotland so far and this question made the guy next to me sit up and begin going on and on about how Scotland was "completely fucked up, so many fucking problems with fuckin Scotland. I can't even see why people would want to fuckin come here...." He went on for ages and ages as the other guys tried to shush him. After the guy in front of me told him he needed to shutup because I was a good girl the guy next to me looked at me and asked, "Do you care if I cuss?" I told him that no, I honestly didn't, but that my grandparents definitely did. He shrugged, said that that didn't matter, and continued with his rant about "fuckin Scotland". Five seconds later I was sitting across from Ahmee. She had me switch seats with Poppy. This switch in seats caused the guy to shut up for the remainder of the trip. The guy who sat directly in front of me wasn't embarrassed in the least at being caught staring at me.
Once the train stopped in Glasgow we went to another station where we hoped on a train to Edinburgh. This train-ride was much quieter and I believe I fell asleep for a short period of time. Once we got to the Edinburgh station we got in line to get a taxi. After waiting for 30 minutes to get a taxi we were finally able to load our luggage in and sit down. We didn't go anywhere though because we didn't have the address of the hotel that Poppy had booked, the Premier Inn. There were many in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Poppy hadn't written down the address or the phone number. He had written down flimsy directions that sent us to a different Premier Inn where Poppy showed them our booking number and got turned down. The booking number told the taxi cab driver where to go though and he took us to our Inn where we dragged all of our belongings in and pretty much dropped into the beds.
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