Today was the start of our return to Edinburgh and the prospect of leaving the Highlands and then Scotland altogether was extremely upsetting. I really have fallen in love with the land. Our day started with a scenic overlook of the lake that looks exactly like the map of Scotland and some group pictures. Unfortunately it was ninja midgee death and when we all hopped back on the bus the midgees came with us. It was uncomfortable to say the least. On our ride down the coast, we were told about the 5 mountains, thought to be created by a wizard out of the five daughters of a man who had broken tradition and married his youngest daughter before his eldest. The five women will remain as mountains until the descendants of the 5 princes they were supposed to be wed to come and kiss the tops of the mountains.
On the way down, we made a quick bathroom break near Hamish, the Scottish bull and his lady friend, Moerash. They are exceptionally hairy and really very cute.
We continued down the coast until we reached the William Wallace monument. Braveheart is ridiculously incorrect, but I’ll leave you to the history books. Suffice it to say that William Wallace did great things, but ended up captured, disemboweled, quartered, and dragged through the countryside. Robert the Bruce, originally a supporter of the King of England, finished what Wallace started and emancipated the Scots from English rule. However, during this process (which took quite some time) Robert the Bruce was ex-communicated. This was a very big deal. While he did become King of the Scots, he wouldn’t be formally recognized because of his ex-communication. His greatest desire therefore was to join in the Crusades and prove to the Church and his people that he truly was King and should not have been ex-communicated. Sadly, he died before he ever made it on a crusade. He asked that his heart be cut from his chest and taken into battle, proving even in death that he was a follower of the Church, but this was not to be as on the way to the Crusades, the group carrying his heart was set upon by the Moors and everyone killed. Before dying, it is said that his second in command, the man carrying his heart in a wooden box, took the box and threw it into a field uttering the words “I’ll follow after you, my Braveheart.” Thus Robert the Bruce was the Braveheart, not Mel Gibson.
We arrived back in Edinburgh around 5 or so and I checked back into the hostel and went and grabbed some pub food with some of the other people on the tour. I had some delicious tomato chutney on a sandwich and a fantastic dessert made with raspberries steeped in honey and scotch whisky (known everywhere else in the world as scotch) and covered with toasted oats and a heavy whipping cream. It was served with shortbread cookies and absolutely amazing. When I got back to the hostel, who should I see but JoHanna!
She had just returned from her own trip around Scotland. I was terrifically excited because neither of us thought that we would see each other again, as she lives in Australia and goes back home in a month or so. It was great fun seeing her and getting caught up during the world cup game that I had been invited to by Paul and some of the other guys at the hostel. After the game, JoHanna and I met some of her friends at a local pub and had a quick drink. I had a ton of stuff to do back at the hostel though, so I made it an early night and sat down to do a little planning. I saw JoHanna one more time before bed and then it was off to sleep because of an early day filled with tons of travel coming up tomorrow. I hop on a plane to Ireland early tomorrow afternoon and then catch a train down to Killarney. I’m terribly sad to be leaving Scotland, but there is just so much more to see. I hope I like it as much as I’ve enjoyed my stay here.
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