Scotland in one shot...

Scotland has literally everything to offer an individual... provided that you are willing to withstand the chilly winters in Europe...
I started my Scottish trip out in Scotland's capital and definitely most charming city, Edinburgh. Edinburgh is such a gorgeous city with cobblestone walls and literally elderly buildings and of course the castle. Lottie and I did the tourist thing my first day here which was really wonderful. We took a tour of the castle and walked around The Meadows, etc. But the most exciting part of my first weekend here was celebrating Lottie's birthday. We went out with all her "mates" to a club called The Jam House. I was expecting a regular club with hip hop music and such which I am not usually the biggest fan of. But it was totally not like that. They had a live band that played loads of mainstream varieties from old 70's to current favs. We did LOADS of dancing and I really enjoyed myself! As you can see...





Next stop, GLASGOW. Glasgow is Scotland's most populated city, and could not be more different than Edinburgh. It's really busy and FULL of a much younger crowd. My friend Thom whom Emi and I met in Guatemala lives in Glasgow, so we met up with him for a beer which was a wonderful little treat. Although we all ended up having intense politically debates all evening... I guess the problems with drunks are the same worldwide. Thom ended the evening with a "wonderful to see you again, Krissie... see you again... never!?" UGH - why do boys have to be so realistic? BAH!



Loch Lomond was next on our Scotsdale trek! For those of you who don't know, Loch in Scottish means LAKE... and they get immensely offended when you use lake in its place.... ok!? Anyways, the LOCH Lomond is really tremendously gorgeous. Our hostel was little a castle - HUGE! AND sooooo pretty from the outside... inside... ariiiight... but outside incredible. In fact, the inside is quite a bit eery. We arrived around 11AM and there wasn't ANYONE in sight! SO strange! We wandered around the entire building which was huge, as you can imagine. NOBODY. Just birds chirping. So weird. We waited about 25 mins and eventually a guy came and let us in saying they weren't a 24 hour hostel and that they kick everyone out during the day. They actually make you do touristy things. I guess that doesn't entirely suck since the area is really terrific. Until you start chatting to some Dutch guys who don't know when to give in... other than that ;)




Lottie's family is remarkably wonderful. Her parents have been together since they were about our age and they have only just now decided to get married. It's really romantic, if you ask me. They are also quite hilarious together - bantering back and forth and teasing each other constantly. I really hope that I can find a shaving of that kind of relationship one of these days. Growing up Lottie and her fam annually took their 'holidays' up to Northern Scotland to a little wee island called Iona. It's literally like 3 square miles and totally adorable. Quite the trek to get out there too... bus, train, another bus, TWO ferries... WHEW! WORTH it though!!! The pictures say all! It was so quiet and gorgeous. And Lottie got to "recharge her battery", as she would say :) The hostel was incredibly gorgeous and probably the nicest one I have stayed in - HOWEVER, the people that it attracted were a very eccentric bunch. The island is a really religious place because it hads this amazing Abbey. So, you get quite a large number of devout Christians and some can be... well, INTERESTING! But I wouldn't change a bit. It was an wonderful experience and I am so, so, so, so grateful to Lottie for sharing it!

Amsterdam is all the rave

TWO AM California time, I landed safely and securely in Amsterdam for about a ten hour layover. Somehow I managed to secure a middle seat on my FOREVER long flight to the UK which was strategically placed in front on the most rude and inconsiderate people on the flight possible. So I was mighty tired when we landed but I was SET to see Amsterdam in the short period of time that I had. Luckily, my friend Alex whom I met in Nicaragua lives fairly close to Amsterdam so I had a GREAT tour guide for the day! Alex, his sister and his wonderful red headed friend Ruben met me at the train station and we set about the streets of Amsterdam. We had SUCH a blast!
First we stopped to get some famous Amsterdam "chips" which are normally loaded with mayonaise, but I got mine with ketchup which Alex thought was gross, of course. Then we stopped at a pub to get some beers and they were TINY! I ordered myself a large beer, but Alex and Jojo's we just itty bitty. The bartender said that's the "Dutch" way....small. OK? I want mine big anyways. :)
We took a MUST stroll through the red light district but it was more strange than anything else. There are women dancing in their underwear in every window. Some were actually quite attractive but most were not at all pleasing to the eye for various reasons. The coolest thing I found in the red light district was actually a vibrator that connects to your ipod and then actually moves to the beat of the music. It was called the NautiPod... NICE! They were quite expensive otherwise I may have brought one back to the U.S!
NEXT, on our way to the coffee shops that don't sell coffee at all, I was almost killed by a bicyclist. I was walking around aimlessly in the streets, totally not looking where I was going at all and a cyclist rode by me REALLY fast. This would have been just fine because he missed hitting me, except that his handle bars grasped my scarf which was double wrapped around my neck and it pulled so tight that I was really choking! Luckily the scarf was yarn and it eventually pulled through otherwise I am pretty sure I would have DIED!
Lastly with the little bits of time left, we did a boat tour because it had started to rain. The boat called "prinses Christina" took us all around Amsterdam, but honestly I didn't pay it TOO much attention because we had great Dutch beers and enjoyed each other's company much more!
I arrived at the Amsterdam airport which is HUGE and super confusing totally buzzed and VERY lost. It took a bit to figure out where I was going and to pick up some luggage that I had locked into a luggage locker but I figured it all out eventually. Amsterdam all done I set out for Scotland!!! HOOORRAY!