The bus for Skye left at 8:00 am. From Stirling, we made our way towards Perth to pick up something for lunch. Katelin and I were really excited for this, because we stopped at an Asda (the Walmart-y story we tried to go to last weekend). It was pretty awesome. I could have spent quit a few hours in good old Asda, but we just went in, grabbed some lunch, and head to the McDonald's across the street to get breakfast. I decided that eating pancakes on a bus was probably not the best of ideas, so I got a sausage, egg and cheese bagel. And it's a good thing I didn't get pancakes, because the bus driver wouldn't let us take "hot food" onto the bus. So, standing in the middle of a parking lot eating McDonald's was a fun way to start my day.
In Perth, we also picked up our tour guides. This was the end of my silent bus journey. Now, I grew to really like Andy for the most part, but at 9:00 in the morning, her enthusiasm grated on my nerves. She also didn't understand moderation. As in, I don't need to hear the entire story in great detail if it doesn't have a purpose. Also, she had really bad taste in music that she insisted on blasting on the bus. Oh, and the fact that every time she saw a coo she yelled (usually over the bus microphone) "sexy coos". Which got really annoying considering coos aren't exactly a rarity in the highlands. But overall, Andy was fine.
Here is Andy. My first issue was the fact that her kilt was so short. She pointedly told us that she had shorts on underneath.
Once we left Perth, we headed for a look out point called the Queen's View. I'm going to be honest, I didn't listen to the story about this (the whole Andy moderation thing), but here is how my friend Dana explained its significance to me. The Queen (the current Queen) stopped here and had tea and really liked the view. So, now it's know as the Queen's View.
Here it is. It was really pretty.
I had a great time at the Queen's View. Here is why. Andy said "now we're going to go for a wee walk" (annoyance point number 1: all of the guides majorly played up the whole Scottish accent thing. It was really annoying. I've been here for over 2 months. I know whenever you're over-playing your accent). Now, judging by Andy's intense hiking boots, I figured that the "wee walk" was not going to be for me. So, whenever I began to follow Andy and she promptly frolicked down what looked like the steepest path in Scotland, I backed out. So, I had a lovely time at the Queen's View because 1) I had the gift shop and bathroom all to myself, 2) I had the viewing area all to myself and 3) I managed to find out from my IFSA rep, who I was rooming with (Katelin, which made me very happy). So, I felt very happy as everyone came huffing and puffing up the cliff. I had a very productive time while they went for their "wee walk".
Then, we got back on the bus and headed to Aviemore for lunch. Aviemore was cold. That's really what sticks out in my mind about it. That and the discovery that my Asda lunch was kind of disgusting. Thus, Katelin, Brittany and I found a Tesco and bought food. Then, after watching everyone using the grubby Tesco bathroom, found a hotel spa where we found the best bathroom. It was huge, empty and had free hand lotion. We rubbed this fact into everybody's faces.
After that, we went to Culloden battle field.
This is the battle field. It's very flat for Scotland, which is why the Scots lost so badly. Here is the story (the edited edition, because the Andy edition would take forever to type out). Once upon a time, there was a prince named Bonnie Prince Charlie. He was the son of a King of Scotland who was exiled in Italy. So, good old Bonnie Prince Charlie (he was called this because he was "beautiful like a woman"...Andy's words) decided to try to reclaim Scotland for his father. This battle field is where Bonnie Prince Charlie fought the English and managed to lose within a half in hour. It was pretty brutal. It's significant because pretty much everything went downhill for Scotland after this battle.
After the battle field, we finally made our way to the Isle of Skye, the town of Kyleakin to be specific. We got to our hotel and found our rooms. I was pretty happy with the hotel. I got to room with my friend Katelin and had a nice fluffy bed, a TV, and a bathtub; the makings of a happy weekend.
Here is the hotel. It was quite cute.
All that we did for the rest of the day was go to dinner, where we found a statue of a coo, and watched TV. Overall, it was a pretty successful day.
I have no idea why this statue was there, but I thought it was pretty cool.
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