For those of you who are not too familiar with the cities in Scotland, Inverness is a city in the northern portion of the country. It is known as the "Capital of the Highlands" and is the largest city close to Loch Ness. That is right, THE Loch Ness where the infamous aquatic monster, Nessie, is thought to dwell.
Anyway, the three of us set off on our excursion Saturday morning. Things did not quite go as planned as soon as we arrived at the train station. We had all purchased our tickets ahead of time online and were to pick them up at the electronic ticket machine at the station. We were running a little behind (at this point we only had 10ish min until our train departed), and Esther gets her ticket with no problem. Then it was my turn to get my ticket. I enter my collection number and instead of saying printing tickets, the screen said tickets already printed, please see person in ticket office. In a panic, I rush over to the ticket line, and fortunately a nice gentleman allowed me to take his place in the queue after I explained that my train was leaving in 5 min! I get to the counter and give the man my destination and confirmation number. He then tells me that since it says it has already printed there is nothing he can do about it. I was rather flustered so I just said give me another ticket to Inverness. Ticket in hand, Esther, Lauren and I run down the stairs and walked out of the doors just as our train was arriving. We get on in the nick of time and finally we are on our way.
It does not hit me until we are all sitting down on the train that when I bought my ticket (again...grrr!) the man said something about me going on a route where I would change trains in Perth...this is not the route we had originally purchased, nor the route that Esther and Lauren were to take, nor was I on the proper train for such a route. I look at my ticket and sure enough it says from Dundee to Inverness with a route of Aviemore (yet another place that I will not get to on the train I was on).
Needless to say, at this point I start freaking out. I was on a train to Aberdeen with Esther and Lauren, which they were supposed to be on, and I was not. The whole time I was a hot mess worrying about what would happen if they realized I was not supposed to be on this train. I'm sure I was rather annoying to my travel buddies, but I was very worried about being kicked off or having to pay even more money for taking the wrong train! Luckily, nobody came around to check our tickets between Dundee and Aberdeen so I was in the clear...for this stretch of the journey at least.
In Aberdeen we make our way to the train for Inverness. Again, I start to panic at the thought that again I would be on the wrong train. We had been on the train for a little while when they came around asking for tickets. Heart beating loudly in my ears, I handed my ticket and rail card over to the gentleman, and I am met with a "Cheers, that's fine thanks" as he punched my ticket. I let out a huge sigh of relief and realize that I would not be getting kicked off the train. I could now sit back and prepare myself for the marvelous adventures Inverness would bring.
After arriving to Inverness, we make our way to our hostel. We were pleased to discover that this hostel was way nicer (really you can't even compare, that is how much better) than the hostel where we stayed in Paris. We were met by a friendly staff and daffodils on the coffee table next to a stack of Inverness travel books. After settling into our room, we decide our next plan of action: visit Loch Ness and do some monster hunting.
We were met with this lovely Unicorn monument/statue in Inverness.
We set out and make our way to the bus station. We buy our tickets for the bus and get directions from the nice lady behind the counter. We have a little time to kill before the bus leaves, so we wander around the neighborhood a wee bit. In fact, the bus station was right across from the public library, so we decided to take a peek inside. Before we knew it, it was time for our bus!
En route to Loch Ness, which is about a half hour bus ride from Inverness, we got to gaze out the windows at the breath-taking Scottish countryside. Excitement hit us as soon as we caught sight of the Loch. In fact, the road went right alongside the Loch and it was very cool. The bus dropped us off at Urquhart Castle, which is right along the Loch. We make our way down to the visitor's center, but then are hit with a realization. The castle closes at 6 pm, our bus arrived at 5:20 pm, however, the last admission to the castle is 45 min prior to closing. This meant we missed the chance to go inside the castle by 5 min!!
Urquhard Castle on Loch Ness.
Since this was not the first mishap of the day we merely burst out in laughter when we realized what happened. To make things even more entertaining, our return bus did not come until 7:15, which meant we had almost 2 hours to kill in the parking lot of the castle since we couldn't even go on the castle grounds due to the fences and gates. This was met by even more laughter and some creativity to pass the time. We took lots of pictures of the outside of the castle and gazed at the unattainable. To knock a few minutes off the clock we planned more adventures to be had, including visiting Loch Lomond, Edinburgh, and Alnwick Castle (where some of Harry Potter was filmed). Oh, we also searched the waters for a glimpse of Nessie, but since the Loch is 23 miles long, there is plenty of water for it to hide in. Unfortunately no monster sightings occurred :-(
One of the many pictures taken to pass the time...I was quite excited to see the outside of the castle.
Beautiful Loch Ness.
Sheep and Loch Ness, what could possibly be more Scottish?
It is lambing season, so there are baby sheep everywhere! They are so cute and fluffy!
Beautiful green space. A much needed escape from Dundee.
We then decided to wander around. Since there wasn't that much to explore, we ended up walking on a sidewalk that ran along the road. We found some wonderful photo ops of the castle and the Loch. While we were wandering, we realized just how beautiful the landscape was. Everything was all green and there were fields galore dotted with sheep. We then came across a group of men appearing to be dressing in the middle of the sidewalk. Not sure what they were doing we stood there awkwardly, trying not to disrupt them. After a double-take I realized that they were getting ready to go fishing! They were carrying nets and poles and putting on hip-waders. After a few minutes, they noticed we were standing there, so one of them asked us if we wanted to go fishing. I said (jokingly) "Sure! Got any spare hip-waders?" To this they responded, where are you from? I said Dundee, and this was met my hysterical laughter. Then one of them responded with "Dundee? Not with that accent!!!" I finally admitted we were just studying in Dundee and from the U.S. Then, some more things were said, but they had REALLY thick accents so we really did not know what they were saying, so we stood there awkwardly some more and then casually walked away. I'm sure we gave them a great impression of Americans!
Our fisherman friends (they are the tiny black dots in the field) heading toward the water.
When it finally came time to catch our bus back to Inverness, we decided our trip to the castle was not all a bust because at least it was not raining and we got to appreciate the scenery much more. After arriving back in the city we found a pub to eat dinner. As we sat in the pub, we noticed the apparel the people were wearing was getting dressier as time wore on. Upon leaving, we see a sign that said "Smart Casual Dress Only." Once again, we start laughing, because none of us were wearing anything remotely close to pass the dress code. We must have arrived before they started enforcing this rule. After some ice cream at McDonald's we went back to our hostel to get rested up for the following day.
Downtown Inverness.
Sunday we woke up in decent time, ate breakfast and checked out of the hostel. Our plan for the day was to head to Ft. George, which is an 18th century artillery base that is still active today. It was built to protect Scotland from the Highlanders who were trying to overtake the government in the 1700s. Again we made our way to the bus station and caught the bus that would put us on our way.
The bus driver was so kind as to drop us off as close to the Fort that he could, even though it was not an actual bus stop. However, even though he did his best, it was still a 20 min. walk down this little country road to get to the Fort. It had been sunny when we left that morning, however as we were walking the sky was growing ominous and the wind was picking up. Before we knew it sprinkles were falling and we were getting blown to bits. My camp songs came in handy to pass the time on the walk and we enjoyed the scenery of a chicken farm and some coos (cows).
Chicken "skate park" we passed on the walk.
Once we got to the Fort the sun was back out...silly Scottish weather! We bought our tickets and spent the next few hours exploring the really cool fort!
Entering Ft. George. Apparently these big ditches used to be flooded when they were under attack.
The bridge that leads to the inside of the fort where the barracks are.
The barracks that still house soldiers.
Ariel view of some of the Fort. 
The amazing view from the fort.
Amazing travel buddies/wonderful friends!
We decided to catch a 2:38 bus back into Inverness since our train was leaving at 5:15 and we wanted to be able to wander around the city a little more before leaving. We found the bus stop with plenty of time to ensure we would not miss the bus. 2:38 came and went and there was no bus. 3:00 came and went, still no bus. 3:15: no bus. At this point we were getting really worried. Why would they sell us a return ticket if there weren't going to be anymore buses? There HAD to be a bus! We were getting so desperate we even stood along the road with our thumbs out hoping some kind person would take pity on us and give us a lift into Inverness. Finally, a nice lady (who had just arrived home with her family, I might add) asked if we needed a ride. We explained that we had been waiting for the bus for an hour and a half and it hadn't come. She said that if it hadn't come by the time she returned from the post office she would give us a ride. We were so thankful for her offer!
Fortunately, just as she arrived back to us, the bus passed on its way to turn around. We were so delighted and relieved that we would not have to make this kind lady go out of her way for us. We thanked her once again for her kindness and got on the bus back to Inverness. Ahh to rely on public transportation...
Back in Inverness we purchased postcards and snacks and waited for our train. Again, panic started to hit me about the fact that I still had wrong tickets. I just went with the flow and I was not kicked off and no other problems came our way. I guess this just comes to show that as long as the date on your train ticket is correct, and you have a ticket in the first place, they aren't too fussed if you are actually on the proper train.
We finally made it back to Dundee and were very worn out. It was as if we had been gone for weeks and we had only been gone for 2 days! I said my goodbye to Lauren, who was leaving the next morning for her Easter Holiday adventures! It is weird that I will not see these people who I have grown so close to for almost three weeks. I guess it is just a preview of the end of the semester. However, there are many more adventures to be had, and I cannot wait to embark on them!
Speaking of adventures, in a week I will be on my way to Barcelona! Until then, I must get some studying done...UGH! Work before fun...I guess.
Go on an adventure with wonderful people the next opportunity you get!
Cheers!
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