But before that, on Tuesday, we spent ALL day reading Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song.
Thursday morning we drove to Oban, a town on the west coast of Scotland, and rode a ferry to the Isle of Mull. But when I say ferry, I basically mean a cruise ship. It was huge. From there, we drove our mini bus, infamously known as "the rolling ketchup bottle," to Tobermory. It's a super cute, and very small, town at the north end of Mull. There is a red, yellow, and blue building; it is probably the most well-known thing about Tobermory. We went there. No big deal. I stayed at my first hostel and paid 2 pounds for a towel. I have learned my lesson and will be bringing a towel from now on. Anyways, Cat eventually figured out how to close the window, therefore saving us from the cold, cold air flowing in. We still put a comforter in from of the window though. Madi told us some superrr funny stories. Well, it's more like Madi just has some awesome voices that she pulls out every now and then. The hostel was pretty ghetto, but overall a good experience.
The next day, Friday, we drove all over Mull. We took the scenic route down to the ferry over to Iona. The roads were one lane with random places for passing. I don't really know how to describe it besides terrifying. Along the way we stopped at Calgary Bay, AKA the beach! It was rainy and windy, but it was a lot of fun. I got some sweet sea shells. They're kind of pointy instead of round. I'll need to do more research on what that means.
The ferry to Iona was much smaller than our first ferry. Only residents are allowed to have cars on the island and it's a shorter distance, so that might have something to do with it. Anyways, we all get off the ferry and gather back into a group. A few people had gone to the bathroom so we waited for them to come back, but Heather didn't come back... She had fallen asleep in the ferry and didn't get off! So funny. Anyways, we went to a restaurant right by the pier to get some dinner. I ordered Haddock and Chips! It was super good. I wish they had honey mustard though. That is one thing I really miss from the states. I also tried a bit of Cat's fried scampi, and really liked it. My mom would be so proud. For dessert we all tried Sticky Toffee Pudding. So. Good. After dinner, we started the trek to our hostel. It was around a mile away from the dock. A beautiful walk to the southern end of the island. Our hostel there was ADORABLE. It was on the edge of a field with tons of wild flowers and only a short walk away from the beach. You took off your shoes when you walked in and walked around in your socks. The kitchen area was large and rustic with a gorgeous view. The kitchen was a low-tech room, which I thought was really cool, especially if there had been other people staying at the hostel. They were also trying to be environmentally friendly, but it wasn't all in your face. It was actually super cute. Also, this hostel just felt and looked cleaner than the other one. So after I was done adoring everything about this little hostel, I ventured out to the beach, and looked for neat seashells, and ended up finding a crab shell. It was purple on the inside! I was not expecting that. Understandingly, I became attached to my friend. Cat named him Carlos and we took pictures together. When I got tired of carrying him around and shoving him in peoples' faces, I decided to give him a proper burial and started collecting red rocks to place at his grave. I didn't end up burying him because Elena, our professor's daughter, wanted him so I played with the rocks and made some sweet designs AKA spelled my name and "Scotland" with them.
The next morning, we got pancakes! Scottish pancakes and scrambled eggs. I miss eggs. I should buy some. Anyways, the restaurant we ate at had a great view of the coast. That's pretty much all I wanted to say about it. Next, we headed over to Iona Abbey founded by Saint Columba. It was super pretty and actually really interesting. I was pretty excited I found it interesting because I usually don't like to read historical stuff. They had an awesome museum with the first high crosses and beautiful, intricate designs carved into stone. At 2, we caught a ferry back to Mull, drove up to catch the other ferry, and made our way back to Glasgow. I have never wanted a car ride to be over so much in my life.
Sunday: we found a faster way to church and had a DELICIOUS SCOTTISH MEAL at a break-the-fast type thing. Our Sunday School teacher Patsy is a lovely woman and a lovely cook. The dinner was divine and it took some convincing of my stomach (except not really) to find room for dessert. She made like 6 different desserts! Two of them with edible glitter. This lady is legit. One of them was a cookies & cream cake, and I want that as my wedding cake. She said she would make it for all of our weddings if we flew her over to the states. When I'm randomly rich, this will be happening. We wobbled home after that dinner. Our blood suga' went from very low to very high that day.
Today, Monday, some of us went on an optional trip to Abbotsford, where Sir Walter Scott lived. It's basically a castle and has wonderful views of the Tweed. Next we headed into Melrose to see the ruins of an abbey there but it cost money so we all just looked through the fence and had a jolly time. Oh, it was like high 70's today. It felt so hot! I'm in for a rude awakening when I get back to Georgia.... So we got ice cream instead of seeing the abbey. Best choice ever. I got a flavor called vanilla honey comb and it was divine! Next we headed to a memorial for James Hogg. It was cool enough I suppose. We took a picture with it. Them we went and skipped rocks on the lake. My high score was either 1 or 2 jumps. Not so good. I'm just glad I could get it to skip at all! It was a good time; we got to be out of the bus and I feel like we bonded a bit.
Tomorrow we start our adventure to Aberdeen, Inverness, and lots of other places that I am not aware of yet!
