Sorry this took over a year to finish and I might have photos on my laptop, but my phone did end up in the Madison river.
I am of Scottish descent. However, my whole life I have identified with my Italian heritage. My mother's foster family and my father's family are both Italian. My grandmother grew up speaking an Italian dialect. It was easy. It made sense. Italians eat big pasta dinners on Sunday with tomato gravy, they enjoy watching movies like Good Fellas and The Godfather, and say things like fougetaboutit and "How YOU doin?"
I admit I knew little of Scotland or the Scottish in general, but all that I have learned of this country and the people, as well as the rich and incredible history of the land has fascinated me. As it turns out, we are descended of a clan from the north and they are one of the ones known as Picts; the face painted and body art fierce warrior types.
I met a fella from the Mcleod clan who worked in a store in Mulngavie (Mallguy) and we talked tartans and family crests. He told me of a great kilt maker I should contact when I inquired on the subject. He spoke joyfully to us about the Scots and he was genuinely interested in helping me. So much so that he stepped away from the register and called another fella to help customers while we stepped outside and chatted for about 10 minutes. It was a great time. (Good kilts are not cheap though @ 435 pounds!)
Anyway, the hiking here has been incredible. We are able to get to or walk through a town or a store or two everyday. By town I mean a hotel, or a restaurant, or a bar, or some type of resource for hot food, cold drinks and Scotch whiskey.
The local townspeople are amazing and the folks that are out walking are incredible too. Tomas and Luke have been great travel companions and though we ended up taking different adventures when the weather turned and time ran short, we still ended up in the same town, in the same place and celebrated the adventures we all partook in.
This trip has been very enjoyable and has been good food for my belly as well as my soul. The Scots have venison on many of their menus and they eat and love to embrace their cultural foods like haggis and black pudding. They fry a lot of things including Mars bars which brings me to my next point. Embrace the culture of the candy. Every culture seems to enjoy a different variety of chocolates. In the UK, Cadbury has cornered the market. The shelves are littered with a variety of chocolate candies we never see in the US: Wispy, Crunchie, Flake, Twirl, Double Deckers, Crisps... My personal favorite is called Boost. All of these can be purchased online and mailed to the US. They also have different potato chips made by Walker, which I found amusing considering we were all walkers (hikers). The variety of flavors range from katsup to prawn cocktail, various cheese flavors and even a Worcester flavor. (No, I m not eating shrimp cocktail chips, but I did bring some home.)
As far as driving around in the UK is concerned... Well, let me tell you this, not only was the car we rented a lot of fun to drive, (a manual 6 speed right hand drive Kia Stonic) but it was also a lot of fun to cruise around on the narrow, windy roads of Scotland in the "wrong" lane when there weren't many other cars out on them. Another good point to be made here is that the real deal is to be mindful of the signage. For example they have signs that count down 3 hash marks, then 2, then 1 as you get closer to an exit. They have red x's on blue backgrounds, white hashes on red circles and a surprise to me at first was not only the amount of roundabouts, but the fact that the signal lights go from green to yellow to red, but also red to yellow to green.
Our first turn out of the parking area was probably the freakiest moment of the entire driving experience. We all felt unsure for a while, but I really felt like I was going the wrong way on a one way street. Cars were coming at us and I thought they were going to freak and swerve and blow their horns at us but they continued on, business as usual.
It takes a team to drive your first time out for sure. The main montra I repeated over and over in my head and aloud was "wide to the right, left is tight" and second to that was "follow other cars whenever possible".
The car itself was magical. At first I was not sure how all the features worked and I was pretty tired and pumped myself full of coffee. Possibly the greatest feature, when I understood what it was and how it worked, was the lane assist. On our first ride up, I didn't even know there were 6 gears and I don't need to remind you that I drive a 1984 model van which doesn't even have power steering. Vehicles of this modern age can get 45-50 mpg without being hybrids. The lane assist is a game changer. At first it felt like there was something wrong with the car and maybe it had bad tie rods or something weird in the steering. I would feel it pulling in the opposite direction of the way I was turning the wheel! Turns out, I m used to driving on the left hand side of the lane as well as I am used to driving on the right hand side of the roads! So, I was a natural drifter. Always drifting towards the left and the car was smart enough to push me back. Later on I embraced and enjoyed this feature when cruising the narrow winding country roads of Scotland!
Maybe we all have some preconceived notions as to what a place will be like before we get there. Thinking back though, I really don't remember what I thought Scotland would be like. All I have now are visions of what it was. There were narrow winding roads, incredible people, wonderful food, glorious lochs, ornate castles, beautiful mountains and although we ran into a couple of asshole people, (They are everywhere, trust me) I feel blessed and grateful to have had the experience!
I had wanted to buy a kilt and stand in a field on a mountainside, and recite the speech from Braveheart, but for one reason or another it never came to pass. I imagined it was a thing that silly Americans do. You know, like those silly Americans that run up the steps at the museum in Philadelphia? I wanted to record it. Maybe I would have become an internet sensation if I did? I'd rather remain anonymous though. Who needs a gaggle of reporters or paparazzi following them around anyway? I'm not sure if I would give up my life in such circumstances, but I will never let them take my Freedom!
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