Wild and Sexy Scotland - Day 3

Ok, so this is the only pic worthy of posting from day 3 on the Wild and Sexy Haggis Tour - sorry! Basically the day was spent touring around old Scottish battlegrounds and seeing things through the windows of the bus - and I refuse to post pics on the blog taken through bus windows b/c of the poor quality of them.

However, this is a pic of a very UGLY "Hairy Coo" (or a Highland Cow). They're all over the place in the Highlands and actually feed on plants that other breeds won't touch. And because they get their insulation mainly from that massive mop of hair they have, their meat tends to be much leaner b/c they don't carry as much subcutaneous fat. Oh and apparently Viagra is made from the horns of the hairy coo, which are supposed to be among the strongest aphrodisiacs on earth. Kinda a cool random fact! HA!

After we made it back to Edinburgh, I checked into my new hostel and then headed off to dinner. I've been blogging this evening since it's raining (what's new??? HA!) and tomorrow I'm getting up early for a walking tour around the city and to see the Royal Yacht - can't wait! Then I'm catching the 4pm train back to London - should be an exciting day for sure! I'll update the blog when I get back to London!

Hope everyone is doing well! :-)

Wild and Sexy Scotland - Day 2

Day 2 got off to an early start in which the tour headed even deeper into the Scottish Highlands toward the island of Skye. Much of the day was spent in the bus driving, but we made several "wee stops" along the way to look around and give out legs a stretch.




One of our first stops was at Eilean Donan Castle, the most photographed castle in London and where Highlander and the original James Bond movie was filmed. Interestingly enough, the family that owns Eilean Donan Castle turned DOWN the filming of the Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta Jones movie, "Entrapment" - which they're QUITE proud of - HA!



However, my favorite part for the day was stopping to climb this mountain (I'm serious - it was a TRUE mountain climbing experience!) in order to get a spectacular view of the Isle of Skye. It was AMAZING! The climb up was quite comical though b/c a TON of the backpackers on the tour were smokers and they were wheezing and cursing all the way up the mountain. My "classy" Canadian friends went so far as to light up some Marlboro reds on the way up for "extra strength." As if! Also, some of the girls were a bit unprepared and chose to wear flip flops (uhhhh hello!!???) for the day and had a bit of a hard time making it up the mountain between the steep incline and the fair amount of mud on the ground following the rain. Made me glad I had my trusty tennis shoes on and that I don't smoke!

The view from the top was absolutely amazing though and the best view EVER! You could literally see for miles and it was incredible! We were all pretty sweaty and gross by the time we made it to the top, but of course didn't care once we saw what we'd climbed up there to see! After spending a bit of time at the top, it was time to climb down, get back on the bus, and head off to yet ANOTHER site!

We went further up the Isle of Skye and drove to the top of this big cliff/overhang. First of all I wasn't sure the bus was going to make it up the steep incline and several of us bucked ourselves in tight and said a quick prayer that we weren't going to be some horrible headline in the next day's paper, but all ended up OK - no flying over the side of the mountain in a big yellow Haggis bus - HA! :-)

The waterfall up there was fantastic (BTW, Scotland is FULL of random waterfalls all over the place!) and although it was quite windy - still VERY nice!

I had a classic "Vicki moment" on the walk up this one hill we climbed though. As usual, I fell "UP" instead of "DOWN" and ended up with a left pant leg COVERED in mud! I was walking and all was fine, but then Ryan made some comment about sheep poop and I busted out laughing and turned around to look at him, completely losing my footing and falling UP the hill - HA! It was a mess, but I was very lucky to NOT land in any of the sheep poop considering it was everywhere on the mountain...

After that, we headed to our hostel that overlooked the Isle of Skye and I called it an early night after dinner and drinks. Had to gear up for the last day of the tour!!!

Wild and Sexy Scotland!!! - Day 1

So before you ask, I titled this posting, "Wild and Sexy Scotland" b/c of the tour group that I went with in Scotland. It's called the "Wild and Sexy Haggis Scotland Tour" and the tour guides end up saying that literally EVERYTHING in Scotland is "wild and/or sexy." Whether it's, "Wow...look at that gorgeous sexy mountain" or "Look at that wild and sexy hairy coo" - it's ALL about being wild and sexy in Scotland - HA!

Anyway, the tour group that I went with was FANTASTIC and well worth every penny (pence). Both guides were 100% Scottish and knew so many things about the "real Scotland" and made the trip an absolute blast!

I have to say that so far out of all of my travels over the past 3 months (WOW, it's already been 3 months!), Scotland is at the very top of my list as a fave! It's by far the most stunning and gorgeous place I've seen, even including my time in Spain, Italy, and Germany. I've discovered that when it comes to travelling, I'm much more of a "scenery" person than I am a "big city" person. While big touristy cities DO have their charm, nothing compares to the crisp mountain air and the peaceful sounds around you - Ahhhhhh bliss! :-)

My first day on the tour I met these 4 Canadian guys that were on a big holiday together and have been best friends all their lives - they were hysterical and we ended up hanging out during the whole tour. They were (L to R in the pic above): Ryan, Curtis, Dan, and Darcy. SUPER cool guys!

The first day on the tour, we left Edinburgh and headed up into what they call the "Highlands." Along the way, we stopped several times for "wee walks" as we headed into Stirling, Glencoe, and then Fort William - where Ben Nevis (which is Britain's largest mountain) lies.

The guides also pointed out cool things like the "loch" (which is Scottish for "lake") and the surrounding land that Sean Connery owns! It was quite funny though b/c BOTH of the Scottish tour guides (Dave and Fergie) had not a single nice thing to say about Sean. Apparently he spends on average 3 days a YEAR in Scotland (to avoid paying taxes supposedly) and when he does come and visit he stays in the Hilton - HA! I thought that was pretty amusing...

We finished up day 1 with a visit to Fort Augustus and the famous "LOCH NESS", home of the legendary Loch Ness Monster!!! I never really knew much about it to be honest, and aren't quite sure what to think about the whole thing. However, there have been reported sightings as far back as the early 6th century and I find it hard to believe that thousands of people have been making the entire thing up for hundreds and hundreds of years, ya know? I'm not saying it's a "monster" but there are a lot of unexplained things on this earth and "Nessie" (as the locals call her) is certainly one of them. BTW, the picture below is of Loch Ness (Nessie-less of course...).

That evening we stayed in a REALLY great hostel (best one I've been in so far) with its own pub and everything! We had a "jacket potato extravaganza" which consisted of a super buffet with everthing in the world to put on your potato followed by a few drinks in the pub. Then the Candadians and I went on a walk around Loch Ness around dusk to try and catch a glimpse of Nessie, but no such luck. So we headed back to our rooms to rest up for day 2 of the "wild and sexy Haggis Tour!" WHOOP!

Speaking of Haggis, I actually DID try some and it's not half bad! For those of you that are unsure of what it is, it's one of the most famous Scottish dishes and a must-try if you ever do Scotland. Basically it's a meat mixture made out of the heart, kidneys, lungs and liver all ground up and mixed with onions, oatmeal, and spices - boiled in the sheep's stomach for an hour. Sounds DISGUSTING but it's kinda like corned beef hash almost - and served on a bun. Don't knock it until you try it! :-)

Canterbury and Herne Bay!

This weekend I decided do a short weekend break and head east to the famous city of Canterbury. I left on the train out of London on Saturday afternoon, and arrived in Canterbury around 6pm. I checked into the hostel (VERY NICE!) and then quickly headed over to the famous Canterbury Cathedral before it closed for the day. It was truly amazing! There is a very rich history behind the cathedral that I won't bore everyone with, but it's really amazing to go into and see first hand. I actually got there just in time to have enough time to quickly walk around before they closed for the day.

After the cathedral closed, I roamed around the town for a bit and stumbled across Westgate Gardens which was really beautiful. They surround Westgate Towers, one of England's finest medieval gatehousees with built in features like "murder holes!" I didn't get to go into any of that part b/c they were closed for the day, but I did get to roam around the gorgeous gardens and take a few pics! Then I went to a pub across the street for a token class of Pimms and to look at all of the travel brochures I had from the hostel. BTW, I'm in LOVE with Pimms still! Mmmmmm! :-)

That evening I headed over to an Italian cafe for some spaghetti (was craving some!) and to finish the book I was reading, since I wasn't going to wander around the town in the dark but it was too early to go to bed. I stayed there for a good long while after eating, finished my book, and then headed back to the hostel for the evening. I was in a room with three other German girls and they were really nice and as it turns out one of them actually went to high school in Kansas of all places!!! HA!



This morning I made sure I was up early (8am...so pretty good for being on holiday!) to get showered (as I wanted to be first in line before the German girls) and packed up for my day trip to the nearby seaside town of Herne Bay. I'm a sucker for water and thought it sounded really cool in one of the travel brochures at the hostel. It's about a 30 minute bus ride from Canterbury, so I left my backpack at the hostel and hopped on the bus. I was getting slightly worried along the way b/c the sky was starting to darken and it looked as though it was going to rain.

When I arrived at Herne Bay, I walked along the shore taking a few pics and did a bit of exploring. However, it wasn't long after I stopped to get a cup of coffee that th wind picked up and the bottom fell out of the sky! It was pouring! My poor little pink umbrella couldn't handle the wind and kept turning itself inside out, so I went into a cafe for a bit to wait it out and read a book. However, it kept on raining so I decided to cut my losses and head back into Canterbury. I got on the next bus...

Oh! We drove through the area around the Univeristy of Kent though, and that was pretty cool to see what university life is like there...

When I arrived back in Canterbury, I did some roaming around the shops in the town square (of sorts) and bought my token postcard that I but from each of the places I visit. Then it was time to walk back to the hostel to get my backpack and then head back to the train station for the train back to London.

I timed it PERFECTLY, only having to wait about 10 minutes for the next train and then slept most of the way back to London (where it was ALSO dark and raining!).

Glad I made the trip though - it was very pretty and scenic! :-)

P.S. - I found out the hard way that if you want people to stare at you and say things like, "Oh you must be American...", wear a baseball cap with your hair in a pony tail, a shirt with "Rock Star" emblazoned across the front, and a Texas A&M sweatshirt tied around your waist - HA! (See pic from above) It took me a few minutes to figure out why I had so many people staring at me when I'd go into places, but when I thought about it, I couldn't remember seeing a single female on the streets of London wearing a baseball cap. Guess it must be an American thing, but I had an emergency with my CHI (if you don't know what that is, don't worry about it) and had to throw my hair up in a cap to prevent myself from looking like a hag. I got some really strange looks though and it was creeping me out for a while!

Can you guess the outrageous price???

Recently, London was named the most expensive city in the world in terms of a place to visit and also in terms of a place of residence. It's no WONDER with prices like the ones I've seen!

So let's play a little game folks...it's called:

Can you guess the outrageous price???
(Prices converted from Pounds to Dollars at the current exchange rate...)

1. 1 Gallon of milk
2. 1 Loaf of bread
3. 1 Dozen eggs
4. 2 Liter of Coke
5. 4 pack of toilet paper
6. 1 Regular size bag of potato chips (crisps)
7. 1 Gallon of gas (petrol)
8. Single movie ticket
9. 1 week travel card on the tube (Zones 1 & 2 only)
10. Average dinner for one (includes one non-alcoholic drink with no refills, main dish, and one side item...NO DESSERT!)

Answers:

1 Gallon of milk = $5.00 This is just crazy for me, considering I drink milk like it's water! I think it's time for me to buy my own cow...

1 Loaf of bread = $2.50 Not a huge deal to many of you I know, but considering how many gosh darn sandiwches people eat over here, every 2 slices adds up - believe me!

1 Dozen eggs = $3.42 The Dooly family tradition of having a big brekfast with scrambled eggs and all the fixin's would end up being just "all the fixins" considering we can down 18 of them EASY! HA!

2 Liter of Coke = $3.00 Good thing I decided to cut down even more on cokes while over here! Now, the only time I drink them (usually) is when I'm at a restaurant...

4 pack of toilet paper = $3.80 Can't be avoided - plain and simple. A girl's gotta have her TP!

1 Regular size bag of potato chips (crisps) = $4.00 Yet again, another good reason to cut down on chips (crisps) as well! (Dorito's was used as the example)

1 Gallon of gas (petrol) = $7.10 As much as I miss Guz (my old Explorer and dear friend....), it's a VERY good thing she didn't come along with me b/c she's quite "thirsty" all the time and I'd end up bankrupt!

Single movie ticket = $16.00 You will NEVER, I repeat NEVER see me over here purchasing a ticket to the movies! Disclaimer: Unless it's a Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, or Matthew McConaughey movie and then I might have a moment of weakness......

1 week travel card on the tube (Zones 1 & 2 only) = $46.00 Actually not THAT bad considering the fact that I don't have a car over here and therefore have no car insurance to pay for. Basically you're talking about $184 for all of your transporation costs for the month. I used to spend more than that per month filling thirsty Guz with gas!

Average dinner for one (includes one non-alcoholic drink with no refills, main dish, and one side item...NO DESSERT!) = $25.00 Ridiculous I know! And this is not even in a *SUPER POSH* restaurant either! However, I've been doing what most people I've found out do NOT do over here; I ask for a to-go box or container to take the leftovers home and eat them the next day. That way I get two meals out of one! Jo laughed at me though when I told her my system b/c she said most people would NEVER think of asking for a to-go box. Hmmmmmm.....

Anyway, how accurate were your predictions??? :-)

No worries here...It's OK, I'm OK!

Many of you have either e-mailed or called to find out about the terrorism drama this morning and if all is still OK with me. All is well (as I wasn't planning on flying today anyway!), just a bit chaotic around the tube stations with service to either Heathrow or Gatwick. I experienced some delays at King's Cross this morning when trying to get into the office because of flights being cancelled and tourists being stranded.

It's strange seeing police over here in the stations with MASSIVE guns strapped to their chests though, I must admit.

Keep checking the BBC's website though for more info (www.bbc.co.uk) b/c they've had many more details than any of the American news websites so far (and aren't quite as dramatic either!). Things really are fine here, and everyone is just thankful the police foiled the terrorist plot before the unthinkable...

This does however explain why I had my bags searched not once but TWO times when I flew to the U.S. 3 weeks ago. Never have I had my bags gone through again AND been patted down (thoroughly!) again at the gate for a flight after having gone through all of that at security when I checked in. They were even taking things OUT of my bags (including my silver credit card holder and made me open it in front of them to prove it was what I said it was) and going through each and every pocket and zipper. I thought all of it was a bit strange at the time, and now all of it makes perfect sense.

Anyway, no worries here! It's OK, I'm OK! :-)

Stonehenge (through the fence) & Salisbury

So today I decided to take a day trip and head over to Stonehenge. I got up early to head over to Waterloo Station and hopped onto the train bound for Salisbury. By the way, this was AFTER I spilled my latte on myself at Starbuck's in the station like a spaz...moving on though. :-)

I arrived in the town of Salisbury about an hour and a half later, knowing that Stonehenge was about 10 miles outside of the city and you had to take a bus to get there. I was bummed to find out that when I arrived at the station, I had to wait 45 minutes for the next bus since they only leave once an hour. I walked around the area close to the station checking out the town for a bit before boarding the bus. I didn't realize that Stonehenge really IS out in the middle of nowhere. After about 20 minutes of driving along nothing but farmland, I thought I was on the wrong bus! But then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the unmistakable sight of a bunch of random stones in a field and breathed a sigh of relief!

Then came the confusing and disappointing part. Tasha had warned me before that you can't actually walk up to the stones or anything, but I saw these people with headsets walking along this path that circled the stones and it put you pretty close to them. However, I was staring at Stonehenge through a chain link fence. I asked a man how you got inside the fence and he pointed to a HUGE long line near the visitor's center. Apparently if you pay £5, you can get inside the fence to walk along the path near the stones and listen to the guided tour. BUT, what the ticket office neglected to tell me is that if you don't catch the first bus after you're dropped off (which is 40 minutes after you arrive), you then must wait another TWO HOURS for the next one. Now that would all be fine and dandy if there was something other than just the stones to see during that time, but they're out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around them!!!

The line would have taken AT LEAST 30-35 minutes according to the guide to get through, only leaving me about 5 minutes (if that!) to "RUN" along the path around the stones like a lunatic and THEN make it back to the bus station, so I opted to see Stonehenge "through the fence." It was still really cool though when you think about how long the stones have been there and HOW they got there so the trip wasn't a waste at all! I took some good shots with my camera through the links in the fence and even had a crazy German woman take my picture. I told the bus driver when I got back on the bus though that they needed to plan the arrival and departure times a little more carefully so tourists can actually see the stones from the other side of the fence and not have to wait 2 hours for the next bus for doing so!

Anyway, after I hopped back on the bus I headed back into Salisbury to do some exploring. I had read some cool stuff about the town in my Rough Guide and the main attraction is the Salisbury Cathedral. It's a 13th century cathedral with Britain's tallest spire (over 400 feet!), which slightly leans a bit, strangely enough. REALLY beautiful though and I also got to see the finest of only four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta (written in 1215!) which was pretty cool as well. I *thought* about sneaking a picture in, (like I did in the Sistene Chapel against the rules), but then thought otherwise b/c the guards looked mean and there weren't as many people around...


The tour guide was REALLY great though (and those of you that know me well know that I don't ever like tours usually and am the first to opt out of taking one!) and she had a ton of interesting information to share. I even saw some graffiti on one of the columns that was from the year 1620! (See pic below) And I saw the world's oldest medieval clock which has no face and just looks like a bunch of things that turn around and are on pulleys - VERY interesting (see pic).


I then walked around the high street in Salisbury and saw as much as I could (and took as many pics as possible) before I had to hop back on the train to London. It was a REALLY great trip though, even though I had to see Stonehenge through a chain link fence! :-(

After I got back to London I high tailed it over to Jo's flat for a DELICIOUS dinner (Shepherd's Pie!) - she's a FANTASTIC cook, even though she doesn't own up to it! We had a wonderful evening and it was the perfect end to a great day of adventure and exploring! :-)

By the way, Dad, I know you're going to ask this question so I already have the answer for you. Salisbury steak has NO CONNECTION with Salisbury, England other than it was named after an Engligh physician by that name. Here's more info: http://www.answerbag.com/c_view.php/1656#3130

At Home in the Lone Star State!!! :-)

So picking up where I left off, the fam headed over to Kerrville to visit Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw on Saturday around noon. It was a quick trip over (thanks to Dad and his 90+mph driving with Mom cursing him the entire way....) and we had a great BBQ brisket dinner after we arrived. It was good to just chill out and relax and gorge on food (HA!). I even got some "official" Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (which was truly squeezed from the clouds of Heaven). DELISH!!!


We got up on Sunday morning and had a huge traditional Dooly family breakfast with all the trimmings and then the girls and I took Maw-Maw down to Walgreens to show her how to download digital pictures from her camera and have them developed. Then after that it was time to pack everything up and head back home. We were treated to ANOTHER 3 hours of 90+mph driving by Jim-Bob during which Mom was holding onto the side of the door and cursing him again, and then arrived back at home.

We celebrated Jamie's birthday at Tony's restaurant and she even got to wear the sombrero hat and have whipped cream shoved in her face in honor of the special day. She loved it as I'm sure you can tell from the pictures! :-)

Tuesday was the day the girls and I decided to head over to Splashtown for some fun in the sun (and water). We had a great time, although we were rained out around 2:30pm in the afternoon. It was SO cool though b/c I hadn't been to a water park in years. I was the only one brave enough to try out the "Texas Freefall" which is a steep body slide (see pic - I'm actually going down the slide in the pic!). I almost chickened out at the top, but then looked down at Jamie and Kelly and knew I'd never hear the end of it if I walked down the stairs and didn't ride. It was REALLY fun though, although it gives you a major wedgie at the end - HA! We also rode the "Tornado" several times and that was cool as well!

The rest of my time in Texas was spent just hanging around the house with the fam, going up to Mom's school, running errands and shopping. Oh yeah and stocking up on some of the food I've been missing since being away! (i.e. - Whataburger, Taco Bell, Luby's, to name a few....) It was also nice riding around in HUGE vehicles again for a change - you don't realize how much you miss them and depend on their space until you don't have one! :-)


I also got in some good times with the dogs, Maggie and Lily, while at home. Maggie is still a pig and Lily is still as curious as ever and they're a scream to be around.

Although I was sad to leave home again, I was excited to be returning to London again! Can't wait for more adventures!!! :-)