With Scotland adventures near their end and wedding adventures about to commence, its hard to believe how time has flown these past weeks.

It was with a bit of a sad start that we woke up in our Newtonmore retreat for the last time this morning. Plus, it was way too early! We were up by 5AM to clean and pack the last of our gear. Breakfast was a quick meal of muesli and yogurt (the old stand-by) and we were out the door by 715AM.

We have to get the car back to the Aberdeen airport by 10AM and our GPS says it is about a 2.5 hour drive from here. Much of it will follow the same path we took out this way, but some of it will be new, and likely, a bit slower-going winding and mountainous roads. I wish we gave ourselves a bit more padding in our timing since we don’t know if traffic will be a thing and/or any other unexpected delays may occur.

It was frosty but clear skies this morning as we drove out of Newtonmore and out on the A-road back east. The roads were nearly empty, a great sign, and it was a very beautiful and enjoyable ride. We passed slightly north of the Cairngorm mountain range, meaning less steep roads than those coming here from Skye. The terrain opened up into more hillsides and lots of sheep farms. We passed a few whiskey dispensaries that looked appealing, but we are on a mission.

As we neared Elgin, traffic picked up. Many large trucks entered the roadways but we still have 2 lanes. It was only annoying when it changed to a single lane A-road with trucks going 15 MPH under the speed limit. We lined up behind them with all the other cars. I kept watching our ETA creep up; 1005AM then 1015AM. UGH. If we arrive any later than 10AM we will be charged for an extra day. Maybe this isn’t a big deal for most people, but for those of us on a very tight budget, every dollar counts.

Finally there was a gap in the road ahead and Jake made a break for it. He revved that baby up and we flew past the truck and managed to gain some time on our ETA. Another 20 minutes and another slow-going truck pulled ahead of us. UGH this was so frustrating. But at least now we are very close to the airport. We had to make a slight detour for petrol fill-up and so we pulled off at the nearest station and back on the road in less than 5 minutes. We pulled the car into her spot at the airport terminal at 957AM. Only 3 minutes to spare.

It took awhile for the attendant to help us, he was taking his sweet time with another customer who may have had some damage to their car. I’m so grateful our car came in unscathed. He did a once over and we signed the papers and were left on our way. What a relief. We made it!

Back in Aberdeen!

It felt like we already had a full day though its barely begun. And while the freedom of the car was really nice, both Jake and I were looking forward to the use of either public transit or our own two feet for the next few days. Its funny how the grass is always greener.

The sun felt hot, though I bet it was only 48 degrees outside. We can’t check in to our place until noon, so we didn’t need to rush. The bus that dropped us off at the airport is the same one we got on to head back to Aberdeen’s city-center. Although this time we are going to the other side of town, so we will get off at a different stop.

The bus was empty when we got on and it took 15 minutes to get to the “new” Aberdeen. Unbeknownst to us, there was a much closer stop to our abode, but we figured the walk will do us some good. Plus we can get to know this new part of the city. It was a mile walk through a much less crowded part of town. We passed some beautiful buildings with random graffiti art. The buildings shifted into more commercial than residential and the road traffic picked up where the walking paths were nearly empty.

Our flat-rental is across the street from a huge Sainsbury’s supermarket. We arrived early, so we wasted some time at a cafe across the street, also inside the Sainsbury’s. The break felt good even though we really haven’t done much today, I was exhausted and starving. We opted to hold off on food until we could drop off all of our gear.

With a few minutes before noon, we walked back across the road to meet our host, Patricia, in front of the apartment. She is a very sweet older lady who lives by herself in this really cool vintage townhouse. Its many hundreds of years old with lots of charm and character. The ceilings were massively tall and the huge winding staircase took us up to our room. We rented a room in the house for a few days to save some money.

The home smelled exactly like my grandmother’s house, a bit musty and full of knick knacks. Patricia gave us a tour explaining where everything was and how it all works. Its always fun to be in a new place and space and this home seems like it will be really perfect for us.

We chatted for about 15 minutes before Patricia’s neighbor came over to visit. Jake and I took our leave to go back across the street to the market. This store is GIGANTIC compared to all other’s we’ve been to in the UK. Its equivalent to a Wal-Mart or Costco and carries everything from clothes to house wear items and of course, lots of food. We walked up and down each aisle just to get the basic layout before selecting a big fresh made pizza and salad for lunch. I spotted an Indian Takeout package that looked amazing, and we added that on. Maybe that will be our dinner?

Back at the ranch Jake whipped everything up and we gorged ourselves like we do when we go too long without eating. I felt totally guilty and insisted that we go for a walk to exercise some calories out of my system. It was a perfect afternoon for it.

Back on the street, we headed back toward Aberdeen’s city-center. We stopped off at a Bothy for a few nifty gifties and on to the art and museum district. The buildings were much more grand and very beautiful. Lots of great art and a ton of interesting features scattered about the streets and walls. On the flip side, there were also a lot of very modern and unique architectural features that contrasted well with the old stoic buildings. I was grabbed by one really large puma at the top of a building’s open-air square.

As we walked on, I noticed what looked like a really cool modern furniture store. I pushed my face against the window to see inside. It was all modern like I thought, lots of really interesting almost artistic pieces and lots of weird shelving and hanging elements. Then I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and realized that there was a cat sitting in the window, in one of the cute hanging structures. I pulled my head back to read the window sign: “Cat in the Window Cafe”. I’ve never heard of a cat cafe before, but low and behold we have stumbled upon one! We were intrigued and tried to walk in but the door was locked. Dang. Maybe we will come back tomorrow?

Our journey continued on down the main street and on to the Tolbooth Museum. Its a free museum that features an old jail. The entrance was quite grande and the woman at the front told us how to walk the exhibit (from the bottom going up). Apparently it is a very narrow space, though has many floors. We were free to take loads of photos and spent the next hour exploring its many secrets.

The Tolbooth Museum was first and foremost the place where people in olden days paid their taxes, debts and “tolls”. Then it became a place to hold criminals, debtors, religious outcasts, and the like. They believed that witches were a thing and actually arrested any woman who was accused of witchcraft (with or without proof). Many were tortured or burned or guillotined. The rules back then were much more strict. If you were even caught bad mouthing someone of import, you were punished.

It was very dark and the higher up that we went, the more claustrophobic the space grew. You could imagine what it would be like for a prisoner. Dark, damp and depressing.

The tour ended far too soon and we made our way back down and out on the streets. Jake was tired and so we made our way back home to our abode. Dinner was a simple salad (since we were still full from lunch) and we spent the rest of our evening in the bedroom, watching bad movies and planning tomorrow’s fun. Our last full day in Scotland and it will be the classic cold and rainy weather. Maybe we will go see a movie. We also found that the Maritime museum is a free exhibit and also a great indoor activity. I checked out the cat cafe online and it was all booked for tomorrow. BUMMER!

Oh well.

There is an old clock in the entry way of the home that chimes every hour. It doesn’t chime just once, it chimes in the amount of the time (so if its 11PM it chimes 11 times). I was so tired that I only heard it at 7AM, the 7 chimes woke me from my slumber.

This morning was just as gray and glum as promised. But that didn’t keep us down. We planned to see an early movie, so early that it was the first showing of the day. It starts at 950AM. The movie, Isle of Dogs, is one that looked super intriguing to us and has a great cast of voices. The theater is just downtown next to the museum. We thought it’d be best to do all the fun exploring early today so that we have plenty of time to pack and get ready for a very very very long travel day tomorrow.

Thank goodness Jake brought a waterproof backpack because today was one of those days that it came in handy. We borrowed an umbrella from our host and that made the walk more fun. We are now familiar with this side of town (it doesn’t take long) and that makes it easier to take in the surroundings. But then again, it also makes us more prone to falling, which we both did simultaneously as we walked up a set of stairs. I biffed it and spread eagled on the ground. Jake must have been more graceful but we were both rubbing our hands and knees after that one.

We arrived at the theater by 930AM. The doors were still closed and locked, so we walked next door to the information center (also a gift shop) to waste a bit of time. We chatted with the workers about our travels as well, and mentioned the Volvo Ocean Race, which is going to be here in Aberdeen this summer. If we had known we may have planned our trip slightly differently so we could catch sight of some of that fun.

At 945 we got our tickets. There were only 2 other people in the massive theater and we took our seats in the middle. It was weird because this is probably the largest theater we’ve ever been to, to have it nearly to ourselves. Its also SUPER loud. The movie was really great, and even better on big screen. Its more of an art type of film and in my opinion, a gorgeous design masterpiece. Each scene was well-thought and told the story in such a unique way that it felt more like an art exhibit than a typical movie.

After the fun, we only had to walk a few yards to the building next door and our next exhibit, the Maritime Museum. I was kinda starving and thankfully there was a cafe with food, so we enjoyed a random meal of mac and cheese, chips (fries) and a salad and black tea all for £11. That plus our £5 movie makes for a very affordable and enjoyable day of fun.

The Maritime museum is very modern inside. It was brilliantly designed with a lot of curves and features that are reminiscent of a large yacht. The wood paneling ceilings and even some of the exhibits mirrored that of a large boat. The railings looked like stanchions (life lines), there was a huge lighthouse light featured in the center and lots of smaller details that made you feel like you were on a boat, not in a building.

We spent a good 2 hours reading and exploring all that this place had to offer. Many of the exhibits were hands-on, a feature we’ve noticed and appreciated for many of Scotland’s museums. They were done in a way to make kids engage with them and yet adult enough that grown ups can learn and enjoy them as well. I think there were 5 or 6 different levels to the museum, with a few areas that were cut out so very large displays could live in the open space. Again, it was all very beautiful and impressive.

Half of the museum was about maritime history in Scotland, up to modern day. One feature was about 2 guys who crossed the ocean in a kayak from Greenland to Scotland (people after our own hearts!). They succeeded in 2016 and it was actually really amazing to see some video footage and see the kayak they actually used. It seemed way too small for such an adventure, but it just goes to show if you have the dream to do it, you can probably do it. So inspiring!

The other half of the museum was about oil drilling in offshore locations. The North Sea has much of the deepest oil wells in the world and while the topic seems like it would be dull, it was laid out in a way that made it fascinating. There was a devastating explosion that happened at one of the sights and killed a lot of workers. But they explained how tight protocols need to be to keep everyone safe. Another important aspect of this type of job is the ability to dive to extraordinary depths. The rigging looks a lot like that of an astronaut in space. Jake tried it on for size, I think it fits him well! Maybe a new career in the future? 😉

By 2PM we finished and made the long last walk back toward our home. We stopped off at the supermarket once more to pick up food for tomorrow’s “Bus-Safari”. It will be 13 hours of travel on 3 different busses. Not all that fun, but a necessity. We decided on a big salad and chicken (that we will add to the salad), a bag of crisps, a bag of peanuts, some donuts and water. Hopefully it will be good enough.

The Indian feast was a big hit and the J&J crew were happy campers.

Bus-Safari

Its finally here. Our last morning in Scotland!

I’m a bit sad and also a bit excited. By the end of today we will be back with our UK BFF’s in the comfort of our room at their house. In typical fashion, neither of us slept that great last night, in anticipation for the very long and early journey we have this morning. We were up before 5AM so that we could get out the door by 6AM.

It was very cold this morning and still a bit dark. The rain was kept at bay, thankfully, which made the walk to city center more bearable. Neither of us were really excited for today’s journey. The walk was easy, despite Jake and I both falling AGAIN at the same spot we fell yesterday. Whoops!

The streets were much more crowded than it seemed like they should be for this early hour. And when we got to the station it was just as packed as it was when we arrived to Aberdeen over a week ago. It was still early for our bus to be here and we aren’t sure exactly where to pick it up. All of the stops are lined up outside with digital screens that state the bus name and number. None of them showed National Express.

The customer service office is right next to the sitting / waiting area. Unfortunately its closed until 9AM. Maybe there is a different bus stop location for National Express? Our bus should have arrived by now, 715AM and is scheduled to leave at 720AM. Both of us were getting nervous so Jake set off to see if he could find someone to give us any information. He managed to find 2 people, both workers here and both completely clueless. Go figure.

I was in panic-mode now and went outside to keep an eye out for any incoming or outgoing busses. The layout of the station is crammed which means some busses can sneak in and out without you really noticing. I thought I caught sight of the red and blue NE logo and sure enough, our bus pulled up behind 2 others. Jake spotted me and we stood in line with the other 3 passengers to board.

The process was so low-key and informal. We barely showed the pass to the driver before he was pulling out and on the way. And with the bus so empty, Jake and I chose to sit towards the back and in our own rows, right across from each other. We might as well enjoy the space while we can.

And so Bus-safari commences at 720AM on the dot. The schedule is to arrive in Glasgow at 1040AM, transfer to another bus which will take us to Birmingham by 1820 (620PM), and then a final bus which will take us to High Wycombe by 2040 (840PM).

One good thing about this bus as opposed to Megabus is there are far fewer stops. We stopped in Dundee and Perth to pick up a few more passengers before heading to Glasgow. It was a fairly boring ride with not much to see outside other than gray.

When we arrived in Glasgow, we were keen to find the next bus. I spotted it just as we pulled in. That was easy! We still had about 20 minutes before the scheduled departure so we stood in line with the rest until the driver let us board. My question about how they manage to keep busses on schedule was answered here and now. They space them apart enough with room for any traffic delay or weather.

The next bus was similar to the last, with a few more passengers. Jake and I took our seats in very similar spots, across from each other. Having my own row was great for stretching out and even laying down. But this next ride will be a grueling 7 hours. I wonder how the bus will handle this type of thing.

As it turns out, they schedule their stops for things like food and bathroom breaks. There is no hot food allowed on these busses, but our cold food provided all that we need. We did stop in a tiny town of Tebay for a 30 minute break to stretch, eat and do any business required. We enjoyed our big salad onboard and were back on our way to Birmingham.

The next stretch proved difficult. My ass was sore from sitting in the same position and my stomach hurt a bit. I was afraid to use the bus bathroom, but couldn’t wait and had to give in. I’m so glad I brought hand sanitizer since there was no soap or water in there. The weather was gray and foggy so there was little visual distraction available to make the time pass. So, I tried my best to sleep.

Time went by SOOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW….

I was in a mental fog when we pulled into Birmingham. The station was a madhouse with people and so chaotic that I awoke from my brainless sleep. We only had 10 minutes to find our bus. It was so nutty and disorganized our bus did not have a platform location. I spotted it outside and just lined up with the rest of the masses to get on. Compared to the last bus, this one was pretty craptastic.

We piled on with the rest, just happy to get a seat next to each other. It was a melting pot of people, many foreigners were blaring their phones or talking on them very loudly. I would guess Polish and Russian. It was also really smelly onboard. I’m not sure if it was the people or the food. I guess the no hot food rule didn’t apply here because I’m sure I could smell someone’s takeout curry. People were so loud that I put on my noise-cancelling headphones to drown them out. At least its the shortest bus ride at an hour and 45 minutes.

And when we pulled into the High Wycombe station, Jake and I couldn’t wait to get off that bus. Ahh to breath fresh air again is such a gift! We were the only passengers so as soon as the bus pulled away, we were also the only ones standing out here in the dark. It was so strange and quiet. My ears were still ringing a bit from the bus noise that imprinted on my mind. We sat and waited for our buddy to pick us up. They live only a few miles down the road from here, so Adam arrived at 9PM and we were back home in no time.

I can’t tell you what a relief it was to walk into the familiar home and be greeted by our wonderful friends/hosts. It felt just like coming home to mom’s and being fed and taken care of. They did exactly that. We ordered some food and stayed up late chatting about the trip and time we were apart. It was so blissful! But, we also have a big wedding coming up in just a couple of days. So naturally, that was the focal point. We offered ourselves to be wedding slaves, which should be a lot of fun.

When Jake and I poured into the bed, it was bliss. Sleep came almost instantly. It feels great to be “HOME” again!