Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands!!

I am so glad that my original hostel in Edinburgh messed up...The Scottish Youth Hostel is amazing. They have fantastic security, you have to swipe a card to access the elevators and your room, and the staff seem to be incredibly helpful. My first night in Edinburgh I decided to trek up to Calton Hill, which I had seen pictures of and absolutely had to go. So I made the climb up the hill and at the top met what I thought was a cute, old, nice Scottish man who was probably about 80. It started off with him saying what a beautiful day it was and when I responded he heard my accent and we got to talking about America and what I was going to see in Scotland. Innocent enough right? So then he tells me that there is an amazing view from the other side of the monument so I walked over there (I'm not completely stupid, there were lots of other people around). So as we are talking I ask him if I can take a pictures of him, my Scottish tour guide and he says "no, I'd rather not because its the Sabbath", so I thought nothing of it and just kept taking pictures. So then we sit down on a bench overlooking the city and this guy grabs my hand and puts his other arm around me and says "you can put your head on my shoulder if you want to" which is about the point where I start to think...WHA??? Right then he starts rubbing what I like to call my "side-boob" and thats the point that I get up and start to go back towards the front of the building. He follows me, hobbling as old men do, and is telling me about the other view from across the hill....one that I have no intention of looking at with him. So I politely tell him that I need to get back home before the sunsets and that it was nice meeting him...AND THEN HE HUGS ME!!! It wasn't a nice hug, it was to long and he was kissing my neck....so I pushed him away and walked very quickly down the path. So then I call Colleen to tell her that I just got molested by an old guy and as she answers I say "Oh my God, I just got molested by an old dude" and turn around and he is right behind me...so I ran this time. In the opposite direction of my hostel to throw him off (since I am a spy) and loop around the corner and back down to my hostel. So creepy.

Anyway, other than the pervy old dude, Edinburgh has been AMAZING!!!!!! I can't even describe how the city is situated, it like on a hill with huge, old buildings that are so beautiful. I met some of my roommates the first night I arrived and have had a really good time with them. Palloma is from Brazil, is about to start her PhD in Social Science, has been travelling Europe alone since the 1st of Feb, and is only 24. Michele is an Australian who lives in London with her lovely boyfriend and is working for a tour company that is training her in Edinburgh. Palloma and I had plans to went to Edinburgh Castle on Monday and ended up spending the whole day together seeing pretty much everything in Edinburgh. The Castle was great, so much bigger then you can imagine and amazing when you consider when it was built. We also stopped by the Holyroodhouse Palace...the Queen was not at home to receive us :( From the Palace we walked back to Calton Hill where, you guessed it, pervy guy was still there. I had told Palloma that if I saw him that I was just going to hide and that she should speak only Portuguese so he will stay away. So when I saw him I put my scarf over my face and put on my sunglasses and Palloma starts yelling at the top of her lungs in Portuguese, I'm sure we looked like crazy people but it worked, he turned the other way and probably went to bother some other tourists.

Monday night I convinced Palloma that it was mandatory to have Scotch while we were in Scotland and so we went out to the closest pub. When we got there we finally realized that we had no idea what to order. A woman sitting at a table close by came over and helped us figure it out. After we got our drinks she invited us to join them and there table. It could just be me but that would never happen in America. It was a lesbian couple who lived nearby and came to the pub about twice a week. It was an amazing night, we spent two hours talking about Scotland, America (I explained what it meant to have separate states, they were confused by the lack fenced borders but the enforcement of different laws), Rachel Maddow, and the Obama craze that has spread across the world. It was great! They insisted that I try cider, "not that apple shit you call cider in The States" and I loved it! At the end of the night we exchanged email addresses and I hope they keep in touch.

I got home, a little tipsy, and went straight to bed as I had to be up at 6:45am the next morning for a 12 hour tour of the Scottish Highlands!!! Palloma and I got to the coach station at 8 and were given a Scottish Breakfast....which was just a shot of Whiskey. So we get on the coach and drive to what can only be described as the most magical place I have ever seen. The Scottish Highlands are so sparse and barren but so alive and lush at the same time that it just boggles the mind. We stopped at Glen Coe, which was the sight of a huge massacre, but was stunning. Then, around 2pm, we arrived at Loch Ness!! The weather was crazy, pouring one minute and the sun shining brightly the next. It was awful to be in the rain but the result of the rain and the sun was worth it. Right as we arrived at the dock the most perfect rainbow stretched out over the lake, brighter than any rainbow I've ever seen. I have never been one who can be moved to tears by most things but I swear in that moment I thought I was going to ball like a baby. I pulled myself together for Palloma's sake and took about 3 million pictures. We stayed at Loch Ness for about 2 hours and then hopped back on the bus driving through Inverness and Perth before arriving back in Edinburgh at 8:30pm.