Holy crap it's hard to keep up on the entries when you're camping. Your life is spent in between internet hotspots, the occasional technically advanced pub, tourist information points, and random Starbucks and McDonald's locations. Like right now, for instance, we are at a pub in Aberdeen, Scotland, and I have realized that the gaming consoles (the ones that sit on the bar that people can play photo-hunt on for hours) actually emit a wifi signal. Which means wherever we can find photo-hunt, we can email. Lovely...and goes well with a pint.
The last time I checked in was on a bus on our way to Copenhagen. Copenhagen was pretty rad, but really expensive. Thank goodness for having an amazing couchsurfing host in the city, because otherwise we would have completely blown our budget. There are a few great things to see and do in Copenhagen, one of which is the Tivoli. The Tivoli is a theme park that is right in the middle of the city and inspired the layout of the Disney Theme parks. We just so happened to show up for the Tivoli's anniversary, so were treated to a fireworks display every night. I tried to pretend that it was a celebration of our arrival in Denmark. Wishful thinking. Another famous thing to see in Copenhagen is the "little mermaid", which is underwhelming at best. A life-size statue of a mermaid, sitting on a rock and angstily looking toward the sea, with tourists hanging all over her. We sat on the rocks near her for thirty minutes waiting for a moment that we could take an unobstructed photo, and it never came. So we took a photo of the statue covered in tourists instead. I think that might have actually been more fitting. Other than riding rollercoasters and seeing forlorn mermaids, we spent our time in Copenhagen riding bikes, seeing the giant city buildings, and trying to keep as many kroners in our pockets as possible. For the most part, we did pretty well.
After Denmark, we hopped on a plane to London, picked up a rental car, spent a lovely day with Steph's brother, Tony, in the city and then took off for Scotland. Scotland is one of the places that both of us were really looking forward to. We both feel an attachment to the country due to distant Scottish lineage. Steph's is at least a little more easily traced than mine, since she claims Robert the Bruce as her distant ancestor. This means we see her family name everywhere. There are Bruce tartans, Bruce pins, Bruce ties, Bruce kilts, Bruce...everything. There is even...pause for dramatic effect here...a Bruce Festival next weekend. An ENTIRE festival centered around the family lineage. We have officially changed our travel plans to include the festival, and Steph will be contacting the the festival organizers to see if she gets a special Bruce discount.
Other than the family finding, we have been seriously hitting as many of the sites as we possibly can. We have a castle pass, and now have been to nine castles, and have plans to see at least three or four more. We have seen giant imposing castles on cliffs, tiny castles that look more like summer homes, and castles in ruins. We have also seen our fair share of palaces. But perhaps the most interesting part of our trip in Scotland so far has been the lodging. And by lodging, I mean camping.
Yes, we have been camping. Camping. Like, in a tent, in sleeping bags. I have to say, I have never been a big camper, and I think it showed in my preparedness. Steph actually brought along a water heater for coffee in the morning. Which is amazing...if you have cups. So after the first morning of using an old coffee cup we found in the back of the car, we went and bought coffee cups. Which was super helpful, and we thought we were all set, until we realized we didn't have spoons. Stirring milk in with your finger can be very hot. Luckily my fingers are still pretty immune to burns after my years of cooking. I'm not sure I can tell you what we used for the cereal. A day later we collected spoons. Now we're pretty set (some mornings are better than others). One night, we even tried 'wild camping'.
The last time I checked in was on a bus on our way to Copenhagen. Copenhagen was pretty rad, but really expensive. Thank goodness for having an amazing couchsurfing host in the city, because otherwise we would have completely blown our budget. There are a few great things to see and do in Copenhagen, one of which is the Tivoli. The Tivoli is a theme park that is right in the middle of the city and inspired the layout of the Disney Theme parks. We just so happened to show up for the Tivoli's anniversary, so were treated to a fireworks display every night. I tried to pretend that it was a celebration of our arrival in Denmark. Wishful thinking. Another famous thing to see in Copenhagen is the "little mermaid", which is underwhelming at best. A life-size statue of a mermaid, sitting on a rock and angstily looking toward the sea, with tourists hanging all over her. We sat on the rocks near her for thirty minutes waiting for a moment that we could take an unobstructed photo, and it never came. So we took a photo of the statue covered in tourists instead. I think that might have actually been more fitting. Other than riding rollercoasters and seeing forlorn mermaids, we spent our time in Copenhagen riding bikes, seeing the giant city buildings, and trying to keep as many kroners in our pockets as possible. For the most part, we did pretty well.
After Denmark, we hopped on a plane to London, picked up a rental car, spent a lovely day with Steph's brother, Tony, in the city and then took off for Scotland. Scotland is one of the places that both of us were really looking forward to. We both feel an attachment to the country due to distant Scottish lineage. Steph's is at least a little more easily traced than mine, since she claims Robert the Bruce as her distant ancestor. This means we see her family name everywhere. There are Bruce tartans, Bruce pins, Bruce ties, Bruce kilts, Bruce...everything. There is even...pause for dramatic effect here...a Bruce Festival next weekend. An ENTIRE festival centered around the family lineage. We have officially changed our travel plans to include the festival, and Steph will be contacting the the festival organizers to see if she gets a special Bruce discount.
Other than the family finding, we have been seriously hitting as many of the sites as we possibly can. We have a castle pass, and now have been to nine castles, and have plans to see at least three or four more. We have seen giant imposing castles on cliffs, tiny castles that look more like summer homes, and castles in ruins. We have also seen our fair share of palaces. But perhaps the most interesting part of our trip in Scotland so far has been the lodging. And by lodging, I mean camping.
Yes, we have been camping. Camping. Like, in a tent, in sleeping bags. I have to say, I have never been a big camper, and I think it showed in my preparedness. Steph actually brought along a water heater for coffee in the morning. Which is amazing...if you have cups. So after the first morning of using an old coffee cup we found in the back of the car, we went and bought coffee cups. Which was super helpful, and we thought we were all set, until we realized we didn't have spoons. Stirring milk in with your finger can be very hot. Luckily my fingers are still pretty immune to burns after my years of cooking. I'm not sure I can tell you what we used for the cereal. A day later we collected spoons. Now we're pretty set (some mornings are better than others). One night, we even tried 'wild camping'.
Wild camping is an entirely different animal. Due to the Scottish 'right to roam' act, you can essentially camp anywhere you want, as long as you inform the owner of the land first, pitch late, leave early, and don't leave a trace of evidence that you were there. It can save a lot of money, but comes with its own drawbacks. Early on in the day that we had decided to try wild camping, we went and scoped out a spot for it. It was a national park, secluded, had parking and a beautiful lake. Seemed like the perfect set-up. What could go wrong with that? Let me tell you. A) the name of the park was Devilla. Chop off those last two letters and your imagination starts going crazy. B) The park had a reputation in the middle ages of having witches. C) there was a grave site with children that died of the plague. D) with those facts in mind, picture our chosen site in the middle of the woods, next to a lake (bog), a mile off the road. Eeh. After having a drink at a pub, Steph and I set out to pitch our tent in the scary forest. When we pulled up to the campsite to gather our things and head off to our scary site, in my head I was thinking, "this is terrifying. I don't know if I can do this. But Steph seems fine, not scared at all....I'm such a chicken. This is fine." Then thankfully at the last minute she turned to me and said, "This makes me a little nervous." THANK GOODNESS. We both agreed that it was a little too much for our first wild camping adventure, quickly found another way less scary spot up the road, pitched a tent and slept...okay. She slept well. I felt like I had to stand guard and every noise the wind made in the trees was cause for alarm. Needless to say, I slept a bit poorly. But was still proud of us for giving the wild camping a try. I'll let you know how the next adventure goes.
And that's where we are in our trip. We are about halfway up the Eastern coast of Scotland, and are off to Inverness tomorrow to check out some scotch distilleries. Maybe we can try wild camping on the front lawn of Glenfiddich or Dewars. A little less scary, I'd say...and maybe coming with some other benefits?
-EC
And that's where we are in our trip. We are about halfway up the Eastern coast of Scotland, and are off to Inverness tomorrow to check out some scotch distilleries. Maybe we can try wild camping on the front lawn of Glenfiddich or Dewars. A little less scary, I'd say...and maybe coming with some other benefits?
-EC
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