Day 4: SCOTLAND, Part I

Scotland Tour 2019

Day 4: IRISH SEA FERRY, ROBERT BURNS, GLASGOW

So we’ve now crossed the Irish Sea on our freight liner. A full 10 floors of mammothness, most of this was to accommodate auto traffic to and from Britain and Ireland. The top 4 floors were for foot traffic, though, so we stayed on Floor 8 in the cafe while the adults and kids vacillated and fascinated themselves with sleep, the view from the decks, and the arcade / movie - probably in that order. We departed at 5a and arrived there at 6a, so parents thinking your children are wastes of space in the summer - IT’S ALL A CHARADE.

We were on the boat by 7:30a, on the shores of Scotland by 10a, and on our bus soon thereafter. We met James,  whose Scottish accent is pretty darn thick to understand. We really have to work to listen compared to the Irish - no doubt about that. He’s a nice man, though, and his driving through the much more winding hills, streets, and highways is great. The bus has no laptop board, though, so writing this is a bit more perplexing.  I’m shuffling the iPad on my backpack while I cross my knees to type. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do.

The hardest part is how to explain what the terrain looks like here without a photo. The best explanation is that every bat of the eye is a photo. From the rugged terrain that looks like the delicate skin of an elder, covered by leaves of grass. The sheep and cattle (of many varieties) pick and pluck at it, whether it’s on the straightest of plains or the narrowest valley of ancient hills. A middle aged woman walking her dog in what seems to be the coast of a foreign planet to a mail carrier toting his red bag up and down the narrow sidewalks of a quaint, seaside town were within a minute of eye snaps. Out into the Sea was a tall mountain that was shrouded in the angelic ring, like it had a mystery to tell the world. The mist sputtered and spattered, but it didn’t get us wet. In fact, the windshield wipers don’t even need to be used. The stitching of perfectly placed wheat acts like a pocket that helps keep a sheepdog’s watch at bay. The pine trees jet up from the earth in a quick, condense cluster like a flowing, long green beard - and then it’s back to the fields.This has been purveyed by most as the most beautiful country in the world, and, in just a few hours of seeing it I can already see why. 

Here’s the thing - even the rain is beautiful. So are the gravestones. The wind turbines (which we’ve seen plenty more than I thought we would). I mean, there could be a porta-potty erected on the side of the road, it’d grow moss on it, turn a rusty red, and then be just as beautiful as the rest of it. 

We stopped at the Robert Burns (Bobby Burns) Museum. It wasn’t really a great site to the average American (the guy who wrote “Auld Lang Syne” and his childhood stable will pale in comparison to the upcoming wonder of Edinburgh Castle tomorrow), but it was great to get out, walk the fields, and talk with two of the quieter girls on the tour (one who goes to my church, the other who’s atheist) about religion while inside the nearby Presbyterian church. The bridge (Brig O’ Deen) was really neat to walk across. Other than that, this was a bathroom pit stop and a place for a quick bite.

We stopped in Glasgow on our way, which is Scotland’s largest city. It’s not really much a tourist destination, especially in the soaking rain, but it was neat to get out and stretch while trying to figure out a place to exchange currency. Couldn’t do it all that well, though - don’t know if that was because of my missteps in understanding our driver’s English or if we were just pointed in the wrong direction. Minor setback.

The remainder of the drive found us in a bit of traffic until we arrived at the hotel, which was not much in comparison to our previous 2 stays. I felt bad in that after a day of travel (almost full travel), we arrived at the Pine Marten, which had a pretty poor meal of ham steak, steak fries, and canned peas. The rooms were clean and tidy but much smaller. I’ll make sure that the travel company knows of both of these things.

But we ended our evening on a dreamy walk of the nearby town of Dunbar. Exploring these little nooks and crannies of the towns has been a true delight of the tour. We probably arrived in town at 8p and left as the sun was setting at 10p. First we walked the harbour, which was teeming with life and majestic views. Out in the distance were two islands, Bass Rock and something else. The signage around explaining things was absolutely perfect - not too much, not too little. We “educated Americans” - as one of the locals called us as we walked and viewed just about everything - learned that this was the location of 2 American raids during the Revolutionary War, probably by the Scots-American John Paul Jones. It’s also the location of John Muir’s birth place, which we didn’t have the time to stop and see since mostly everything closes here at 6:00p or earlier.

But the sun doesn’t close then, as you can see, and she was on full display in her beauty, poking her head through the windy and shining a speckle on the hundreds of seagulls who joined in the crab fishing with the small fleet of boats. Eventually Brian, Tina, Meg & Jalyn Makuch and I all planted a foot in the North Sea for good measure. It wasn’t as cold on July 5th as I imagine it is in January. It’s probably plenty brutal then. But for us, this was a great sight to take in, wearing our full fall gear and just smiling as the sun retreated, if only temporarily, to her quarters.

After getting ice cream (best salted caramel I’ve ever had) from one of the most difficult to understand shop keeps, we roundly turned and walked through a Presbyterian church and accompanying cemetery. It’s difficult to place time here, not just on this day when the brightness never abates during the night, but in trying to read tombstones that have been, I’m sure, battered by rain, snow, and wind for decades - if not longer. 

Next to our hotel is a Wal-Mart affiliate, so I took pleasure in one of the things I enjoy most about another country: shopping in a grocery store / market / whatever you want to call it. It wasn’t too drastically different from ours, but the produce looked fresher and plumper - no doubt about that. I’ve been told that most of the food is just “organic” - they don’t know anything else and don’t label it as such, but that may be tossed out the window when it’s Wal-Mart. Still, I picked up some snacks (for reasonable prices) and saw several other kids over there as well. We had a good conversation with the ladies running the register before packing up our things and heading back to the room. 

I picked up a book in our “lobby” (this hotel is confusing) and called Jonah so I could read it to him. That was good, because as a 3.5 year old, he doesn’t really understand the idea that I’m abroad. Hasn’t stopped him from asking and trying to place it in context, but he’s figuring out what a “country” is. I think many Americans are asking themselves that same thing. But it was great to bond with him for a good 10 minutes and not have him say silly things and pan in and out of the picture. Also great to Devin, my wife, who I am now starting to miss a bit. Her smile makes my stomach turn a bit (in a good way, of course!). I still remember how much I yearned to see her by the end of my China trip in 2017 and even more when I went to Turkey in 2010 (a much longer trip and we’d just started dating). But, as they say, absence makes that heart grow stronger.

It’s now 8 in the morning here in Scotland. We’re about to jump into breakfast and then become part of the Scottish Royalty. Can’t wait!