Thankfully, I’ve been super busy with work and distracted by The Scot (you haven’t met him yet - more on him later) that I haven’t had time to think much about the horrible shitball that is Bachelor Party Marty. I did end up blocking him on my phone and every social media outlet I know of, so I’m sure I won’t be hearing anything from him - ever.
And yes, I do think about his girlfriend and imagine that he is manipulating her in more ways than one. She’s 24, so she’s 10 years younger than he is. My only hope for her is that she is a lot smarter than I was about what this guy’s potential is. Do you remember waaaay back when? Back when BPM and I first met and started hanging out? I wrote that he was so fucking hot, but that he was also so fucking DUMB? Right. Maybe not so much dumb as he is a motherfucker.
Anyway. Gone. Done. Adios. Aufiderzein. Toodeloo, Motherfucker.
Right. Let’s get back to SCOTLAND, shall we???
So, where we last left off, our hero (that would be me, heh) was lying in bed basking in the afterglow of a steamy night..but within two hours was about to walk out of her sweet little apartment door and head to the bus area next to Waverly Train Station to catch her ride to the Highlands of Scotland.
Can’t believe I wasn’t hurting more than I was. I mean yeah, I was sleep deprived, but I also think that I was feeling so happy about my awesome day and night before. It was an adventure, for sure, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered as well as kind of made my whole trip, you know? If nothing else amazing happened at this point, I’d have been fine because I’ll never forget my CRAZY tour of Edinburgh!
Anyway. Got to the train station early so I’d have time to grab a coffee and a warm snack before getting on the coach.
As it turns out, this cafe meeting point was the spot to meet for ALL the tours going out that day, I believe. At 7:30 in the morning it was crowded AF. Thankfully, the line moved quickly on this misty morning and I had a steaming hot cappuccino in hand within 5 minutes. I gulped this down fairly quickly along with something bready - I think I got an egg sandwich or something. Needed sustenance after such an exhausting day/night
Finally, our tour was called and I set out to find the small coach bus in a sea of about 25 busses - all I had to do was look for the person named “MacKenzie”. Easy, right?
I guess…if you’re completely sober and not out of it.
I started walking and somehow nearly got in the wrong vehicle before I spotted the most gorgeous kilted man standing beside a small bus. I asked if he was MacKenzie, and sure enough…YES.
OH HAPPY DAY!!!
He was dressed in a beautiful red tartan kilt with all of the bells and whistles - I don’t know what any of it is called, but he was in full-on Scottish garb - the kilt, the sock thingies, the man-purse, the hat… and HE was a beautiful Scotsman with red hair and a red beard. Just the perfect specimen! And the accent….ohhhhh the accent. I literally could not contain my excitement…about everything about this trip.
I hopped on the bus and found a seat - since I was traveling solo I had a solo seat on one side and a darling Australian couple on the other - the husband egged me on about how I was drooling over MacKenzie the whole trip…and the wife was in 100% agreement with me. I loved my bus-mates.
I’m not 100% sure how they felt about me, however. I was punch-drunk from the day/night before and I kind of had a lot to say. I was deliriously happy (emphasis on the delirious part) and probably a super annoying chatterbox…and there was a LOT of drive time on this trip.
We pulled out and drove through Edinburgh during the morning rush hour so it was a bit slow getting out, but once we got out of town, we started cruising through the countryside and it got GORGEOUS very quickly!
We first drove to a small loch somewhere outside of Edinburgh headed West. I’m going back through my photos. I’ll try to post my pics as I go. It was called Loch Lubnaig and it was pretty spectacular for just a quick pitstop. I needed the stop, too. I was feeling super hungover at that point and needed another coffee and a candybar or something (yes, diet completely blown, but so worth it).
It was at this first pit stop that I noticed something so interesting and SO endearing about our HOT SCOT kilted tour guide, MacKenzie… every time we stopped…on this whole 12-hour journey, he’d get out of the bus, pull out a big blue sack, and pick up trash in the parks and along the roadsides. OH my gosh, we were ALL in love with this guy by the end of this trip. What a cool thing to do. Here you can see him doing just that!! Oh yes, and you can see him in all his glory, checking his phone in the largest of the shots.
…sigh
So yeah, the tour went on and on through the most scenic of places, catching rainbows and waterfalls, mountains, the greenest grass and other glorious, glorious sights… Simply stunning.
We drove to the West Coast of Scotland and to the Atlantic Ocean and back up through Glencoe and then on up further to Loch Ness (here’s Loch Ness with some kind of phallic silo in the foreground - I tried to get artsy) and all the while, good ol’ MacKenzie was telling stories and jokes and regaling us with all kinds of information. Unfortunately, I was so weary that every time we got back on the bus after one spectacular scene and another, I’d kind of fall into a zone. Not really asleep, but not really awake either.
Went back up through Inverness and at that point I kind of shut down. I really, REALLY wanted to listen and understand the stories that MacKenzie was telling us, but we would get stuck in some funky traffic situation on the tiny two-lane roads (and MacKenzie would interrupt his story to yell, “CRRRAP!” with that awesome Scottish accent!) and I was so out of it for the remainder of the trip.
Yes, I still saw the awesomeness of the countryside and took photos and all of that, but I also desperately needed sleep and my body was simply shutting that shit down.
I did get a couple of photos with MacKenzie near the end. If we are IG friends IRL, you’ve seen one of these photos…it’s a doozy. We look almost like lovers (or brother and sister, depending on whether or not you think two redheads should be a couple!).
Finally, nearly 12 hours later we were back at the tour stop at Waverly Station. It was already nearly dark and all I really wanted to do was walk back to the little apartment, take a shower, have a nice mellow dinner and go to bed.
And that’s essentially what I did.
I found the cutest little pub/restaurant around the corner from the apartment (after doing some searching - it was a bit late for dinner…) and had a spinach salad and some bubbly and spent the evening texting with The Scot (the guy from Tinder who I never got to meet while I was in town). It was too late to meet at that point, but DAMN, it was such a shame. He was SO cute that I’d sent [Athena] photos of him and told her that I was giving up everything and moving to Scotland for this dude that I’d never met!
The Scot and I went back and forth while the pub became crowded with dudes having some sort of a party, and I ordered a “Scotch Coffee”, which is the same thing as an Irish Coffee only they use Scotch whisky instead. The whole time The Scot was telling me what a shame it was that we didn’t meet because it seemed like we’d be a great pair.
Big shame it was my last night. Super shame I could hardly walk around the corner to my apartment. It was an effort to get my clothes off and into bed.
Once in bed I was OUT. I didn’t even set my alarm. My train wasn’t until noon the following day. It was the most delicious sleep I’ve ever had in MY LIFE!!
Okay. Enough for now. Next entry in this travel series: Back to London, yet texting Scotland continues!
xox,
GS
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