Pitlochry, Scotland | 16:51

Today has been great! I woke up after trying my best to sleep in for a bit. I got a shower and headed out to try and find a barber or salon. I found a really cool looking place to get a haircut, called Sweeny Tod. A beautiful name for a barbershop, huh? The coolest thing is that it is right next to a butcher shop. I’m not even kidding- I had to take a picture. The only problem was that today was a bank holiday- yesterday was Easter Sunday. I may have to get my haircut when I get back to Edinburgh.

I walked around the town for a bit and found breakfast. At the hostel, they offered cereal and toast and stuff for about 2 pounds, but I wanted something warm. I found an excellent little bistro/restaurant and had a traditional Scottish breakfast (minus the black pudding, of course). I headed back to the hostel for a few minutes and decided to head back out and see if I could find that haircut somewhere.

Low and behold, Sweeny Tod was open! I went inside and he was just finishing up with some guy’s cut- I was soon in the chair. The guy working there told me that his name was Will Robertson. I had initially planned on having Will just shave my head. My beautiful fake blonde hair had been growing out, and I was starting to get the brown roots with the blonde top, and I wasn’t a fan. Will told me that he thought it looked cool and that he wanted to turn it into a mohawk. “What the hell!” I let him do what he’d planned to do. He shaved up the sides with no guard, and to me, it looks like a cross between a military cut and a mohawk. I think it looks pretty cool!

When he was done with my haircut, I noticed a newspaper clipping of something having to do with the popular U.K. show “The X Factor”. We started talking about music and I told him how I liked to sing. Next thing I know, he whips out his guitar and starts playing me all these songs that he’d written. I thought they were good, a couple of them I thought were great and I could picture someone singing them on the radio. We sat there for about a half-hour while he gave me my own private concert. It was so cool! People were walking by the barbershop and they could hear the music so they’d sit in front and listen for a bit. They’d look in at us like we were some exhibit or something. It was quite funny. Will’s band is called “Stone Angels”- I’ll have to look them up when I get back home.

Next, I went for a walk. Just outside Pitlochry, there’s a beautiful little loch called Loch Faskally. I followed a trail around it- it turned out to be a beautiful spring day and it was so refreshing to be out in nature for a bit. This has quickly become one of my favorite stops in Scotland. Such a quaint little town, about 2500 people according to the 2001 census. So green and lovely, too. If I get to come back to Scotland again, I’ll definitely come here again!

After my hike around the loch, I stopped to get some ice cream on my way back to the hostel. It’s been nice to sit and relax for a little bit. After this rest, I plan on heading back out to get dinner somewhere. I just watched the Disney movie Tangled. It was pretty good!

22:12

Dinner was at a restaurant called McKay’s. I had a half chicken with mashed potatoes. Okay, chicken is great, but when they leave all the veins and ugly parts in the bird, it’s a bit less appetizing. I did an excellent job working around all those parts, though. It was pretty good.

I hate to leave this place so soon but am back on the train again tomorrow. I wish I had the time and the money to stay longer. After all, when the agent at Glasgow airport stamped my passport, he did tell me that I can stay up to six months. That would be sweet! I feel like it’s almost time to head home and get back to work.