Aberdeen > Inverness

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Scotland 5: Day 22

03.22.16 | Aberdeen > Inverness Train | 09:22

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Another steeple, as I am walking to the train station in Aberdeen,

I checked out of the hostel in Aberdeen just after 06:30 to get to an early train. I found breakfast at the train station: The Pumpkin Cafe. A breakfast sandwich that had been sitting in a cooler. I could taste that it hadn’t been made in the last 2 or 3 days. A danish with chocolate chunks and a bottle of Ribena washed it all down. If I recall, Ribena was one of my friend Colee’s favorite parts of the United Kingdom when we visited years ago (this trip was my very first visit, back in 2002).

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09:29

I just passed through the town of Keith. I have dear friends who told me they are coming to Keith sometime soon. My advice to them is to bring your own entertainment- Keith looks like a very small village, at least that’s my perspective from a train passing through.

Fort Augustus Hostel | 18:19

Once I arrived in Inverness, I walked down the street a few blocks to the bus station where I purchased the fare to Fort Augustus, yet another destination I’ve never been to. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at what it’d be like, the bus driver kept referring to it as “Fort Disgust-us”.

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The road from Inverness to Fort Augustus follows Loch Ness.

Thankfully, Fort Augustus is anything but disgusting. I actually love this small town on the beautiful Loch Ness. Before you ask, yes I have seen Nessie earlier today. We hung out.

Fun fact: The guy who served me my fish n’ chips at lunch looks just like Jared from Subway. That is to say, child-molester Jared from maximum security. It was a bit freaky. Picture Jared but with a Scottish accent.

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The hostel is a pretty big house, and there seems to be a large group of students staying here who are very loud. I may be forced to hurt somebody. I have three other guys in my room, all of them are staying here long term and working in the town. In my mind, they would have much better options if they moved to one of the cities instead. But what do I know?

Back to the beginning of Scotland 5 | Forward to Scotland 5: Day 23

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Scotland 4: Day 23

4.19.11 | Aberdeen > Inverness | 11:03

I don’t think that I need to point out that last night’s sleep was horrible. I didn’t splurge for a cabin this time- they gave me a seat, much like a seat on an airplane, but it was a litter wider- that is unless you fly first or business class. I spent the entire night tossing and turning and all that.

I arrived in Aberdeen on time and had a few hours to kill before my train left the station. I found a coffee shop and got some hot chocolate and read my book. Oh, by the way, the book I got yesterday is called “Scotland” and it’s part of the “Horrible Histories” collection. This guy has written these different history books (more than 50 in the set so far) and in the books, he shares some historical facts but he tells them in such a way that it’s a light-hearted, funny approach. I can tell they’re geared to school-age children but since that’s about my maturity level, it worked. An illustrator adds in comics about what’s going on. I may have to check out his other books. The website is www.horrible-histories.co.uk. It’s totally worth checking out.

Now it’s time for me to talk about fashion. If you know me or have seen me dress, you’ll note that I’m not really into fashion- in fact, I often don’t care what I’m wearing. The last time I was in the UK, a lot of the guys were all about the mullet hairstyle- as ugly as that is. This statement left most of the U.S. by 1980, but if you’re traveling around the southern states you may see one or two.

Right now, it seems like a lot of people over here (mostly guys) are into wearing white shoes. While not as bad as a mullet, they like to wear these white shoes with dark, dark jeans. This makes the white shoes stand out quite a bit. Around Glasgow and Edinburgh, I’d often see someone in all-black, except for their bright white shoes. This may not be a fashion movement per se, but it has stood out to me a bit while I’ve been over here.

Inverness Hostel | 12:41

Walking over here was just great. There’s a slight chill in the air, but it’s probably at least 10° warmer than it was on Orkney… maybe not, but it feels like it.

18:12

For dinner, I had fish and chips again. It was some wonderful salt/vinegar/grease. I’ve heard it’s good for you too! It’s so great to be back in Inverness. I can tell it missed me. Bad.

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22:37

It’s been a nice easy evening. I watched Gulliver’s Travels– it was meh. I do love Jack Black, but I don’t think there was much special about this picture. I’m off to cough in bed. Yay!

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