I was really hoping to do a tour of the Scottish Highlands, but feeling as sick as I have been, I didn't want to sit in a bus for 12 hours. but I still want to see them, so I go down to the train station and ask about nice cities in the Highlands that are less than 2 hours away.
After getting a varied amount of advice I settle on a small tourist town about 2 hours North. I buy my train ticket round trip and wait for the next one. I thought it would be a simple ride, kind of boring, but with nice scenery. I was wrong, but in a good way.
I get into my seat, a nice Scottish girl around my age sits across from me. The other two seats and the four across from us are taken by Scottish ladies in their late 30's to age 60. The group is together and celebrating one of their 60 birthdays. They bring on plenty of food and alcohol. Mostly wine, beer and champagne.
Being the usually talkative person I am, I waste no time striking a conversation up with this lovely group. I get along with them instantly. They remind me so much of my Mom and her group of friends. What I mean by that is a bunch of women that don't care about their age, still think they are in their late twenties and know how to have fun, all while being nice people.
I start telling them about my adventures, travels, etc and they talk about their lives. All the while they shower me with free drinks and food. Eventually we pull in the girl sitting across from me. She seems pretty shy, but we get her to open up and have fun with us all. Needless to say, our little group was the life of the party on the train that day.
The saddest part was leaving. I had about 30 seconds to hop off the train while everyone said their goodbyes. They tried to convince me to just stay on the train with them for the rest of the trip (they had 2 hours more to go). And I was tempted. When I got off the train they were all pressed against the window waving. Some even pulled out handkerchiefs to wave as a joke. They pretended to cry. I pretended to run after the train holding my hand out as they went past. It was hilarious. We were all on the same page with the stereotypical train goodbye scene, one which I never thought I would live.
I got to the town and just walked around. It is really more of a village than anything. I had about an hour of daylight left (gets dark by 4pm). I walked down the main street, on a path in the woods, across a river, etc. I just spent my time reflecting and enjoying nature. There was something incredibly peaceful about this village, tranquil is the word.
As it got dark I started to wander the stores to pass the time for my train. I will only be in the village for about three hours. I start to get bored as places close. At one point I am sitting in the back of a store reading a book when I notice it has gotten really quite. I look around and no one is there. I walk up front and realized that the store closed about 15 minutes ago. Luckily, one person was still at the register closing up. The door was locked when I tried to leave and he had to come open it for me. I gave him a look of "oops?" and he gave me one of "you are kidding right...?" Yes, I managed to almost get myself locked into a small store in a village in Scotland.
Eventually, my train comes and I have no luck finding awesome people to sit with. I do luck out and get a section of seats to myself. I drift in and out of sleep on my way back.
Once I finally get back into Edinburgh, I just return to the hostel and call it a night. Tomorrow I take a bus to Glasgow.
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