Around Scotland

Jauzaa!

5 weeks down and the real studies are about to start. Well, to be honest, I started my own studying experience this week by doing a minimum of 4-days journey somewhere in UK. So the task was to do a trip alone or in a small group within UK and this trip should have some kind of theme/mission. How boring, right?? And afterwards the trip is supposed to be presented for the rest of the group.

NOKIA huoltaa Glasgowssa!

Meet the Scotch

I’ve been keen to try hitchhiking for a long time so I decided to take that as a guideline for my journey. Also I wanted to see Scotland so the plan was ready: hitchhike from Ambleside to Glasgow and then go with the flow. Here is a short summary what happened during the week:

Monday morning my mind was full of excitement with a little scare for not knowing what was going to happen. Good breakfast and thumbs up – for the first time of my life! I was totally out of my comfort zone; what are people thinking about me? Why is everyone looking at me? A few cars passed by and within 10 minutes I got my first lift. Paul, businessman from Manchester, picked me up and the game was on. All together it took 5 lifts, 5 different stories and 4 hours to make my way up to Glasgow. And all the fear was gone! Rest of the day just chillin’ around the city and looking for the hostel, good start for the journey!

Derrick heitti Carlislesta Glasgowhun, huikee kaveri!

The only plan for Tuesday was to see Champions League match Celtic FC – FC Barcelona in a local pub. Before the game I did the compulsory sightseeing including creepy cemetery, the Mitchell’s  Library  and the University campus. At the same time I proved myself, again, that I’m not a city tourist.. I had to get to Nature. Before that I still had the game coming up. By the early evening the town was getting crazy: people singing, crawling towards the stadium and drinking beer. Of course I joined them until I found the perfect bar to meet the real Scotch: The Hoops Bar (a bar only for Celtic fans). Live band playing the Celtic songs and bar full of testosterone! Such a positive experience with good small talks. But one thing was particularly clear after the night: people in Glasgow don’t speak English (the dialect gets even worse after a couple of beers and whiskeys).

Glasgow Necropolis, cemetery.

Wednesday, finally heading out of the city. Next destination Oban: a small sea kayaking/fishing town on the west coast of Scotland. Beautiful place, lovely people and amazing Nature. ‘First things first’ in my mind I headed out to look for a place to rent a kayak. Easier than I thought, and just around the corner I found company called Sea Kayak Oban. Tideraces, Valleys, P&H’s, Arrow kayaks, just to mention a couple of their kayak selection. I wanted to have a bit more playful kayak this time and there I go with my P&H Dolphin! Pushed myself out from the shore, turned and saw a seal five meters away saying hello for me. Not bad. Unfortunately the sea was relatively calm so I didn’t get a chance to play with the boat but still amazing feeling to sit in a kayak after a long time. While kayaking I saw, in addition to seals, cormorants, storks, puffins, huge salmon pools, a variety of unknown small special birds and beautiful islands. After this sea kayaking session the only pain was how to make the journey any better..

Oban.

With my mind full of enthusiasm and curiosity I jumped in the bus to go to “the outdoor capital of Scotland”, Fort William. Thursday was going to be my last day on action of this journey and I wanted to make it unforgettable. Luckily the weatherman was on my side this time: constant rain, high risk of gale, a risk of thunder and wind 13-20m/s. Despite of the recommendations from tourist info and the staff in a hostel not to go the Ben Nevis, that was the only thing in my mind. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in all United Kingdom with its 1344 meters of height and with such conditions it can be hazardous. Well, it was beautiful. “Slightly” windy and visibility under 100m it was still big fun. On my way up I passed by a Chinese couple with jeans and Adidas Superstars as well an Australian couple wearing shorts. Somehow I felt a little embarrassed with Gore-Tex jacket and trailrunning shoes but as I say: there are no bad weather, only bad clothing.

Matkalta Ben Nevisin huipulle löytyi myös paikallinen Outward Bound Trust ryhmä.

Pinkki Nalgene<3

As I said earlier, I thought that Thursday would be my last action day and the only goal for Friday was to get back home safely. The adventure was just beginning. See, thanks to Margaret Thatcher, the public transport system in UK is kind of messed up. According to a chat with British senior citizens, it is because of her, that there are nowadays plenty of bus and railway companies. So to plan a trip from Fort William to Ambleside with 4-5 different bus companies and their own schedules was coming to be the biggest adventure of the journey. Finally it took 4 buses, 3 lifts catched in the dark and 13 hours. And Tor, thank you for the last ride!

In conclusion 

- Hitchhiking can be a lot of fun but remember to be careful. After all the fear and “shame”, I invented a game how can I have fun with the cars passing by: I started to take weird positions and at least I made people laugh. 

- While walking around Glasgow I found the peddlers and beggars slightly aggressive so I had to discover a solution against them. So simple: start talking only Finnish and act like stupid. With the stickiest ones I had to switch to Tampere or Turku to get rid of them. At least I had great fun watching their faces!

- British people smokes A LOT

Nyt on saatu reissukiintiö täyteen taas vähäksi aikaa ja onkin sopiva hetki aloittaa opinnot toden teolla. Maanantaina alkaa ensimmäinen viikon kestävä intensiivijakso, jonka jälkeen kirjoitellaan n. 12 sivun essee aiheesta Critical perspectives of Outdoor Education.  Ensi viikolla saan myös ensimmäiset vieraat, so welcome Essi and Mike!