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A once-in-a-lifetime experience | Heartwarming trip to the Scottish Highlands

Oct 21, 2021

It was the first time I participated in a pure English Local Tour alone. Scotland is really a picturesque place that makes people forget their worries. In addition to the magnificent scenery, the interaction between people has made this trip a particularly splendid memory in life.

When I traveled to Scotland in 2016, I participated in the Isle of Skye three-day tour. It was the first time I participated in the local tour in English alone. I originally just wanted to escape from the big city and embrace nature. There are even more memorable things.

The Scottish Highlands are truly amazing places

When I checked in on the first day, I expected the driver/tour guide to be an uncle with a Scottish beard, but it turned out to be a boy who looked like Iker Casillas and looked similar in age to him. The first time I saw him, I couldn't tell. a feeling of. The driver speaks with a strong Scottish accent, but the articulation is still clear, the voice is very cute, and the guide style is very humorous, and he has to tease England from time to time. Driver: There's more fun at a Scottish funeral than at an English wedding. When we passed Stirling, he said that the two sides fought at Stirling Bridge in the 12th century, Scotland won, but everyone only remembered the national hero Wallace, the leader of the Scottish army, Andrew Murray It was forgotten by everyone because he died in battle, but after more than 700 years, another Scottish hero named Andrew Murray appeared again!

The driver's guide clip (introducing the whisky distillery), with a strong Scottish accent, test English listening, you need to pay attention to understand, but strangely, it seems that there is no obstacle to chatting with him 🤔

I wore rain boots to participate in the tour, the first day the driver saw me and said to me: I like your wellies. (Love boots is very happy to be praised 🥰), saying that I am very professional and know to wear waterproof shoes to Scotland 😂 No. The next day I wore the Icelandic outdoor brand N66 wool hat and was praised by him again. The driver: I like your hat! 66 degrees, that's even norther. (Isle of Skye is about 57 degrees north latitude)

Small fishing village Portree, Isle of Skye

The next morning, the driver was scheduled to pick me up at the B&B where I was staying at 9:00 (the B&Bs where everyone lives in different rooms), but he hadn't shown up at 9:00, and it was cold outside, so I went back indoors and waited. Outside the B&B, I didn't see anyone, so I walked in and asked the B&B proprietress as soon as I walked in: Where's my girl? A super big can laugh (help, ask me How are you? Did you have a good sleep last night? Where did you have your dinner? I said I went to that seafood restaurant you highly recommend, he said it was very popular , it's not easy for you to get stuck! When he greeted me, I met him face to face for the first time, his eyes were so blue, his smile was so warm and cute, and it made me keep thinking about the star Casillas, because this I giggled in the car for a long time about something trivial (no promise)

The next morning, I went to Neist point on Sky Island, which is the well-known headland on the postcard. It was not very cold, but the wind was so strong that I had a headache, and I couldn’t walk steadily, and I couldn’t take a good photo. The driver, Daniel, helped me take a picture of the trip here. He said: You have to go down there. I said: No~~~ I still wanna go back for lunch! Because I couldn't stand still due to the wind, he suddenly stopped Put me in his arms😳 (I was warmed in an instant, I really wanted to grab him and go down to take pictures with me XD), and then the Palestinian brother in the group helped me down, and when I climbed up after taking the photo, Daniel took the initiative. Reached out my hand and let me hold it, and it was warmed again, but it was too windy. The photo looks completely crazy 😂

Someone asked Daniel what era the Highland Band played in his car was. It sounded like the 80s. Daniel jokingly said: It was the music of the 90s. You also know that this place is relatively remote. When the music of the 80s came, it became the 90s (the whole car laughs)

On the morning of the third day, I was the first member of Daniel to pick up and drop off at the accommodation. When he saw me, he smiled and asked me if everything was okay? What did you eat yesterday? It was only me and him in the car for a short time, since he said he was a football fan, I chatted with him about football, and his tone became very pleasant when we talked about football 😂 We talked about Scottish football, and he said he supported Dundee United Yes, I asked why he wasn't Edinburgh's team? (He lives in Edinburgh) He said he grew up east of Dundee as a child and his grandfather played for Dundee United, so he's a Dundee fan of course. He also talked about some young players in Scotland who are not bad, playing in the Bundesliga and the Portuguese Super League, so in five to ten years the Scottish team will become more and more powerful (although the driver said that the Scots often laugh at themselves that they are best at Glorious defeat) , I said: just like Wales! Daniel: Exactly, Wales has played very well. Talking about football early in the morning, the whole person is full of energy! (Football is really a good topic of national diplomacy)

Drivers/tour guides generally do not dine with the group members, nor do they live with the group members. I guess that the accommodation must not be as good as the group members. They may also eat a sandwich, toast, fish and chips, etc. The next day Isle of It was raining non-stop on Skye Island. When I was walking on the cold streets of Portree and was drenched by the rain, I really hoped to meet the driver’s brother on a street corner and eat fish and chips with me. I really don’t want to go to the restaurant alone!

On the third morning, we went to Eilean Donan Castle, a strategically important castle located by the lake. You can freely choose whether to buy a ticket or not. We waited for the driver Daniel at the door to buy a group ticket, because it was sunny on this day, and the photos were too great. Beautiful, I took advantage of this time to take pictures everywhere, and I was concentrating on composing halfway through the composition. Suddenly, someone playfully ran up to my camera and made a face, looked up and found that it was Daniel, who wanted to give me the ticket (sigh, why not freeze it? This way I can get cute grimacing pictures!!) It's so cute to see him grimacing from the camera screen! ! ! Why are you being cute to me! ! !

Eilean Donan Castle, the most famous castle in Scotland

After visiting Eilean Donan Castle, I went to the toilet and walked back to the bus. As a result, no group members came back before the meeting time. Only the driver was in the bus. I asked him to help me take pictures by the lake. We chatted and went to the bus. Walking by the lake, after he helped me take pictures, I asked him: Can I take a photo with you? I don't wanna be alone in all of my photos. , he picked up my phone and took a selfie with me by the lake TUT After the pictures we continued chatting by the lake, Daniel asked me how the castle looked, I said the castle felt "different" from the normal castle, Daniel: I know it's a bit wierd. I said: It doesn't look royal. It looks... a bit cute! Daniel said with a smile: Yeah, it's kind of cute. There is a picturesque scenery in front of me, and there are people around me who accompany me to enjoy and chat with me. I really hope that time can be paused.

In the parking lot of Loch Ness in the afternoon, I saw Daniel chatting with colleagues (other drivers/guides of the company), one of them was wearing a kilt, I asked the kilt brother if he could take a photo, Dainiel Right next to him, he said: 10 pounds per photo. He also pointed to the bag in the crotch of his colleague and said that the money should be invested here! 😂 I begged: Come on~ Don't be like this XD Anyway, I got it in the end, Daniel was right next to it and said: I'll never forgive you.

After getting on the bus, I asked the driver, Daniel, are we going to see the Highland Cow today?
Daniel said: I'll keep that as a surprise.
The back-end friend laughed and said: You ruin the surprise.
Me: So~~rry~~
Daniel: First, you ignore me for the guy wearing the kilt, then, you ruin my surprise. This is your stop. can take it back home.
After I finished speaking, the whole car burst into laughter, my whole cheeks were about to swell up, I had a complicated feeling of being bullied and teased at the same time😂 I really didn’t ignore you ah ah ah, my eyes are clearly on you 🙈

I went to visit the whisky distillery in the afternoon. I didn’t have enough alcohol, so I didn’t go to the wine tasting with the group members. When I got back to the bus, Daniel was alone in the bus, and I chatted with him again (every time I chat with him, the topic is always Too late to finish before I hit the road XD Never thought I could gossip with someone in English for so long, and when I'm out of words, he'll continue the conversation TUT), I'm standing at the door of the car and he's in the driver's seat , I looked up and squinted at me so much that I was too embarrassed to look at each other, and my eyes kept wanting to float away.

I asked him if the music in the car was chosen by him? He said: yeah, just a random mix. I was wondering if every Highland tour would play the same song, because he would choose Scottish songs related to the history along the way, and would explain which history the song was singing about , I feel very attentive! I said I heard you play Travis, he said yes yes yes, I said I liked Travis very much, Daniel said the first good album he bought in his life was Travis, did I say The Man Who? He said yes! During the chat, I accidentally discovered that he was born in the same year as me. I have been misunderstanding that he is about the same age as Casillas and is married and has children XD (he became a father last year)

The sweetest part: Because it seems that our group doesn’t charge tips, someone in the group suggested that everyone give 5 pounds to buy whisky for Daniel (he is also a big drinker, but he can’t drink it at work), Daniel received the full amount. The group was super happy when the group gave him a gift. All kinds of Canxiao QvQ said that he was too moved to speak.

The whole group bought 5 pounds of gifts (whiskey) for Daniel, as another form of tip, the Dutch uncle is very funny XD Daniel was very touched by the gift~~

Because I was clamoring to see the Highland cow earlier, after going to the winery, Daniel took us to see the cows on the farmland of a certain rich family! Whether it's a bonus itinerary or not, I'm happy to see Niu Niu anyway~

Cute Scottish Highland cow 📷 derek_dammann / Instagram

Before leaving the highland, the whole group took a big group photo. Since I was relatively slow to pass, I stood on the side at first, but the group members asked me to stand in the middle, which is next to the driver, after I passed. He started half-squatting between the first and second rows, but Daniel said: "You stand up, I won't tie you away again. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up, put me beside him, and again Unpromisingly sweet to QAQ (As a result, the owner of the camera who took the photo asked for the E-mail of the whole car, but he didn't send the photo in the end 😭 My precious memories ah ah ah)

Back in Edinburgh in the evening, Daniel introduced the recommended bars/restaurants for eating, drinking and watching performances in Edinburgh (I asked him in the morning what good restaurants are in Edinburgh, and he actually remembered QvQ), the urban area was enlarged. Some members of the group went down, and when they finally returned to their office, it was just me and another girl on the bus.

Before we got off the bus, we talked about the Queen of England. He said that the Scots don’t care about the Queen at all. I don’t understand why they still need the Queen in 2016. I mentioned that I went to the England football team and sang God Saves The Queen. There are 20 times! Daniel: I can't stand that! In Scotland, we have our national anthem, and it's about Scottish army beating English Army. But the last line in God Save The Queen is about conquering the rebellion of the Scots. I asked him that England Did you really have a national celebration when you lost to Iceland? Daniel said: Of course there is! What a hilarious we are celebrating! XDDD I said that I was also a supporter of Iceland at the time. Another girl in the car said: Everyone is, they came from nowhere but playing so well. I said that the Iceland team's clapping ceremony was very shocking and touching. I said that England is the most expensive team of all teams, Daniel: They are OVER-PAID. Me: England national team is a joke! Daniel: You're right THEY ARE. XDDDD I'm so bad, with people from different countries Talking about football, everyone is talking about people talking and talking about ghosts XD

After getting off the bus, Daniel took the luggage to me, and then gave me a big hug to say goodbye QAQ, I told him Thank you for taking care of us. , he added to me how to get to the restaurant, the last time I saw With his smiling eyes, so blue even in the dim sky, I just... went blank, forgot everything, forgot to ask him about the Scottish song list, forgot to contact him (fortunately I found it on IG later), after introducing the restaurant to me, he went back to drive. When I look back, I suddenly feel so heavy, and I have a feeling that I have to say goodbye before I am ready. I have post-tour depression when I join a tour group, and I feel that I am stupid.