Ghostblog Hantu dan Mitos

Tuesday, I ordered my first Uber, which was a nice, clean, pleasant experience that cost us less than a taxi would. We were dropped off at the roundabout just downhill of Edinburgh Castle and slowly made it the last, few yards up to the ticket lines that had already formed. We didn't have to wait long before they started letting people in and the next couple of hours were spent showing the yanks around Edinburgh's nicest piece of real estate. We started out with breakfast at a cafe. As per usual, a bird bullied me out of my sandwich. Well, it was a big seagull and he had a sharp beak so what was I supposed to do? Eyeing me. Eating my breakfast. He gave me the evil eye before flying off without so much as a "thank you". *sniffles* I have no idea who lives in that little house there, but I would murder him/her to take over. Nice views. We ended up in the Great Hall, where the roof, made from Norwegian Wood, was the only original thing left. Lovely fireplace. We even att...

Monday, we were supposed to go to Edinburgh, but I still had a few places I just HAD to show the yanks. We first went north again, to lovely Loch Tummel and of course, Queen's View. After that, I drove along the lake, making a left at Tummel Bridge and then drove back east and then south over a nice stretch of highland-ish territory. We also made a quick detour to take pics of the Fortingall Yew. Of special interest to me were the stones set into the ground, which described several real, scientific breakthroughs in the history of mankind, with little religious mumbo-jumbo. And this was in a presbyterian, Church of Scotland graveyard, mind you. We then drove south through some more lovely scenery, for example the little beach resort at Kenmore and we also stopped to buy some stuff from a lady who had converted a room in her house to show off carvings made from animal bones and horns; everything from deer to cows. I bought some whistles for my landlady's kids and a nice little kn...

The next day was also long, but with less distance traveled. We started off with me going to Inverness Infirmary to get my cast removed, as it was chafing the skin of my foot. I first had to take an x-ray and the radiologist spent the whole time talking about how much she would love to go to Norway. The doctor was a young woman of Chinese persuasion who had never even heard of Monty Python, so my "tis barely a scratch" t-shirt was wasted on her. After I was pronounced fit for fight, we took a drive to Culloden. Later, I made a couple of wrong turns down around Aviemore and we suddenly found ourselves outside Grantown on Spey, on this peaceful single lane road with a stream running to our right. There were a few clouds in the sky but otherwise just a lovely, crisp spring day. After a while, we came across this lady training a sheepdog, with a flock of sheep running around in a field. We stopped, and Albie had a chat with her and took a gazillion pics. Views towards the Grampia...

Saturday, we set out on a long ass drive from Staffin, almost at the northern end of Skye, to Drumnadrochit, south of Inverness. We started out with an early, early drive up the hill to Quiraing, but the sunrise, which had been so spectacular in 2016 was nowhere to be seen. I was more dead than alive. Driving out, we saw this lamb had made herself comfy. A bit south of Portree, they had a herd of Shaggy Coos, and several cars and a small tourist bus were parked to take pics and even pet them. Here, she's scratching herself with her horn. I petted her and probably gave her fleas. Over on the mainland, I drove roughly the same route I'd taken in 2018 before my stomach knocked me out. Somewhere south of Dundonnell, there's a small layby where I took a took a couple of pics. Very cozy up there, by the stream.

The next morning, we set figurative sails for the Isle of Skye, which is clearly visible from Mallaig. We had two episodes of brief entertainment; first when Albie had to puke at the side of the road (they claimed it was because of my driving, I blamed her being a delicate flower) and then having to go back to fetch her purse, which she had conventiently left on the boat. We then drove north to Broadford, before making a sharp left to go west. After a little while we came across this very picturesque church ruin, I believe it is called Kilchrist. This may sound like a weird name for a church until you find out that the prefix kil can either mean "servant of" or "church". Both make sense, I guess. Nice graveyard. The beautiful Hills of Cuillin. I believe this particular mountain is called Bla Bheinn (Blue Mountain) and is a part of the range called the Black Cuillins. View towards The Old Man of Storr. The particular place where this photo was taken is rapidly becomi...

In April, I had arranged for a non-paid position chauffeuring two yanks around Scotland. Yes, mah San Diego crew, who I'd been driving all across southern Norway were once again in Europe, but this time not to darken my towels but those of the Scots. Since my ankle was still in a cast, we had, after much back and forth, been able to arrange for a car with handicap controls (the yanks had decided not to brave lefthand traffic this time either). I was expecting something like the handicap cars you will see in Norway, with hand controls on the wheel, but alas it was not to be. We actually talked to the guy who installed our system, he made a living installing these things all over Scotland and seemed happy as a clam; I know I would have been in his position. Anyway, the actual handicap system was a laughably primitive contraption. It consisted of two thin, metal rods attached to the brake and the gas pedal respectively and at the top, near the wheel they were attached to a small plast...