Day 9

Hiya!

Today was our last day full day at the campsite, and, fortunately for us, we had the day off. We celebrated it by sleeping in a bit, and going for a late breakfast. During breakfast, I noticed one of the biggest cultural differences in my entire time there: the breakfast itself. We had our Dutch breakfast spread out: bread, some crackers, cheese, chocolate spread, yoghurt, etc. They each had a plate of full English breakfast, eggs, sausages, baked beans, toast and more. It was very funny to see. Afterwards we played some games and read for a bit. We lunched with pasta, because Mike had told us that we’d be going to the pizzeria tonight, and we had that planned for dinner. Then we played some more games, and started packing our bags. Around half past five Mike came to get us to go to the pizzeria and to go for a hike along the cliffs. We also finally met Mike’s girlfriend, Mary. We were informed that one of us should join Mike in the pick-up and the other three could join Mary in her Fiat 500. Instead, we squeezed ourselves into the fiat 500 together, and made Mike drive alone with the dogs (after Mary insisted that the pick-up was ‘disgusting’). After about half an hour we stopped in a very dreary, grey town where we picked up some pizzas, and then we drove another 15 minutes to a beach. We ate our pizzas sitting on rocks on the beach, with a lovely view. After finishing our pizzas, we started our hike to the cliffs. Before entering the various pastures, there were some warning signs about aggressive cows, which we found pretty disconcerting, but luckily for us the cows were located in different pastures than the ones we walked through, so we could avoid them. After crossing multiple fields and kissing gates, we arrived at the cliffs. They were roughly 100-150 metres high, and the path was at most places about two metres from the edge, and there was no fence. It is truly a miracle that none of us died. The dogs happily chased rabbits while we walked the entire length of the cliffs. In the end we hiked through a part of a forest and then we ended at a beautiful, caste-like house. We were very fortunate with the weather, because on the way to the cliffs it was raining, but when we actually there it had stopped and the sun had come through.

When we arrived home it was raining but we decided that we would go in the hot tub anyway. Unfortunately, the water was way too hot, and we had to drag buckets of cold water to the tub in the downpour while nearly freezing to death. When the water was finally a bit more bearable and we sat down, the rain stopped. Thanks. Afterwards we used the bucket again to cool down, and then went to bed.

I was very happy that we got the opportunity to see the cliffs, because it is a very notorious part of Scotland, and I’d always wanted to see them. Luckily for us, Mike and Pam made time for us to be able to explore the beautiful nature and culture, because otherwise the experience wouldn’t have been complete for me.

See you!

Marjolein

#Scotland #somuchfun #hiyamrMeek #cliffs