Scotland...finally!

So I may be just about the laziest blogger on the planet, especially since I don't have much to do anyways!! But here it is, without further ado...our trip to Scotland during Memorial Day weekend! Andrew and Matt planned out a fun filled, five day road trip through Scotland...and boy did we cover some ground! I think if I had to do it over again, I maybe wouldn't have tried to make so many stops (we spent A LOT of time in the car), but then again I guess if you want to see everything, you have to drive and drive and drive!

Here's basically the route we took...obviously we couldn't take straight shots like this, but you get the idea!

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon in Edinburgh, picked up our rental car, and headed out to see Stirling Castle since it was only a few minutes away. For all you Braveheart fans, William Wallace's famous bloody battle was fought just down the hill from the castle, so the boys were totally excited about that!

After the castle, we figured it wouldn't be right if we didn't try to find a proper Scottish pub and mingle with the locals. It was starting to rain pretty good too so it was a good time to head inside. We chose a pub at random and we couldn't have made a better choice!

These characters were unbelievable! Andy, who to me seemed like the local rich guy who cuts out from work early to get drunk every day at this pub, and Frankie (a bit of a loon) who everyone said was the best jazz musician in Scotland. These guys found out we were American and played every American song they could find on the jukebox (ie Neil Diamond's "Coming to America," multiple Beach Boys tracks, the band America...you get it). In the end I think we were a big hit because they bought us all a round! YES!

This pretty much ended out first day in Scotland, as we had to head back to our hotel since dinner was part of our room rate. Did I mention said hotel was a castle? (Airth Castle to be exact)

After spending the night in Edinburgh, we took off bright and early and headed north to our next stop in Fort Williams. There was some amazing scenery on the way, and we ran into this guy just playing on one of the roadside turnoffs. I like to think it was an homage to my Glendora Tartans!!!

With a quick stop in Fort Williams for lunch, we continued on our scenic drive and stopped at Eilean Donan Castle, which may have been the coldest place that my body has ever experienced! Fa-reezing! We actually didn't even go in because we were already a bit castle-d out, but it made for a great photo op nonetheless!

Here's a castle fact for ya...this one has been in a bunch of movies, a couple of which were Highlander and James Bond - The World is not Enough. But other than that, just another castle!

Our final leg of the drive for Thursday was to head even farther north to the Isle of Skye where we would be staying in the little town of Portree. This was a cute little port village, where lucky for us, they were holding the Annual Accordian and Fiddle festival right in our hotel! Okay so we actually never went to it since we chose to stay and play at a local pub instead. And because we were so far north we almost missed dinner at ANY restaurant because of the tricky sun! We figured since the sun was still out that we had plenty of time to get something to eat, but I guess we didn't pay attention to the fact that the sun stays out up there until almost midnight when most kitchens are closed...oops!

Time for a blog break. Part two of our Scottish road trip coming soon!

Trip to Bahrain and Djibouti (Andrew Guest Blogging)

I had to go on my first big work trip since being here, and it was to parts of the world that I never imagined myself going: Kingdom of Bahrain (Middle East) and Djibouti (Africa). It will definitely be a trip that I will not soon forget.

First stop the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is a tiny island nation in the Persian Gulf (see map) that is only 290 sq. miles, and to put that in perspective is smaller than my home of Shelby County, KY (oft considered the Center of the Universe) coming in at 385 sq. miles. However, the population is much larger than my home at a whopping 1.2 Million people made up of about only 60% local Bahrainis and the remaining 40% are a mix of people from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The primary language is Arabic, which was strange to hear and see, but everyone there speaks English as well since it is the language used in business in Bahrain.

Bahraini Dinars (money)

I flew into the capital Manama for my first experience in the Arab world not knowing what to expect. Bahrainis are very friendly to westerners and the country allows for freedom of religion (very rare in this part of the world). I got to stay at the luxurious Gulf Hotel, which was pretty amazing. My first night there I ended up at an outstanding Turkish Food place called Layla’s that is a very local hangout with little tourists. Food was delicious and cheap.

Vine Leaves stuffed with Rice and herbs and served with marinated vegetables

Spicy thin Pita, Baba Ganoush, fresh Humus, and olives

Main Course: Lamb Chops, spicy chicken, kebab with onion/cabbage salad and french fries

After dinner we enjoyed some amazing Turkish Tea with Mint and Shisha (flavored tobacco smoked in a hookah).

Manama, Bahrain, is a beautiful and Modern city mixing the old ways with new (somewhat like Dubai). The Grand Mosque is amazing, and I was planning on visiting until my trip took a very strange twist.

Grand Mosque in Manama, Bahrain

Escalation between the Shi’a (60% of population) and the Sunni (ruling King and government) erupted as the “Day of Rage” that began in Egypt spread into tiny Bahrain. The protestors had set up camp at Manama’s famous Pearl Monument (see pic). The King asked help from the Gulf Coast States (kind of like the UN of the middle east) and 1000 troops poured in from Saudi Arabia and UAE. Local Bahraini police along with the troops made a surge on the protestors in a full on battle right outside my hotel. Cell phone and internet service was shut down in lieu of the attack, and you can see the black smoke billowing over the city. From that point on Martial Law was declared from 4pm to 5am each day, so I was forced to basically become a prisoner in my hotel as everything was closed and checkpoints were set up throughout Manama. The State Department encouraged Americans to leave Bahrain as soon as possible. The difficulty was that the flights out were during the times that Martial Law was in place, but I had to go anyway. On the way to the airport I was repeatedly stopped by troops and checkpoints on why I was out driving around, and even was stopped by a Tank and asked to get out of the car by armed Saudi Troops – but once they saw my US passport I was quickly put on my way. Felt like I was in Red Dawn. Finally, got all the way to the airport to find out my flight was cancelled and the next one out wasn’t until the following evening; thus, I had to get back in the car and drive BACK thru all the checkpoints and security again getting questioned once more. It was quite a nervous experience, not knowing what is going to happen or when I can leave. The next day, made it back to the airport once more and was finally going to be on my way.

Smoke billowing over the city as the troops and protestors clashed near my hotel,

the protestors were violently driven out of the square and back into their homes.

My next stop for work was a direct flight to Djibouti, Africa; however, when we took off we were informed that we would be making an unscheduled stop in Kuwait, hmmmm, what plane makes unscheduled stops in the opposite direction. I thought for sure my next stop was Baghdad- prior to getting off the plane in Kuwait I was briefed on some safety issues such as this:

What to do in case of a missle attach - YOWSERS!!

Spent about 4 hours in a secure tent on the ground in Kuwait before finally taking off again. After approx. 5 hours of flying time and I reached Djibouti City, Djibouti.

Djibouti is a small country about the size of New Jersey located in the Horn of Africa squashed between Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea and right on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Djibouti was a former French colony (French Somalia), so the majority of the population speak both their tribal language as well as French. Prior to heading to Djibouti, I was vaccinated for about everything you can think of getting 9 shots for things such as Typhoid and Yellow Fever along with taking Malaria medication before, during, and 7 days after returning.

Djiboutian Francs are very colorful

Djibouti was a strange place with some of the poorest people i have ever seen - it really brings to light real life in Africa. One of my visits for work was to a place called La Douda, which is the dump for all the trash and municipal waste generated in the entire city of Djibouti City. Here I saw something I will never forget.

This is a 200-300 acre dump, and the people you see here actually live on the dump - scavenging, raising cattle and goats, and their children in houses built out of the trash on the heaps of trash.

herds of goats are raised and live off eating the garbage - and this is where the people who live in this area get milk and food.

You can see the dust and trash as people (including little kids) all with little to no clothes and no shoes scavenge through the garbage. The smell here is indescribably with all the waste for the over 500,000 people in Djibouti City including burning of camel and elephant carcases - it is an odor I will never forget. Seeing and talking to people that live like this really makes life in Africa to a personal level, and I could only be grateful that I won the lottery of just being born in the US.

In striking contrast, I was at a hotel and resort just 2 miles from La Douda that is hard to imagine is so close to what I had just seen.

The Kempinski Palace Djibouti

Enjoying the local beer and sun looking out at the Red Sea

Pool side with a beautiful sunset

Being that it was a french colony, the food was wonderful and similar to that of Paris.

I did get to try a unique item - a fresh Camel Steak!!!

Other than work, I did get to do some sightseeing in the area. First, I visited the Souq (local market that sells just about everything). I picked up some local handmade items from the region.

Djibouti City Buses are all decorated in various colorful designs.

Bought Fabric and brought it to this guy to make me a couple dress shirts.

Only took 2 days and cost $10-what a deal!!

Handmade Wooden Vase with carved designs

Stone sculpture representing a married couple (left) and two hand carved Elephant book ends with real ivory tusks.

My favorite purchase was my Zulu spear I bought from a local tribesman that was used for hunting and fighting (Erin wasn't quite as excited as me when I brought this back home :)

After doing some of the shopping, I took a car with a couple co-workers and headed out to see some of Djibouti's interior and head to the famous Lake Assal which is one of the lowest and hottest points in the world sitting over 500 feet below sea level and reaching temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Lake Assal is the saltiest body of water in the world (outside of Antarctica) with a salt level of 35% while the oceans of the world are only at 3.5%. The level of saline in the water causes no plants, animals, fish, or anything to live or around the area of the lake - it was the most desolate place I have ever seen.

This is how the majority of the population lives.

Came over a hill and this guy was just walking down the road

Very strange to see a landscape that includes wild camels just wondering around.

View from just above Lake Assal

Lowest Point in Africa (2nd in the World)

The white you see is not sand, but Salt.

The water looks almost like ice is covering it,

but it is just salt.

509 feet below sea level and well over 100 degrees!

It was finally time to return back to Naples and to normal life - as can only be expected on this trip; one more thing happened that is almost unheard of in this day an age. While waiting on the plane ready for take off, we were delayed for 2 hours as the crew was searching the plane for a STOWAWAY, that's right, a stowaway. I mean, what was I on - a ship in the 1800s. Geez!

After 17 days and over 60 hours of flying time, getting back to Naples was a welcome sight. Still had one more issue - even after having 9 vaccines and malaria pills I managed to pick up an upper respiratory infection from the air quality at La Douda Dump - it took about 3 weeks and about 6 medications to fix, but I am back to normal. My trip to Bahrain and Djibouti was a unique experience that few people ever get a chance to see, and I will never forget it.