Our Scottish friend Chris Williams invited a bunch of us to stay at his family's house for the weekend. Our group was pretty large and included the Americans (Me, Will, Jackson, and Meredyth), the Canadians (Lynsey, Briana, Anja, Emily, and her friend Sarah), two Scotsmen (Chris and Ross), and our Frenchman (J.C.). We met up on Friday afternoon and caught an hour train ride to Wemyss Bay, where we caught an Uno-filled ferry ride to the Isle of Bute. The ferry ride was much more pleasant than my last experience on a ferry. Only a half an hour and no vomiting. Rothesay was great. The population of the whole island is 6,000 people, and 1,000 or so live in Rothesay. It was quaint and quiet, so it was nice to get out of the city for a few days. We met up with Chris's parents in a pub, and they had ordered us all a drink! We knew they were cool :P They were so friendly and hilarious the entire weekend! We had our drinks, chatted, and then grabbed some take-out to eat up at the house. Chris's parents have taken care of his guests before, and they are so nice! We stayed in the lower level, and they had a ton of food ready for us to consume. 
Chris's mom had even done some baking, so I enjoyed downing a few too many sweets. We got to meet Chris's red setter, Tila, and his black cat, Tom. We all enjoyed the company of the pets throughout the weekend. Reminded us of home! After we ate and relaxed for a while, we went down to the town's one 'club' and did some karaoke. It was hilarious and really fun! After a few hours out we made our way back, and unfortunately Will got sick, so Jackson, Ross, Chris, and I had the distinct privilege of taking care of him in the bathroom late into the night. We got very little sleep.On Saturday morning I had a breakfast of coffee, cereal, toast, and a banana. It was amazing. After we all got up and showered we went exploring around Rothesay. We went up to a viewpoint and had a fantastic view of the surrounding landscape.
When we came down to the house after that, Chris's mom had made us some soup, so we downed it. It was delicious! She made a chicken vegetable and a potato leak. After lunch we walked through the town a bit and found another hill called Canada Hill. Needless to say, the Canadians were determined to climb it. We followed and took some cool pictures. Next, we went and toured Rothesay Castle, which was really cool. The dungeon, moat, ramparts, halls, courtyard, chapel, and stairwells were great to explore. After the castle we decided to take a break in another of the fourteen local pubs in the town of 1,000 people. Gotta love Scotland. While the others went and did a bit more exploring, a few of us went back to Chris's and grabbed a nap. That was a great decision. It restored some of my energy for the rest of the night. Chris's mom then made us a delicious supper of lasagna, chicken tikka
masala, rice, salad, naan bread, and dessert. She had banana pudding, ice cream, and strawberry tarts out for us. She was a saint. I could return to that place many times for the food alone. For the night we went to a pub, played some snooker, and then headed back to the 'club' where they had a DJ blasting some music. We danced for a while and then headed back to Chris's where we watched an American classic film: Space Jam. Nobody got sick that night, so we got a solid amount of sleep.Sunday morning I woke up to the delicious scent of bacon and fried haggis. Chris's mom was at work in the kitchen once again. She prepared us a traditional fried Scottish breakfast. It included fried haggis, sausages, bacon, blood sausage, black pudding, potato scones, and pancakes. We were eating like Scottish kings and queens. It was so delicious! Add a little ketchup and you don't even thin
k about what's in the haggis, blood sausage, or black pudding! After breakfast we got packed up, jumped on the ferry, and caught a train back to Glasgow. Our group split up because Chris, Ross, Jackson, Will, and I wanted to go out for lunch. We decided to go to the German-style 'Bier Halle' for cheap pizza and gigantic two-pint stein beers. Jackson and I were 'lassies' and didn't get beers, but the pizza was great. A fitting end to a wonderful weekend!
Beautiful pictures!
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