Backpacking Trip: day 30

andddd another day down. this one was really nice and easy. I slept in until about 9 (despite a group of loud guys coming in at 3am and leaving at 6am). i felt pretty rested when i woke up though, and went downstairs to get some INSTANT COFFEE!! - my favorite! - but not. then i left the hostel and worked my way to the scotline tour office once again (only like 5 min away) where i boarded the coach bus for my day tour of glasgow and loch lomond. it was about a 50 minute drive to glasgow where we got off the bus and had about a half hour to walk around the city and take some pictures - and that is exactly what i did. once back on the bus we continued onward to a small village called Luss on the edge of loch (which means lake) lomond. once we got there i got a burger and a sandwich for lunch (i was really hungry), and then i walked down to the lake. After a while, we got back on the bus and headed to another small town called Balloch which was also right on the lake. I went to a small cafe there and got a really good coffee, and took advantage of their free wifi. After that i walked down to the lake again and took some pictures. on my way back to the coach i got stopped by 3 scottish girls and was interrogated about various things (mostly about los angeles and what it was like there). i could barrrrely understand them, and i kept asking them to repeat themselves. they asked me to come to the pub with them later tonight, but i had to refuse cuz my bus was waiting (good thing i had a ready excuse cuz they weren't the best looking girls that i have seen on my trip). after getting back on the bus we started heading back towards edinburgh. we made two short stops on the way back. the first was at stirling castle which was really nice since the weather was great, and then the second stop was in the town of south queensferry where we saw the forth rail bridge that connects edinburgh to the kingdom of fife. we got dropped of back in edinburgh around 6:00pm and i decided to do a bit of walking around the city before heading back to my hostel. I walked around the new town for a bit and saw the scott monument. then i crossed into the old town and went a little further up the royal mile (high st.) and saw st. giles cathedral and a got few glimpses of edinburgh castle (dont worry i will be going inside the castle aug. 1st - i know u were worried about that). I had a few more things planned to see, but it wasn't to be since it started pouring like crazy all the sudden. i busted out my umbrella (or brelli as all the australians from my tours called them), and picked up some various microwavable food for dinner before making it back to my hostel as fast as possible. and that has been my day up to this point! a very interesting one, but fun as well. c ya!