Hello, my friends I am back to tell you some more about my amazing adventures. After leaving England, we set off in our car and drove all the way to Scotland. The whole trip took 5 hours. Luckily, I was able to sleep in Ally's bag for most of it until we reached our home in Gretna Green.
I was surprised to see these funny animals that had a white face and fluffy white bodies. Ally said they were called something like sleep. Is there an animal that sounds like sleep? She also said that they use the white stuff on the bodies to make socks and wool blankets. Can you imagine that??? She said the wool socks and blankets could be quite warm as well and I think she whispered to Meg behind my back that the clothing I am wearing is made of wool.
Did you guess what kind of animal they were?
While we were in Gretna, Ally and Meg competed in some Highland dancing competitions. We had to wake up pretty early to get there. Meg danced in the morning. She said the floor was really slippery and she almost fell down! Both Meg and Ally are really good dancers. Meg got a 3rd, 5th and 6th , while Ally got a 4th. Ally tried to show me how to dance but it was really hard. She said I could not compete because there weren't any monkey dancing competitions. Too bad!
Ally and I at the Highland Games in Dunoon
After a week in Gretna we headed out to a small apartment near Glasgow; a big city in Scotland. The apartment was very small and I did not even get my own bed. I had to sleep with Meg. Ally, Meg , Mark, Lisa and I like walking around the city and looking at all the little shops. Too bad that none of the clothing fits me!
My family at the World Bagpiping Championships, there was
even a rainbow in the background.
This is me and some new friends having a spoon balancing contest, they were from England
and had never tried peanut butter before, this is what we did with the spoons afterwards. I
won the contest! And can you believe they didn't like peanut butter, I love it with bananas! They also
told me I looked like the P. J. Tipps tea monkey.
Our next stop was a house in Edinburgh. During the day my family and I liked to look at the street vendors. There was a big festival on so we could see some shows. My favorite show was a magic show. It was very funny and cool. We also got to see lots of magic shows on the street. The magicians even made coins teleport! On our last day in Edinburgh we got to see the Edinburgh Tattoo! A tattoo is a big show with lots of performers like motorcyclists, musicians and bagpipers. The show even ended with fireworks! I love fireworks!
This was my favourite part of the Edinburgh Tattoo, so pretty!
Look at me with Young and Strange, the best magicians in the world, at least
that I have seen live!
Another of my favourite parts of Scotland was exploring the mountains and castles. One day we woke up really early and decided that we were going to spend the day hiking up a mountain called Cat Bells. It was a lot of hard work and my paws were very tired at the end of it, but when we reached the top we saw the most amazing views! We also got to hike up Caringorm , one of biggest mountains in the UK and even got to see a weird brown animal with long antlers called a reindeer.
Ally and I at the top of Caringorm, I'm half asleep in Ally's pocket, that was a long hike!
For a few days after, we got to camp next to Loch Ness. Lock Ness is where the Lock Ness monster lives. Some nights it was pretty cold and there were these little bugs called midges that like to bite you. We also got to see some Highland cows which are furry with big horns, they kind of scared me. We also got to see a river called Earn. Ally said when you get to Middle School at HSC, you get divided into houses. She says Earn is the best house and that is why she wanted to visit that river.
This is the Loch Ness can you see the Loch Ness monster anywhere?
Ally and Meg in the Earn River
After camping we went to a hotel for a night so we could get close to where our ferry would take us to Ireland the next day. I will miss Scotland but I am exited to go on a ferry for the first time. A ferry is a big boat that carries people, cars and big busses too!
Written by Socks in monkey, translated by Ally.
