Hey!  Happy Monday everyone!  Jes and I just returned from Matt and Aubrey’s incredible Atlanta wedding!  Preview to come on that!  Until then, I wanted to share one last and final post with you from my Sweden/Scotland trip.  Thus far you’ve seen, The Abstracts, The Landscapes, The People, and you’ve heard some highlights.  This post, entitled The Tourist, is just a few of yours truly.

Because I was traveling alone, I didn’t get too many images of myself.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get hardly any in Sweden.  The ones I did get came out blurry… Swede after Swede couldn’t get my camera to work correctly.  I finally gave up and quit fighting the language barrier.

Just outside the Vasa Museum, a really neat viking ship, in Stockholm, Sweden.

At my first hostel ever with Kim and Vivian from France.

With Cebrael (pronounced Gabriel), manager of the hostel.  We were good buddies during my stay.  We shared a lot of laughs and a lot of music.  He was by far my saving grace who eased me into the solo journey that was ahead.  Very fond memories of him and my time at the Nordic Hostel.

At the Central Station in Stockholm with a group of Scottish folks, well mostly Scottish, who just happened to be staying at my hostel and headed home to Scotland on the same flight as me!

We all flew into Edinburgh and had dinner before they caught a train to Dundee.  From left: Andy (who I nicknamed Softy, because of his soft Irish accent), Stuart, me, Phil, Courtney, and Cameron. They were so awesome at taking care of me and giving me advice that I actually met up with them again towards the end of my trip for some cider and a Scotland/Ireland rugby match.  Proud to say my Scottish boys won. ;-)

My first day in Edinburgh at the top of its famous castle.

First day picking up my rental car.. making my way to Oban, which is the gateway to the western isles, including the Isle of Iona.

My oh-so-sweet Subaru Legacy. :-) I cannot tell you how much fun I had driving all over the country of Scotland.  It was SO scary at first, yet I couldn’t help but just giggle at the situation.  Driving on the other side of the road is quite exhilarating.

Oh yeah… Even had radio controls on the steering wheel, just like home. :-) I had the PERFECT mixes already prepared… full of great driving music.  Thanks to Jesie and my friend Roger.

Remember that long story that I posted a while back about running in Iona?  The following two photos were taken that evening.  I had a special request from a very special boy at home to get a shot of me next to the Scottish seashore. This was my attempt at a self portrait:

And you can bet your bottom dollar that scarf was made in Scotland. ;-)

One last shot the next morning at my Iona bed and breakfast. And no, I didn’t plan these colors. :-)

And that’s it, friends!  Thanks for allowing me to make kind of big deal of all this on my blog.  This experience was a huge deal in my life and I just couldn’t resist sharing some of these experiences with you.

Onward!