By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

Christine and Shannons hopes of making money as poster sellers had been smashed2 because the bosss wife had him send them away. But they recovered their spirits fast， getting a ride with Terry to his home town， on the west coast of Scotland. He told them about nearby Arran Island， and its history， mountains and rural tranquillity.3 Our two girls could barely wait to get there for an education in history and geography.

Terry got us to the ferry in Ardrossan as it was about to leave for Arran Island.4 The last cars were driving on， the ramps were being lifted， and the gates closing.5 With barely time to say goodbye to him， we ran on. We didnt even have to part with much money； the pedestrian fare was cheap.6

Soon we were crossing the Firth of Clyde7！ We had no idea what we would do when we got there. The ferry took about an hour， and it was late afternoon， so we needed to make a plan fast.

As luck would have it， we met a really sweet guy. Billy was about 25， relaxed and not the brightest spark8. He was a bricklayer9. He obviously did not earn much money； Billy told us he lived in a little mobile home. But who were we to turn our noses up？10 He immediately said we could stay over！

The ferry arrived at Brodick， on the east of Arran Island. Billy went to get his car. We jumped in and off we went in the direction of his house.

Now this is the strange thing. We had imagined Arran would be a quiet place， with farmers and bushwalkers11 the only people there. Instead， there were motorbikes and people everywhere we looked. Most wore varied and unusual dress—tattoos and punk hairstyles， some wearing black biker jackets or hippie clothing.12

“Whats this about？” we asked Billy.

“You dont know？ I thought that was why you were here！ Its Easter13 weekend and thats when we get a lot of visitors， especially motorbikers， from all over. Its kind of … a festival.”

We did not know whether to be surprised it was Easter or that wed found ourselves in the midst of a festival.

“Easter！ And we didnt even know it. We wont even get Easter eggs.” I said. Shannon was as upset as me， but then burst out laughing.

Billy laughed too， “What！ Dont bother about chocolate. Youre going to have the party of your lives！ Were stopping right here—at the first pub. This is my local and Im buying you each a welcome drink.” It was in a little village on the coast named Lamlash， facing an island called Holy Island. That was ironic because， all around us， were people laughing， dancing and drinking in an unholy14 way.

Next was Ormidale Hotel at Brodick village. At the bar there， we met some of the strangest characters imaginable. One man had “Made in Scotland” tattooed on his forehead—it was a real homemade job too！ It looked like someone， possibly himself， had scratched15 out the words between drinking beers. He told me that he got his hair to stand up in a central spiked line with a mixture of soap and spit， and that he had not washed it for years to get that effect.16 It was hard to know whether he was a punk， a motorbiker， or some kind of folksy17 person， because his hippie dress didnt seem to match the hairstyle—not that he cared！ We had never met people like this， but I was loving life and I just wanted to experience it to the full.

We laughed and chatted with new and different people all night… and watched them drink beer. It was at least 4am before Billy took us back to his little place and we two girls fell asleep， in one of the two bedrooms， as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

The next morning， when we woke up， very late， we looked around. It was obvious that Billy had at least one child as we were sleeping in a mountain of teddy bears. Billy made us breakfast and told us that， yes， his wife and son were away for the weekend and so it was fine for us to stay. In fact， he said， his wife would not mind even if she were there. After our poster-selling disappointment， we were not so sure about that！ But we were not going to say no to a free place to stay. And his hospitality extended even further when he said we could use his wifes car to explore the island！ Shannon felt quite confident to drive. I dont think she had a drivers licence but she had been learning to drive back home for a while. We told Billy that we wanted to climb Goat Fell18. “Great idea，” he said， “but youll never ever make it to the top of the mountain！ Not after such a late night！”

So off we went， just the two of us， in his wifes car. We went past Brodick Castle19， along a road that crossed the island called The String， all the way round the island， and then back to Goat Fell.

“Shannon， we better keep our eye on that petrol gauge20.” I said， “I think were running low.”

We decided to take up the challenge of climbing Goat Fell. It was a struggle， dont get me wrong， but we reached the top a lot sooner than we expected and took photos of ourselves smiling in triumph21 at the top. It was only later that we found out that we hadnt even gotten a third of the way up—having stopped at the first ridge.22

Soon we were back down in a pub， mixing with locals （many of whom had their dogs along） and the punk hippie bikers. It was yet another late night with crazy people. We met Buttons and his friends. They were bikers， smelly， and with long hair. Buttons offered to take me for a ride on his Honda23 110， and Shannon jumped on the back of his friends motorbike. I loved the fast ride in the dark， but Shannons driver slipped on a wet gravel24 road and they had a bit of a crash. Shannon got a terrible fright but was OK.

We decided wed had enough. We drove home in Billys car and knocked on his door for a bed， again at about 4am， after not seeing him all day. He didnt seem to mind.

The next morning， after another heavy25 night in Arran， we decided it was time to leave. Maybe it was the motorbike accident that had unsettled26 us or， most likely， knowing that Billys wife would be home soon！

Billy was out but we decided to head to the ferry in the car. It was amazing that we hadnt run out of fuel with all the driving. The thought had hardly crossed our minds when， a few blocks away from the ferry， at a traffic light， the car came to a stop. A kind gentleman was helping us push it to the side of the road when an angry woman came up to us and demanded the keys. She did it with such authority that we had no doubt that she was the owner！ Well we had to return the car and we never even got to say goodbye to Billy.

We hadnt learned anything about history or geography， and we hadnt camped or ridden ponies27. All we had done was hang with strange people and fail in our attempt to climb the mountain. The weekend seemed a waste but it wasnt. We had been part of a crazy festival like those held all over Europe， an important part of the culture. And， more importantly， we had a taste of the openness of some parts of the world where people are accepted no matter what they look or act like. This was very different from where we came from！

Next month， join Christine and Shannon as they travel further north in Scotland to see snow for the first time. They travel with Ian， Shannons love interest， and have a great time. But， is his interest in Shannon genuine？

1. punk： 朋克搖滾樂迷，指愛好朋克音樂的年輕人，頭發(fā)顏色鮮艷，通常穿著帶有飾鏈和飾釘?shù)钠茽€衣服。

2. smash： 打破，打碎。

3. Arran Island： 阿倫島，是蘇格蘭最大的島嶼，位于克萊德灣，島上保留了濃厚的愛爾蘭文化；tranquillity： 平靜的，寧靜的。

4. ferry： 渡船，輪渡；Ardrossan： 阿德羅森，是位于蘇格蘭西南部的一個小鎮(zhèn)。

5. the last cars： 指最后的擺渡車；ramp： （供乘客上下的）舷梯，人造坡道。

6. part with： 失去，付出；fare： 船費（或車費、飛機票價）。

7. Firth of Clyde： 克萊德灣，位于蘇格蘭西岸，克萊德河的入?？?。firth： 意為“（尤指蘇格蘭的）河口灣，港灣”。

8. the brightest spark： 意為“最聰明的人”，通常用作貶義，指自作聰明的人。

9. bricklayer： 砌磚工。

10. 我們哪有資格去鄙視他人呢？turn ones nose up： 對……嗤之以鼻，看不起。

11. bushwalker： 叢林徒步旅行者。

12. biker： 摩托車手；hippie：嬉皮士（20世紀60年代反對戰(zhàn)爭、反對社會習俗、蓄長發(fā)、著奇裝異服的人）。

13. Easter： 復活節(jié)，又稱主復活日，基督徒的重要節(jié)日，是紀念耶穌基督復活的節(jié)日，定在每年春分月圓之后第一個星期日。

14. unholy： 不神圣的，不虔敬的。

15. scratch： 劃，刻。

16. 他告訴我說，他用肥皂和口水讓頭發(fā)在中間豎起來（即莫霍克發(fā)型），而且為了這個造型，他已經(jīng)好多年沒有洗頭了。spiked： 有尖刺的。

17. folksy： 隨便的，無拘束的。

18. Goat Fell： 戈特山。fell意為“荒山，高地”。

19. Brodick Castle： 布羅迪克城堡，始建于16世紀，原為漢密爾頓公爵的私人宅邸。

20. petrol gauge： 汽油表。

21. triumph：（大勝利的）喜悅，滿足。

22. 后來我們才發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們連三分之一都沒有爬到——只停在了第一個山脊處。ridge： 山脊，山嶺。

23. Honda： 本田，日本知名摩托車和汽車品牌。

24. gravel： 礫石，碎石。

25. heavy： 疲倦的。

26. unsettle： 使心神不寧，擾亂。

27. pony： 小馬。