DFB

So I'm sitting on a couch in the Officers' TV Room of the Dublin Fire Brigade. You might want to read that first sentence again. Now that we're on the same page, I'll explain why: Justin's dad, Mark, is an Asst. Fire Chief and has made connections with firefighters all over the world - literally. It's a pretty cool network, really. We got off the plane in Dublin, went through customs, and - lo and behold - there is a uniformed firefighter holding up a laminated sign with Mark's name on it. SO COOL. Because there are so many of us, and we have so much luggage, there were two guys (and two cars) there to pick us up. So we head out the door, and I expect to head for the parking garage... OF COURSE NOT... there are fire department vehicles (not big fire trucks, but well-marked pickup trucks) with lights and all to pick us up! What was I thinking??? Those guys aren't going to pay for parking - and who is going to give them a ticket for parking on the sidewalk??? Very cool.

So, now we're chilling in the fire department while Mark & Suzi visit with friends... eating cookies and drinking tea... Sometimes, you just never know where life will take you! :)

Ok, so tonight we'll spend just a short while walking the streets of Dublin... we want to see Trinity College and Christ Cathedral and some of the other major spots. Then, we'll find dinner somewhere and then get some rest before the flight home tomorrow morning! I can't believe the time has gone so quickly!

A Quick, and Inadequate, "Thanks!"

Today was another day of mostly travel, but as always, there were plenty of great sights to be seen along the journey. My favorite from today would be the Dunfermline Abbey and Palace. I'd have to read it again to remember it all for sure... but something about King Charles I (son of James VI (I) and Anne of Something...) was born there or grew up there. Anyway... the Abbey is still very much in use and is open for public viewing, but the palace was completely in ruins, with only a few walls left standing. It's amazing to me that, over time, the abbey would be preserved but not the palace - which is practically attached to the abbey! A shame, I think...

Anyway, so tomorrow we fly to Dublin for the first leg of our trip home. I have been thinking about what a blessing this trip has been, and how VERY thankful I am that Justin's mom & dad made it possible for us to be here. As most of you know, Justin and I are about to jump head first into post-seminary life - We're both job searching, trying to make budgets, plan ahead, and generally visualize what life will be like in this first major transition of our marriage. It's all VERY exciting, but also has the potential to be quite stressful. So it has been really great for us to have a few weeks away from "real life" to rest and recoup before jumping back in. I cant think of any circumstances under which Justin and I would have been able to come to Scotland (or really, anywhere) without Mark & Suzi's generosity - and it's doubly great that we can all be here together and have a great time! I'm so thankful to have in-laws (and brothers in-law) that I truly ENJOY spending time with. It has truly been an amazing few weeks!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Mark & Suzi!!

Don't let that fool you, though, the blogging isn't quite over yet... we still have a few more adventures to go on before our trip is officially over. Keep checking back... more insanity to come...

Glasgow in a day...

The tour book told us how we could do it - but I think it's a scam. There is just no way to cover a whole city in a day - well, maybe Wilmore... But we certainly got in a lot today! We started out day trying to find breakfast. We had planned to eat here in our hotel, because they have a decent continental breakfast bar. But, by the time we got there the line was out the door, seriously. So, we thought we'd just start walking and see what we came across. As it turns out, Sunday morning food in the UK is harder to come across that you'd think. Granted, we passed a few McDonalds' and Burger King's... but we just couldn't do it (...well, I could have...) So, we found a place about an hour later - and had lunch. :)

Next we went to the Museum of Modern Art - always interesting. You just never know what you'll find in a modern art museum! Then we walked the shops in Merchant City - which is the city center of Glasgow. Very cool; they even had a PUMA store... yes, the WHOLE store was Puma attire... I was in love. And I bought nothing. That was sad.


(Yeah - these are a bunch of chairs glued together with a few mirrored purses mixed in... just for fun.)

Anywhoo... then we were off to the Glasgow Cathedral. SUPER impressive. The scary man who reeked of alcohol who offered to give me a private tour of the cathedral catacombs (no joke!) told me that it dated back to the 5th century... I'm thinking that it was actually the 15th century. I never saw a solid date, but suffice it to say - It's old.

After some more walking we headed off to an area called The Barras. Basically, this is an outdoor gypsy market. Very cool in a lot of ways, pretty dirty in more than one way, and totally shady in all ways. Unfortunately, by the time we got there the rain was beginning, so the "shops" (read: carts with tent covers) were beginning to close. Alas, no merchandise was bought... And I was so hoping for a cheap Coach purse... (j/k)

After this we headed back across town for our hotel, took showers, had dinner (Chinese food), and headed off to a local bowling alley. That's right - what else would you do in Glasgow on a Sunday evening??? Fun was had by all... and now I'm here once again in the hotel lobby chatting with you fine folks! :)


Tomorrow we're off to Dunfermline (good luck pronouncing that one...) for one night before we start our trek home. We'll have an overnight layover in Dublin, Ireland... but more on that later. Cheers.

Out of the Sky(e)

Hi again! Sorry it's been a few days; our time on the Isle of Skye was great, but it was certainly a taste of REMOTE living. People there had no concept of global interaction - as long as the sheep are good, life is good. The sheep WERE pretty cool... but I missed facebook... :)

Anyway, just an hour or so ago we arrived in Glasgow - the biggest city in Scotland. It feels a little like a very small NYC. It has a great public transportation system, little areas that are compartmentalized almost thematically, and there is random scaffolding everywhere - I love it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the scenery of the mountains and taking pictures of the sheep blocking the road - but I'm a city mouse, at heart. There was a part of me that relaxed more and more the closer we got to the subway system. Safety in numbers, perhaps. All that to say, blogging should be much easier these next few days - really, from here on out.

To round this out for tonight (as Justin is ready for his turn with the laptop...), I'll just post some pictures from our time in Skye - If they start to all look a bit the same... well, it's a fairly small island...

This is a waterfall we saw on the side of the road while we were driving. It's actually a much steeper fall than it looks.

So these two sheep - a mommy and a baby sheep - were just walking off into the sunset together, as if the road were theirs for the wandering... We hated to drive up to them and scare them off.

This is not a joke. There seriously was this full-functioning phone booth in the middle of a grass field. Just to the right of it you can barely make out a little wooden bridge path that leads across the edge of the loch (read: lake) to the 5-6 houses that were out there. When the tide comes in these people cant drive to their houses; they can only walk across the foot path. Insane.

We hiked up to these cliffs to look down over the water. We hoped to see some seals, but I dont think we did. (Sometimes your eyes can play tricks on you though...) It was a pretty stinkin' far way down, and it was really windy!

This is the remains of a family fort - built by family clans in the 14-1600's to protect against invaders to their villages. The family would hide out in here for as long as necessary, as it was easier to defend than their thatched-roof houses. They were simple inside, but completely built from stones - that must have taken forever!

Those of you who know me well know that food is sometimes difficult for me - I'm not picky so much as I am choosy... So, this delightfully American meal of pizza, french fries, and Mac-n-cheese was quite exciting. Still, I feel the need to report that not a single one of those items tasted like they would at home - Thus, I was still getting The Scotland Experience.

Will write more tomorrow night after we see the sights of Glasgow! Cheers!

The Simple Life

Today we find ourselves far away from the bustle of city life, on a little highland island called The Isle of Skye. The island just recently has a bridge attaching it to the mainland - prior to that there was a ferry that took cars and passengers to the island. I'm sure the bridge has changed the overall feel of the island, but it still retains much of the small-town, fishing village, Mayberry-feeling that I'm sure it's residents love. To give you an idea exactly how NOT-commercial this island is, we got into town about 4:00PM today, and we hadnt eaten since breakfast at 8:30am, so we were pretty hungry. We had collectively decided to wait until we reached Skye to eat, so we could have an authentic first evening there. So, upon our arrival and check in, we set out to eat somewhere... only to find out that NOTHING is open from 3-6:00pm. Well, we were too hungry to wait an hour and a half, so we set back out across the bridge to the mainland to find a cafe somewhere (and THAT, my friends, made us grateful that the bridge had been built already!).

The weather here is not that great, overall, but the views are pretty amazing. Since we're coastal now, we're just about at sea level... but looking out our front window we can see mountains that are as much as 2500 ft straight up! There is a small sea channel, also, in our front view where there are always fishing boats coming and going (when the tide allows - it's a pretty dramatic change throughout the day!). And on of one of the smaller mtns across the channel, there is a small castle in ruins that is just perched atop the summit. It's very cool. I hear that when the tide is completely out the channel dries up completely and you can just walk across the land to climb up to the castle ruins. We might try that tomorrow if we're around at the right time. Also, the cold rain, though sometimes stinky, never lasts very long, and makes for some AMAZING rainbows - seriously the most vivid I've EVER seen. The camera shots we got of it just dont do it justice.

Finally, we're staying in our first hostel of the trip. It's a first for me, and for Justin too, though I understand that this one is much nicer than others, and so maybe we're not getting an accurate taste of what hostels are sometimes like. I think that's ok with me. Overall, I do think it's quite comfortable. The 5 of us are sleeping in one room with bunkbeds, but we have our own shower and there's a comfy livingroom area to chill in the evenings. No internet, of course - but I hadnt expected that. There are 5 other people in the hostel with us tonight - 3 girls from Sweden, 1 from Canada, and 1 from Germany. They're in a different sleeping room than we are, of course, but we got to chat with them for a few minutes earlier in the livingroom. Nice girls. I think they think we're wusses though, since we've rented a car and we arent backpacking up 4000 ft peaks like they seem to be - of course, they never said that... But, I got some strange looks when I was using my hairdryer & straightener at the "Hair Dry Station" in the hall. Maybe I looked less rugged than hostel residents tyically do - not to stereotype, but if you're there to backpack it probably doesnt matter too much what your hair looks like, right? Well, I was headed out for the evening, so I cared. Anyway, looking back, I seem to have been able to retain some small level of prissyness despite what crazy conditions I find myself in, right Mom? :) Anyway, if I could trust all hostels to be like this one, I would definitely do it again sometime (I mean, after the 3 nights we have in this one!).

So here are a few picures to give you an idea of where we are now...



This is the front walk of our hostel... the channel would be to the right - you can sort of see the boat masts in the background.


This is our room in the hostel - pretty bright, and very clean. All we need!


Again, the camera can't possibly capture it well, but this rainbow was almost flourescent! It went all the way from one side of the channel to the other, right down to the ground on both sides - and there was even a faint double rainbow above it. It was perfect.

Talk to you all again soon!

Interesting Signage

Justin and I once again find ourselves in this little bar called "The Room"... and we totally love it. The decor is totally modern and very comfy. We have established tabs at the bar, and have "our section" in the corner where we monopolize the electrical outlets with our laptops (and power converters, of course). And PS, the diet cokes are great... :)

So just for fun today, rather than recounting the castle and mountain adventures of the day (though they were great... once again...) I though I'd share with you some of the more interesting pieces of signage that we have come across in our time here. It has amused me that the people here have such... um, quaint... ways of saying things. For example, one sign that we saw (that I didnt get a picture of) was on a little side road and it said "Not suitable for long vehicles." How nice is that?? In the US, it totally would have just said, "No Trucks". (Just in case the word "suitable" is troublesome for some...) Another was a sign that read, "No mobile phones whilst driving." I loved it. "Whilst" - we just dont use that word enough. And so, without further delay, here are a few of the more interesting ones that we have come across...

It FAINTLY says "offence" in the space below; but, the point is clear - be sure to pay attention when walking your dog lest he foul whilst you're not looking... :)

What if it were as easy as walking down the road?? Surely this shop would be outfitted with gold stars and incense burners - and no, I never actually found it.

Since you all DO dream about your baked potato fillings... I hope that this sign inspires you to branch out beyond sour cream & chives.

This was at the bottom of a really tight spiral staircase - So as I walked up, I counted (of course) to see what might happen at the fateful 11th step. I am happy to report that I did make it beyond that point, despite the change in color of the steps!!

Both parts of this one seem awkward to me - but, I basically take the bottom to read, "You're not allowed in here unless you're allowed in here." That same sentiment is in another sign I keep seeing that says , "No entrance except for access." Well, jeez...

What does it do if you wake it up, exactly?

The bathroom sign at any good Mexican restaurant...

It says, "Spirit Vat"... and it even has a nozzle for easy dispensing... so if your spirit is low, fill up here!

My rebellious side... what can I say?

When the crew at St. Andrews heard that Justin and Josh were coming to play a round, they promptly set up a sign to warn the locals...

Ok, so there are a few more, but let's not spoil all the fun in one day, shall we??

Tomorrow we are off to the Isle of Skye... despite it's tropical-sounding name, it is, in fact, still part of the Scottish highlands (high meaning northern, not altitude, as it is coastal). Nevertheless, it is quite remote, and I havent been able to locate a place for sure that has internet access there, yet. So, of all our locations, it will be hardest to blog from there. I'll get back on here just as soon as I can, though, to update you on our journey! Oh, and wish us luck - tomorrow we go Nessie Hunting... I even brought special shoes...

Highland Adventure

So we spent the day travelling to Inverness, which is in the part of Scotland known as the Highlands. Yes, we'll be looking for Ol' Nessie... probably Wednesday. Today was mostly just travel, though. We're at another B & B (The Cambreth Lodge)... very cute... very old. It's actually an old manse, which I find interesting. It makes for a sweet front entry way, at least. The age of the house, though, among other factors, means that we dont have reliable internet at the house. We've spent the last hour trying to find internet that works, again. But that's ok with us... first, because it finally worked, and second because we didnt have a lot to do at the house this evening. In fact, we felt a little bit like the kids in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe... wandering around this old house, playing ridiculous games, and trying to avoid "The Professor" (aka, the B & B owner). Here are a few pictures of our B & B this time... and of us wasting time (but dont get me wrong... I appreciate the rest!).


Tomorrow's agenda: Some battlefield somewhere, Cawdor Castle (MacBeth's Castle), Inverness Castle, Shopping, Fort George... a big day... we'll come home with a few hundred more pictures! :)

Front entryway into our B & B... doesnt it look like a cute little church??

The common lounge in our B & B... quite comfy!

Yeah, I'm a Pringles duck... don't act like you've never done it!

What a day!

Busy, busy day today - and I'm exhausted, but here goes: So right after breakfast (which was once again mammoth in size) we drove to St. Andrews. It's a little sea-side town you may have heard of before - it seems to be known for its golf history. :) Anyway, we visited the St. Andrews Cathedral and the St. Andrews Castle. Both are in ruins, but both are still AMAZINGLY cool. I was JUST as impressed with the St. A's Cathedral in ruins as I was St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh which was still in pristine condition. It's hard to explain; maybe it's the size, or maybe it's the age... but it's just so overwhelming to be standing on the sites of these historical giants. St. Andrew's Cathedral was first erected in 1271. Did you catch that?? 1271! Please don't let it escape your understanding that 1271 was a long, long time ago... (Marco Polo hadn't even found China, yet... though he was on his way there.)

After the cathedral we headed to the castle, which you can see quite nicely from the top of one of the towers at the cathedral. St. Andrews is extra cool because it's one of those towns that still has the original city walls surrounding most of it - think Medieval times when each town had one church, one castle, a school, a market, etc... everything that it needed within the city walls. So, when you drive in, you drive through what at one time would have been the gates to the city, guarded by soldiers, no doubt.

Anyway, the castle, like all the rest, has amazing stories of siege and conquest, but it's special because of it's location. It rests on the very end of a small peninsula that juts out into the English Channel (or the North Sea - we couldn't decide where the boundaries were exactly), so the view is AMAZING. Those of you who know me well know that it's not easy to impress me with scenery in general - but give me scenery that involves the ocean and you have a fighting chance. I could just imagine living in the castle in the 1500's and looking out my turret window to see the sea gulls nesting on the sea walls below. So cool. And today, 500 years later, it's the same view I had.

View of the castle from the top of one of the towers at St. Andrew's Cathedral.

This is a view of the front/side of the castle... there really was only a front and a back; for the most part, the sides were down.

I thought this one was cool... you look through the front gate (think drawbridge) and see through to the back wall of the castle and in the back left, you can see the sea.

And this is me, imagining myself in lights for just a moment, on the temporary stage in the center of the castle courtyard. WHY was there a temporary stage there, you ask? Well, it just so happened that Globe Touring (a group commissioned by THE GLOBE THEATER -yes, London!) were in St. Andrews this weekend performing - wait for it - ROMEO & JULIET!!! It was AMAZING.

So, it is at this point that if you are nothing about Shakespeare and/or theater... you can stop reading. I do realize that this post has already gotten too long... BUT, for those of you who may care (Stef... Dan... Paul...?) I SO wished that the three of you were there! We sat in the grass on a little blanket in the cold drizzle for just over 2 hours, and I loved every second of it! The whole entire thing was performed by 8 people - yes, 8! The actors for Romeo, Benvolio (also Balthasar & the Chorus) & The Friar (who was also Lord Capulet) were incredible! Dan, the guy who played Benvolio looked just a little like you - so that was fun, too. Of course, it was totally modernized, and Juliet's balcony was the top of a teal 70's model VW van... in fact, that was really the only set piece there was. We werent allowed to take pictures during the show, but I did take a few before the show started, so I'll share a few of those here. Other than that, it was also cool that when the characters would say certain lines - they were REALLY true for the setting (the courtyard of a medieval castle)... like when Juliet says, "O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower"... or when Romeo says, "With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out..." they could really POINT to the towers and walls that were right there around us. Ok, so enough of that... but last thing before I share the pictures... for anyone who is keeping track: I watched the entire performance and didnt miss a single second of it... :)

Perth with New Friends!

Ok, so today we spent the day with a great couple, Alan & Lorraine Thomson, who were friends of Mark & Suzi's before the trip. The Thompsons live here, near Perth, and acted as our resident experts (literally) as we travelled today. So, rather than our typical foot patrols, today we took the car and explored the surrounding towns and villages - yes, all 7 of us were in one car. It was great. We ate at this great little restaurant/farm (reminded me a lot of a Bob Evans... only with actual animals out front), then we visited a Scottish whiskey distillery (the roads didnt seem quite so curvy after that... just joshin' ya!), stopped at random places along the way (castles, old churches, gardens, etc.), and finally had "high tea" at this little hotel restaurant. It was my first "high tea" experience... quite unexpected. I had lasagne (yes, Italian) at a "high tea" (yes, a British tradition). It totally expected Mark to make fun of that... but hey, it was on their menu!

Tomorrow's agenda: Golf at St. Andrew's, picnic on the Old Course, walk on the "beach" (in my scarf!!), and taking more pictures!

Tomorrow's forecast: 50% chance of rain, 50% chance of sun, 50% chance of 50 degree weather. Seriously, move over Bill Meck.

Movin' on Up...

So yesterday we travelled from Edinburgh to Perth. It was only about an hour trip - maybe a bit less. The scenery on the way was nice; so far we've had really great weather, or so I hear. I still think it's pretty chilly (as my pics from esterday will show), but we've had hardly any rain, which is apparently unusual for "these parts". Anyway, so we visited a history museum here in Perth, and then had a nice dinner - but not much activity. Today we'll do the full-city tour - lots of walking!

Things to note: the accents ARE getting harder to decode the further north we travel; the mini-egg breakfast is still made of a half dozen eggs (or perhaps ostrich eggs); and, exact directions don't exist here - we asked a man for directions to a particular restaurant last night and he made a spiral like motion with his finger in the air (think "wrap up" motion) and says, "I'd say it's a bit that way."

All good fun. Oh, and there's a string in the bathroom that you have to pull to turn the hot water on... let's not talk about how long it took me to figure that out... :)

Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

So this was the sunset over Edinburg our last night there - at what time, you ask? Try almost 11:30pm! And oh yeah, by 3:00am it's starting to get light again...

These are pictures of St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh. The pictures dont do it justice, of course. It was MASSIVE - if ever I've used that word to fully capture something, it's now. This picture doesnt even encompass the congregational pews - the seats you see on the side are the choir rungs, and yes, that's the altar........ wayyyyyy up there. Massive. Honestly.

And here are a few from our short walk around Perth last evening. Since Perth is closer to the water (the Tay River, not the sea), it's a bit more windy (read: chilly). No idea what this blind-folded hoola-hoop guy was doing, but I thought I'd join in the fun.

More later! We're off to explore Perth! Oh, and if you're interested... here's a link to a map showing you where exactly we are right now: Scotland Map Find Edinburgh and look just north for Perth.