"Holy crap, I'm tired." - Travis
I'm going to have to agree. Not sure why we thought were departing from Glasgow Prestwick instead of just plain ol' Glasgow airport! Also, tonight we experienced the most expensive cab ride ever at
100 or $200. F-IN A!!!! Definitely not a "relaxi-taxi" when we have an hour to make a flight 45 minutes away. Luckily, the flight was delayed...unluckily,we didn't find that out until 10 minutes before we were supposed to take off...And then there was that whole AerLingus check-in desk being closed and not having a boarding pass, but I s'pose that makes for a good story. And an expensive one, at that. Wonderful.
But now for ruminations of the trip that prefaced that whole airport mixup ordeal. Scotland was magnificent. I am elated that Travis knew such a great person from camp in West Virginia nearly 6 or 7 years ago, Graeme and his lovely lady Chloe. Travelling to another country is always much easier and much more pleasant when you know someone who knows it well. We had a place to stay and our own personal tour guide!
First things first. We got to Glasgow VERY EARLY Thursday morning, it was raining and cold. So much so that Travis had no qualms about letting me shop for awhile just so we were out of the rain. It cleared up not too long after that and we went to a record shop while we waited for Pizza Dump to open. I know, I know...we are nothing more that stupid Americans, but we were on a budget and the Pizza Hut buffet was the right price. We bought a Cat Stevens album, Paul Simon and Queen for about 10 quid. Afer lunch, we went to the Museum of Modern Art...modern art stuff is always interesting, I either love it or hate it but there were some gems...plus it was free so we couldn't really go wrong. After that we strolled over to The Lighthouse in the lovely sunshine, although it was still bitter cold. The Lighthouse was fantastic. I will never forget the "take-away' exhibit which had all funky takeout containers from decades ago to the more modern ones, and also picninc gears and thermoses. It also had a spiral staircase of over 130 steps to the top of the lighthouse...the view was incredible but man, IT WAS FRIGID UP THERE!!!!
----TAKEOFF----
view of Glasgow from the Lighthouse museum
After that we took the train into Ayr and met Graeme and Chloe, chatted for a long while and had dinner. After watching Rocky IV, Travis and I called it a night. The net day we headed to Edinburgh and saw some amazing sights, including a whole store dedicated to whiskey! Again, it was frigid. We actually saw a little bit of snow that day. For lunch I had fisherman's pie with pieces of salmon and haddock, inside the delightful filo pastry that enclosed it. Mmmm! Immediately after lunch, Graeme insisted on trying a deep fried Cadbury Egg from next door in the store which had deep fried anything and everything. Travis and I took some great pictures this day, but it's hard not to since the Royal Mile is so picturesque.
Saturday and sunday we were in Stirling, visiting Graeme's family for Easter. I must say how lucky both Graeme and Chloe are to have gotten such a good one. Especially Uncle Colin! He was my particular favorite to chat with for his collection Elton John and whiskey! What a dear. They all are, in fact. I also must note the insane amount of Guitar Hero played this night. So much so that the carpet was moving after momentarily taking my eyes off the screen. It was a wonderful Easter. Also, the house was breathtaking...right on the Stirling mountainside. It had an outdoor hottub, three baths, a sauna, a sunporch, oh my!
Sunday morning we had breakfast, consisting of many things unfamiliar to our foreign palettes, all except good old fashioned bread. I tried a duck egg which tasted the same, only larger in size, and haggis, which is surprisingly delicious! Who knew lamb paunch could taste so fine?
After breakfast (what an experience!) we said goodbye to the family, and the three of us plus Graeme's brother Mark, went to the William Wallace (of Braveheart fame) monument and saw his massive sword. Then we climbed another assload of steps to the top. Might I add that it was frigid up there as well.
We drove back to Ayr listening to the late,great Mitch Hedberg , before heading to a local hotel bar to catch some European futball (wooo!) with some of Graeme's buddies and his bro. To avoid any trouble, we ordered local Kronenburg which is 5 point something of absoulte deliciousness. After three, I was feeling pretty good, but started to get a little homesick all of a sudden. I couldn't stop thinking about how badly I wanted to hang out with Erin and Jess and how awesome it's going to be to see them again.
After beers, we went home and I prepared my specialty for dinner. Drunken Stirfry!
Gotta love it! And then it was time for our beloved LOST. We got to Meet Kevin Johnson after about 2 seasons of not knowing where the F he and Walt went!
So I forgot to mention that Saturday morning before we left for Stirling, Graeme brought us to see some sights of Ayr, including the Electric Brae...a raod that appears to be going downhill at one point, but is actually going uphill. We experienced this by driving to a certain point, putting the car in neutral and feeling it roll back downhill. Crazy!
That same car trip we also stopped off at an old castle site, quite in ruin, right on the coast of Ayr. We climbed all through it and took some lovely pictures.
Yesterday was Monday and we drove up to the highest point in Ayr and saw herds of sheep crossing the road! That may have been my favorite part of the whole trip. After that we went to the Brig O'Doon bridge, which was also brilliant. And a beautiful place to get married, I might add. Then, dinner at Graeme's parents house, which consisted of steak pie with a WONDERFUL turnip mash (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!) and some more haggis! They are two fine people whose paths I hope to cross again one day.
------LANDING!!------
Let me just note that this flight took less time than the cab ride to the airport from the airport. BAH! 'Tis all for now.
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