Day Thirteen/Fouteen

Sooo apparently I have been seriously slacking at this whole blogging thing, which yeah I'll give you that one. I have been really slacking, but it's my vacation and I just don't care! Haha just jokes, come back in a few days after I get home and have had a chance to be bored. Then I will blog better. 

But I will keep blogging a little bit so I don't forget anything major.  Kaytie and I caught the underground to Westminster Station, and then proceeded to explore. 

We saw Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings, before wandering down to Trafalgar Square. 

We hung out at Trafalgar Square for a while watching street performers and enjoying the sunshine before wandering along St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. 

After appreciating the complete surreality of that moment we headed back on a lovely stroll through the park towards Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey was mind blowing. So many significant people are a part of that history, it was insane to think about it all and be in that place.

After all of that epicness we went to dinner and a movie at the largest mall in London. 

Our second London day was the Tower of London and Wicked. We bought out show tickets in the morning and then spent like five hours or something at the Tower. We did a guided tour for an hour and then wandered around trying to see everything (we did not). 

After the Tower we quickly went to change our clothes and then we were off to the theatre. 

A fun way to end a fun trip!

Sorry this is brief, our plane is boarding. 

Day Twelve

Well Jude took us to the airport early where we said sad farewells and then Kaytie and I got back on a plane. Destination, London. 

When we arrived we had some train catching entertainment and then I may or may not have got my luggage stuck in a turnstile trying to escape the underground.  Eventually we met up with Kaytie's working friend Lis. Lis is letting us stay with her and she is just a lovely host. She made us pancakes when we got here, then came with us to church so we didn't get lost.  

After church we went on a walk to explore some beautiful parts of the city. 

We went to the Portobello Markets, it was so fun and not just because I could him Portobello Road from Bed knobs and  Broomsticks. We also ate the best mint gelato. 

After all of our walking we met up with Lis's flatmate Jane and her friend Jema for dinner. We had a lot of fun and this super popular punjabi place feeling very local and in with the trends. The girls were so fun with so many stories of the places they have been. I need to travel more! 

Day Ten/Eleven

Today Kaytie and headed back to Old Town; we checked out Fringe again, saw another show and watched a bunch of incredible street performers. We also did a bit more shopping. 

Here is Kaytie reading the map so that we can find our venue. 

The wind here makes trying to take a picture difficult.

After getting back to Jude and Simon's we all headed up Arthur's Seat. The view of the city was so spectacular that I took no pictures. Actually I chased Emily up and then tried not to fall [again] on the way down. It was actually a fantastic way to see the city one more time. 

On Saturday I somehow ended up doing Aerial Assault; a zip lining/climbing style activity with Kaytie. I did not love it- it's very high up, but we did it and to celebrate I got my scone!

 Everything here was amazing! Local suppliers, socially conscious- you know the things that make food taste better...

After lunch Kaytie and I did The Real Mary King's Close tour. It was a fun way to see what is left of one of the oldest closes. The guide was fun and the tour is an entertaining way to learn a bit of history. 

Then it was back to the Beveridges to pack and remember how much I already miss them- so mostly visiting and eating cookies when I should be packing. They were amazing hosts and so much fun! 

Day Nine

Today was a lot of fun, but unfortunately I took zero pictures. We stayed at a fun hotel in Chorley last night after the pageant, so this morning we swam for awhile before checking out. Then today consisted of a lot of driving and shopping. Then we had excellent Chinese food with Simon's parents. 

This is brief because bragging about all of the excellent shopping and our entertaining hosts just seems cruel!

Day Eight

Well today we embarked on another road trip- this time we even made it to England. But first we enjoyed some serious retail therapy. Actually I only bought one thing and it is for Kelly and she has to pay me back. But I do love it and am really excited for her to loved it. Oh, and I guess I did buy chocolate from the Cadbury factory store.  So maybe  Kaytie did some more serious shopping but we all had fun. After the mall we headed up to Manchester for the British Pageant.  

We had a lot of fun wandering around the  Manchester temple grounds and then seeing all of those classic Pioneer Day activities. It was neat to be in a place so familiar doing things I have definitely done  before but with people who have a different kind of enthusiasm. I have always lived in places that are already so gathered and it was an awesome experience to be surrounded by people who were really appreciating that opportunity. 

The pageant was soo good. It definitely exceeded my expectations, and it was really cool to hear the stories of the British saints who converted to the Gospel and how they had the faith to leave their homes to go and build up Zion. So often that is just a footnote in the pioneer stories we tell "oh yeah they sacrificed everything and left what had been their home for generations." It was a great opportunity to re-appreciate the Gospel in my own life. 

Ooh, but the highlight of the day may have been when we realized Kaytie's pull out bed was not a hide a bed but actually a bed we pulled out from under the couch! 

Sorry this is late, I got half done and just wanted to go to sleep so I finished it this morning, and now we are off to go swimming. 

Day Seven

Well it has come to my attention that I have been enjoying the knowledge that Kaytie has also been blogging and thusly not putting a whole lot of detail into my posts.  Tonight I shall attempt to compensate for that a wee bit. Be prepared to settle in for a read.

This morning Simon left for work and the girls piled into the car. Jude drove us back to St. Andrews for a storybook lovely day trip. We started our day with a trip to the beach, it was beautiful. Oh, in the interest of being more informative and detailed, this is the beach where the famous Chariot's of Fire scene was filmed. The beach was chilly but a lot of fun. Kaytie has the most adorable enthusiasm, I absolutely love it. Her excitement and appreciation for the sea was so much fun. We put our feet in the freezing water, wrote in the sand, and had a picnic.

So St. Andrews is the location of the Women's British Open, as well as where Will and Kate attended Uni and fell in love. It is a gorgeous coastal community filled with tourists and the posh. Our first stop was the Castle; we wandered through an informative introductory area with videos, displays, and information. Then we were out in the ruins.  What I have loved about all of our castle excursions is that you can just wander in, around, and on almost everything. It really is such an explorative experience.  One of the neat features of this castle was the opportunity to wander into a mine that had been dug underneath.  This castle is one of the best existing examples of engineering warfare that still exists. A siege was attempted on the castle by mining in form underneath, and counter mines were dug to put a stop to it. I am constantly in awe of the magnitude of these structures and the history compounded within it. 

That last paragraph may be a bit misleading...these castles have not been some relaxing, meandering, reflective opportunity. They have actually been a positively fun experience to run around, screaming with Emily while hiding from Kaytie. I know that I was here for this moment but I don't exactly know when or how I became the one Emily wants to hold hands with and drag around the grocery store, and Kaytie became the one she screams and runs from. Kaytie was less than thrilled with the development, but she felt better when we explained how much Emily actually adores her. Anytime she can't see Kaytie she asks frantically where she is and we have to go find her, then when we see her we scream and run away laughing. These next few pictures are from when we are leaving the castle, Kaytie was loitering behind, and Emily was trying to find her.

After the castle we went over to the Cathedral and wandered around/ ran around in a very respectful way. I am having so much fun experiencing all of these beautiful places, but I think I might be having even more fun just spending time with these cuties!

After the Cathedral we went for the Best. Ice. Cream. Ever. I had Scottish tablet and it was delicious! From there we slowly made our way back to the car, stopping at a Sweet Shop, and then headed back to Balerno. 

Jude's Dad invited us to his home for dinner, and his wife Jane is possibly a magician in the kitchen. I have eaten a lot of excellent meals in my life but the lasagna, salad, and pavlova we were treated to tonight were divine.

So this is longer than the last few have been, but I am going to plead exhaustion and just be done now regardless. Maybe in the morning I will add more, or maybe I will just concede and Kaytie can have all of the blogging pressure to herself!

Day Six

Today is the day when I decided I could definitely come back here for a significantly longer stay.  Kaytie and I started the day at a Fringe Festival performance of Romeo and Juliet.  It was a Glee inspired adaptation performed by an under 17 arts school.  It was a fun, campy performance and the talent really was impressive. I am so used to local productions with some talent and a lot of admirable effort (which I definitely appreciate).

Then we wandered up and down some fantastically gorgeous streets enjoying all of the street performers and collecting fliers from all of the different performances. There are definitely a few more we are going to have to check out before the week ends.

The Beveridge's decided to head home,  which left Kaytie and I on our own to explore. We wandered a bit more of the Festival (I am completely smitten) got some food, and did some shopping. Then we caught the bus back to Balerno all on our own. I definitely felt like a grown up!


Bonus Points for anyone who knows who Greyfriar's Bobby is?

Look! I am not the only one who took pictures of all of the recycling! I love this place.

Day Five

Well today is Sunday- surprise... We went to church at the Edinburgh Ward. I thought it was very charming, and everyone was very friendly. I thought it was interesting to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences on the pioneers. 

After church we went and wandered about the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was positively beautiful. A perfect way to spend a gorgeous Sunday afternoon before enjoying a fabulous meal made by Jude while  I wandered about trying to look like I am looking helpful. 

               Emily in the Botanics. 

Day Four

Today we went on another fabulous day trip to Dunnottar Castle. The ruins are spectacular and we had a lot of fun climbing all over and exploring. Even the locals were pretty impressed with this place! 

So, since we have been here we have been fantastically lucky in the weather department, it has been consistently quite pleasant: not exactly warm, you almost always want a sweater, but we have never been rained out or deterred from doing anything by the weather. Anyways, yay for us... But the point of that ramble was that today was spectacularly windy! It made hiking around the grounds refreshing but taking pictures very difficult! 

Yes, that's my hair in the shot. 

After thoroughly exploring the castle we hiked down to the beach (we were on the North Sea) threw rocks in the water, even explored a cave, took some more pictures, and then hiked up from the beach and made our way back towards the castle. 

After leaving the impossibly charming  Dunnottar we ventured off to explore the positively idyllic location of Jude's childhood. 

We ate delicious fish and chips (procured in a socially conscious manner), wandered the harbour, and drove around the most picturesque coastal villages. I think Jude may have grown up in a movie, real life cannot be that beautiful! 

Day Three

This morning we all woke up early and piled into the car. For those of you who have road tripped with me, you know about my impressive ability to sleep in the car. So I definitely slept more than half of our total driving time, but I was awake long enough to appreciate some spectacular views!
We started off the day, driving Loch Lomond. It was absolutely gorgeous. From there we began our trip to Inverary. Due to an unfortunate incident with a lorrie we could either wait three hours for the road to be cleared or take a detour. The detour was going to take less time and we were all anxious to continue adventuring so obviously we chose the detour. 

The detour proved to be...exciting? It was never scary; Simon is a good driver and you may remember my aforementioned affection for sleeping in vehicles, but it was unlike any driving experience I have had at home.

The road is a single lane winding and dropping through the countryside, twisting and turning about while cars speed down it in both directions. When two cars meet up they both step on the brake, then one car pulls over if they can and if not they reverse until they find a spot where there is room. 

By the time we reached Inverary castle we are all pleased to be out of the vehicle.

Inverary Castle belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. They still keep it up as a residence although not their primary one. A wing of it and much of the grounds are open to the public. It was positively spectacular! I really enjoyed wandering about and seeing all of the history compiling in one fantastic building. Oh, and Downton Abbey filmed there, so yeah that's cool. 

After Inverary we were back on the road and headed toward Loch Ness. 

Yes, this is home of the Loch Ness Monster. Emily even thinks she might have seen Nessie peeking out of the water.  We got to explore what was left of the Urquhart Castle, and enjoy the countryside. A truly remarkable place. 

After that it was dinner in Inverness and then back to Edinburgh. We got to see a lot of Scotland today and it really does look like the movies.