We left our house right after class on Wednesday night to get to the train station. We took the fast train to Madrid which takes about two and half hours and then headed straight to the airport. We got to the airport at about 12:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, our flight didn't take off until 6am. Since it was too late to check in and get through security, we were forced to sit on the floor of the airport all night. We froze our you-know-whats off and that turned out to be one of the longest nights of my life.
We arrived in Scotland late Thursday morning to meet aunt Georgia and Tyler at the hotel. I can't even describe how good it felt to see family again! We were exhausted from the night before, but couldn't pass up the chance to drink a margarita (ahhhhhhhh!) and have some American food..even though we were in Scotland ;) And let me tell you, that margarita was heavenly! We did a little shopping in the afternoon and then aunt Georgia and I went to hang out at yet another American bar for the night....It was great to catch up with what's been going on back home...and also great to down just a few more margaritas!! Our waitress was from New Zealand and of course aunt Georgia made friends with her and ended up extending her an invitation to her house when she comes to America. Always something interesting with my auntie!!
We spent the next day on the city sightseeing buses. We went to Edinburgh castle which was just plain awesome. We got some great views of the city from the castle and were nearly knocked down by the insane wind. That would explain my hair in the next picture!
My favorite part of the castle visit was seeing the old prisoners' barracks from the war. I am starting to become a huge nerd on these tours, but it's so cool seeing how people lived hundreds of years ago.
Okay, yeah. I'm definitely a nerd...
We spent the afternoon Friday at a great little place called Deacon Brodie's Tavern, where I was reunited with white zinfandel! I had forgotten how much I like cheap wine after drinking only sangria for the past month and a half!! Ann and I drank a few.....bottles, which made for an early night Friday, but it was SO worth it!
Saturday involved some more touristy stuff, some more delicious food, and, my favorite part, a ghost tour of the underground city. Excuse my inability to remember details, but basically a lot of years ago the Scottish people built this huge bridge to connect the rich and poor ends of the city. Inside of the bridge and underground they built huge rooms that ended up being the home to thousands of refugees from a fire that destroyed the city. The caves had barely any oxygen and obviously no plumbing or anything, so the life expentancy of all the people living there was 3 to 9 months. It was absolutely crazy to think that people ever lived there. It was pitch black, cold, and miserable. Such a sad story.
Woah, I just sounded like an even bigger nerd.
Anyway, our tour guide was great and the dark, scary caves were my favorite part of the trip.
Saturday night I got to skype with most of my Lipski family because they were all together for my fabulous grandma's 90th birthday party. I was so excited to see everyone and the second I saw them I couldn't help but burst into tears. Even though it was great to see all of their faces, it made me more homesick than I could have imagined. Definitely a bittersweet moment but I was so glad that I got to see my beautiful grammy on her 90th birthday!!
We left for the airport at 4am on Sunday. Our first plane was delayed for an hour. We flew from Scotland to France where we had a 6 hour layover, and let me tell you, the French are rude. And boring. There was nothing to do in that airport except study for midterms! Yuck. We finally made it to Madrid, but had to wait another couple of hours to catch the train back to Sevilla. We made it home at 12:30 in the morning, and after 21 hours of traveling, our beds never looked so good. What a buzzkill to end the vacation!!
Overall though, it was such a great weekend. We were spoiled with lots of treats and fun stuff from aunt Georgia (and by treats I mean 15 pounds of chocolate....NO. That is NOT an exaggeration). And we just had a blast. The people there were so nice, too, which was a welcome change compared to Europeans. While we were shopping, I was looking at a purse and told aunt Georgia "At least this purse doesn't make my butt look big" when the security guard smiled and told me "Your butt looks great in that purse!" I was so close to buying it just for that reason!!
As for this week, it's back to the grind. We have midterms, which means I'll actually have to start thinking about school again. Bummer. And then, it's another trip this weekend. I guess life ain't all bad ;)
On a different note, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday (tomorrow) to the best dad a girl could ask for. Love you dad!!
Scotland pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2790916012631.2120356.1250280194&type=1&l=aef4cc3a22
And here is the link to Ann's pictures, too:
Have a great week. And for anyone who's counting down, I'll be home exactly two months from today =]
-Nat
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