it took me back...

I heart Scotland and all things Scottish. (Well...most things Scottish, at least.)

Anyhoo, for an early birthday present, Lisa took me to a Robert Burns Memorial Supper here in Idaho Falls.

There was dinner (which included a taste of haggis--but that deserves its very own post!), Celtic dancers, Celtic harp, and Henry's Fork Pipes and Drums! (Yes, I really do enjoy the bagpipes.) Oh yeah, plus Robbie Burns poetry reading. I really get a kick out of Burns' poetry; somehow I didn't think the kind of humor he used was around during the 18th century.

So...here are a few pix & flix of the evening...

We actually got there too late for the Entrance of the Haggis...
which is a bummer because it's supposed to be a big deal.

Me and Lisa
(Thanks again for the wonderful b-day gifty!)

Look at all those kilts!
*sheepish smile*

So I'll post more about haggis when I can. (You should be excited for that post, you should!)

I Miss It...

Scotland, I mean.

And London too.

Look at what I was doing a year ago today. It was a delightful trip that rocked my world. I miss my Scotland. The lovely accent. The kilted men. The castles. Loch Ness and Uruqhart ruins. Filthy McNasty's pub (and the heavily-accented waiter/bar-tender there!). And, yes, even the bagpipes. (There was ALWAYS someone playing the pipes in Edinburgh by Princes Street Gardens...)

Ah, so much to miss!

This summer has been good too, but I wonder if anything can beat the summer of Scotland. 2007 is a year that will go down (in my books, at least) as one of the greatest years EVER.

Enough reminiscing for now...

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my biggest (well...eldest) brother, Aaron.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YOU!

Glasgow...(8/23-24; 9/5-6)

August 23-24 and September 5-6
GLASGOW

WELCOME TO SCOTLAND, BABY!!!
"The best small country in the world"

Glasgow, I must admit, is NOT my favorite city. In fact, I dare say it's worth skipping. In defense of Glasgow, I must say that I don't think it was judged all that fairly; Carrie and I landed in Glasgow at 7:30am (Glasgow time; it was 12:30am at home)...we were able to check into our hotel and take a shower much earlier than we thought we could. But...we didn't allow ourselves to take even a short nap. No sir, we showered and changed and got ready, and then we walked around town. We were, basically, dead on our feet. We went to the Kelvingrove Museum and walked around Glasgow University, Byres Road, Great Western Road, etc. Hopped on the subway to see other parts of town. However...I wanted to SLEEP! (Jet lag SUCKS!) Carrie and I did our best to be civil to one another...we didn't allow ourselves to go back to the B&B until 6pm, where we ate sandwiches for dinner, and then I showered and promptly fell asleep. I slept for 12 hours straight; I don't think I even moved. I woke up refreshed and happy, and then we went on to London, as you can read about below (under "London..."). Then we went here and there in the beautiful country of Scotland, and made our way back to Glasgow for one more day (because we flew out of Glasgow). I forgot to mention above that there's not really a heck of a lot to do in Glasgow outside of a pub...and since Carrie and I don't do that thing (ya know, drink and the likes), it limited our options of entertainment. (We went for reading and making reminiscent videos at the B&B).

Our 2nd time in Glasgow included wandering around Buchanan Street and Princes Square, as well as Haggis-hunting. (Not for ourselves, mind you. I bought some for a cute little Scottish friend in Brigham City). By this time, I was feeling a bit antsy about the LONG flights ahead of me the following day, and I was ready to see my family and friends back at home again. Anyhoo...we didn't take tons of pictures in Glasgow, but here's what we've got:

This is Carrie and Glasgow University in the background.

The Kelvingrove Museum
Look at those blue skies!!!


Inside the Kelvingrove Museum.
Yeah, those are silly faces floating around up there.


Several pigeons at the Botanic Gardens.
I'm afraid of this large bird (with good reason!)
but they seem to be better behaved in Glasgow than in London.


Solid Rock Cafe...
I asked around for directions to the Hard Rock Cafe in Glasgow
and I got a bunch of confused looks.
"You mean Solid Rock." Yeah, okay.
So I went there and even looked inside to see if they sold
shot glasses (so I could buy one for Lisa).
I went inside and it was rather dark and scary.
They were playing loud heavy metal music and so I made a quick retreat...
Turns out the Hard Rock Cafe is in Edinburgh! Silly Gina...

Overall, though...this was the trip of a lifetime! It simply cannot be duplicated! On our flight from Salt Lake to Newark, there were 50 or so wealthy older men (one dressed as the, hopefully, the ugliest French Maid ever) who were on their way to NYC for "mancation." The fellow sitting right in front of us (Dave) was telling us of this group of wealthies. (I have to tell you, it's like a frat party for old men who are just LOADED with all sorts of money). They play pranks on each other...but these are very large-scale pranks. For example: one guy in the group, who was very excited about his new pool. Well, Dave thought it would be funny to put a BOAT in this guy's pool. So that's what they did. And this poor old bloke (I use the word "poor" loosely...he's really so rich he can't think of enough ways to spend his money)...anyway...this guy had to empty his pool and have a crane lift the boat out. Thus ruining his new pool. And he flipped the bill because he's in this ludicrous rich-man group. Although I strongly believe that these gentlemen have obscene amounts of money, they were all very nice to us and even offered to buy us liquor (which we obviously declined). They sure made the very start of our journey memorable and entertaining!

It goes on from there. If you want details, gimme a call; I'd be more than happy to talk your ear off about my Scottish adventures. :)

Edinburgh revisited...(9/2-9/5)

September 2-5
EDINBURGH...again

So...we hopped another train back to Edinburgh. Along the way we met Bill; if you want to know all the nasty details that go with him, gimme a call; it's a much better story LIVE. :) Anyway, once there, Carrie made me walk with all my CRAP (luggage, I meant to say "stuff") to our B&B. It was 2 miles away, and 1/4 of it was uphill, all of it on cobblestone...my feet and shoulders ached after that little number! But I survived I suppose...then it was off to do more touristy stuff. Holyroodhouse Palace was lovely. Back to the Royal Mile to finish up souvenir shopping. St. Giles' Cathedral (all for you, Briant!) This and that...

I made a video to capture the slight disappointment in our B&B...

This is what Scotland is all about, baby!


St. Giles' Cathedral


A cool shot of St. Giles' steeple.
Very artistic of me, no?



Views from Calton Hill


Holyroodhouse

Holyrood Abbey ruins...

There was more, of course...but I don't have Carrie's pictures yet. Let's just say that Edinburgh was my favorite city. Because of architecture as well as the..."other" beauties. :)

Inverness...(8/30-9/2)

August 30-September 2
INVERNESS

Following our quick stop in Edinburgh, we took yet another train up to Inverness, up in the highlands! What a gorgeous town! We stayed our first night in Kilravock Castle, just past Croy. That was a GORGEOUS place to stay! Then we headed back to Inverness to stay at another beautiful B&B. (Inverness definitely offered the best accomodations!) We sailed the Loch to Uruqhart Castle, took a train to Dunrobin Castle, and wandered around the town. A lovely place. Although we enjoyed delightfully dry weather, it did get a bit nippy and I was forced to buy a wool scarf...(Blue Dress Stewart tartan...my dad's mom is a Stewart, so why not buy the Stewart tartan?)

The River Ness

Quite the slogan, if you ask me...

Me and Carrie on the boat, on Loch Ness,
headed to Uruqhart Castle!

They say that the Loch is fresh water...
to me, it looks like TEA.
It's brown because of the sediment, so they say.


Me standing in Loch Ness


Video of Loch Ness from Uruqhart Castle...
No sightings of Nessie...maybe I would've been
more capable of seeing her if I'd've drunk
"Nessie Beer." It's a real beverage.
I think intoxication helps you to see the moster...
nevertheless, this was my favorite part of the whole trip.


Me and Carrie at Uruqhart


Tell me that this picture of Uruqhart ain't stunning,
I dare you! I took this pic from the bus park up above the castle.


Dunrobin Castle
The train ride here was nearly 2.25 hours
and we only got to walk around for 1.75 hours.
But it's stunning! 189 rooms inside!

Inverness from the islands along the River Ness.

Pathetic, but this is really what we did with our evenings in Inverness.

Things would've been different if we weren't 2 girls traveling. Annoying as it is to admit, the trip would've been more fun if we had some guys with us (so we could be out and about in the evenings! That's all I meant, nothing more!). At least our B&B was lovely! (Four stars, by the way...)

Edinburgh...(8/28-8/30)

August 28-30
EDINBURGH

We had plans to do Edinburgh Festival stuff while there. However...the festival ended the day before we got there...how rotten is that?!? Anyway...we took a train from London to Edinburgh. The first thing you see at Waverly station is Edinburgh Castle, which is, in a word, stunning. Carrie and I took a taxi to our B&B, which was actually in Portobello (which is, I think, north-east of Edinburgh). The B&B was lovely, and our back yard was the beach of the North Sea! -Not quite the warm sunny beaches of SoCal, but lovely nonetheless! We ended up taking buses to downtown Edinburgh, because walking would've taken a couple of hours. :) We ended up walking around Princes Street, Rose Street (which is dedicated, mainly, to pubs), and the Royal Mile. Edinburgh is a LOVELY town!

Here is Edinburgh Castle.

Another view of the castle... Stunning, eh?

The Scot Monument at dusk...


A view of Edinburgh from its Castle...

Inside the Castle grounds...

This was our B&B in Portobello...


And our back yard...the North Sea!

A gnome guarding the B&B.
Somehow, this little guy reminded me of my friend Jered...

Saying goodbye to Portobello while standing in the North Sea...

Frolicking in the North Sea.

The Bad Ass Pub on Rose Street.


That's funny stuff.

Another pub.
They actually have an amazing chicken wrap.
I believe it was called the "Filthy Chicken Wrap."
One of the best wraps I've ever eaten.

So...Edinburgh is a lovely town. Actually, there are a number of hotties in this great Scottish city, if I say so myself. :) The Royal Mile is a fun (touristy) place to spend your time and your money. My favorite part of Edinburgh was the Castle. And also Filthy McNasty's. (The bar tender had a thick accent and called us "darlin" which was quite endearing). The city is gorgeous and lots of fun. Also, down on Princes Street right above the Princes Street Park, there was always some man in a kilt (sigh) playing the bagpipes. Very nice...

London...(8/24-8/28)

Aug. 24-Aug 28, 2007
LONDON

Okay, so Carrie and I flew in to Glasgow and got there on Thursday, Aug. 23rd at 7:30am their time (12:30am at home). We were basically dead on our feet the whole day and didn't enjoy Glasgow as much as we could've otherwise...The next day, we took a quick train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, then another (longer) train ride to London. Here's what went down:

We took a train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross in London.

We then took a handful of undergrounds to get to our hotel.

I made this video because I was tired and expected a bit...MORE...from our B&B room.
Your dollar doesn't go nearly as far in London.
(Not that the US dollar goes very far anyway...)

This is the London Temple. Stunning.

And here we have a lovely pic of Big Ben.
I gotta be honest, I'm rather proud of this pic.

Me in front of the London Tower.

The London Eye. I never queued to get on, and I didn't want to know
how much it was gonna cost either.

Westminster Abbey; we couldn't take pics inside, understandably.
My favorite part was Poet's Corner.
Amazing architecture, not to mention perfect weather!

Me and Carrie at Green Park.

Her Majesty's Theatre, where we saw Phantom of the Opera!


Notting Hill; we had a few hours to kill before going to see Phantom,
so Carrie and I got on the underground and I decided,
"Let's go to Notting Hill and Portobello Rd. to have a look around."
Little did we know that CARNIVAL was happening at Notting Hill!
Comparable to Mardi Gras here in the states.
We found out later that there was a stabbing and a shooting there
after we made our escape.

As we were searching for a way out of Notting Hill (and all the
godlessness that was going on there at the time),
we found a beautiful church there.
I had to take a picture of the sanctuary.

These are just a few of the pics and stories...it's already a long post. London was great fun though! I love Covent Garden. And the underground is amazing ("Mind the Gap!"). Even just wandering around town was excellent fun. And even though Carnival is nothing I ever want to go to, it was fun to experience it there on the underground. Actually, we wandered around for a couple of hours trying to get outta there...we finally found our way to the outter edge of Carnival and took a double-decker to carry us away from all that! The whole of my London experience was stupdendous. :)

I'm back!!!

I recently returned from my long-awaited trip to SCOTLAND! I left Aug. 22 and got back the night of Sept. 6. It was, in a word, amazing. I've got tons of pictures and stories to share...but that'll have to wait until I can upload my pics onto my computer. In the mean time, here are 10 things I learned on my trip to the UK:

1-The SCOTTISH accent really is the best. Hands down. Show me a short, bald man with a real Scottish accent and I'm all over him, baby!
2-My nights would've been MUCH more lively if I were a drinker; Scotland loves her pubs!
3-Men in kilts make my heart skip a beat. For real.
4-The London underground, although vast and complex, is the best way to travel.
5-The CLEAN AIR ACT of the US is a godsend! My lungs are blacker (MUCH blacker) from this trip.
6-Although I'm not huge on breakfast, the eggs and sausage left me wanting. (All eggs and sausage are NOT created equal!) I'm all about porridge, though!
7-I could never LIVE abroad for very long; I missed my family and friends! And I really truly HEART America!
8-Glasgow and (especially) Edinburgh are FULL of handsome men! However...since those gents and I have completely different morals and values, I'll stick to the all-American boys. :)
9-Since the rail is THE way to travel in and between the UK, make sure you have enough reading material! Waiting for your train to arrive, and sitting on the train for x amount of hours, will suck less if you've got something good to read.
10-SCOTLAND RULES! This is the best trip I've ever been on, and it simply cannot be duplicated! From Fifi, Dave and the "mancation" crew, to Notting Hill and Carnival, to watching Carrie choke down fish and chips just so she could know whose is best (England vs Scotland, of course), to "dealing" with Bill by letting Carrie deal with him while I read...this trip ROCKED! -I already miss the accent!

Written Sept. 6, 2007, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.