(I'll have to gradually add the pictures for this post... because I am having trouble with my camera).
It's been a good two weeks since I last posted! I'm sure you are all distraught because you don't know what I've been up to... Actually, I stopped blogging for a few days because I wasn't doing anything exciting--just working my unpaid full-time job. YAY.... haha So quick update..
Tuesday, May 31: Just went to my unpaid full-time job
Wednesday, June 1: Went to my unpaid full-time job
Thursday, June 2: Went to my unpaid full-time job
BUT then Friday, June 3rd came along and I was on the go non stop. I didn't have the time, actually no, the energy to sit at my computer and actually think--The Bairds were in town! haha
Have you ever heard the saying "Shop until you drop?" Well, Daniel's folks apply that idea to every aspect of their lives. They are always on the go. And although I didn't appreciate it everyday, I sure do appreciate it now. We were able to do SO much stuff and in retrospect, I had a blast through it all (even the parts where I was mad at Daniel for one thing or another haha).
June 3, 2011: I went into work and Daniel stayed home to greet his parents. They must have brought the warm weather with them, because Friday, June 3rd was the WARMEST day we have had--Daniel's dad even wore shorts! They were pretty jet-lagged/ groggy, but we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather, so we hiked part of Arthur's Seat and enjoyed the city view.
It was so peaceful at the top, and it was exciting to have Daniel's parents together and to be with them (For those of you who don't know, Daniel's dad lives/works in India while his mom lives/works in North Carolina).
After that, if my memory is correct, I believe we used the bathroom at the Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when she's in town), got ice cream on Prince's street and people watched, went back to the apartment where Daniel made us Ciabatta Pizza and salad, and we started to plan out the next couple days of the trip, except Paul was so tired (he had been up over 48 hours at this point) that he couldn't sit down without dozing off. So we called it a night at about 9:30 even though we still had about 2 and a half hours of daylight left.
Saturday June 4, 2011: On Saturday, it was really cold and wet outside-- apparently, the good weather was a fluke. But we ventured off to the Edinburgh Castle.
If I'm 100% honest, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a princess castle, with big rooms with big fire places and a finely decorated interior. What did a get? Guns, swords, canons and prisons. It was still cool. We saw The Honours of Scotland, learned about the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots, saw old weapons, prisons, canons, etc. :-) We spent about four hours wandering around the castle looking at each of the exhibits and old buildings. Afterwords, we stopped at the weaving mill and looked at tartans.
Went to a pub on the Grass Market where me and Sally ordered fish and chips and the boys ordered Steak Pies, and then hit up a free "Ghost" tour of the city. It was really fun. The guide was INSANE and so weird.
He told us a bunch interesting stories about Edinburgh... like the woman who was hung/hanged(?) but came back to life, so the people figured it was an act of God and let her live. (Apparently, the hanging just broke her neck so she just walked with a crooked neck the rest of her life--They named a pub after her). He also told us about a couple who ran off and were never heard from again, until people started missing every time they would travel a certain road and the couple was found with their incestuous family who were cannibals. True story. It was good fun.
Sunday June 5, 2011: We went to church, I took a wee nap, and then we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens and Fettes College --> The school that was apparently what JK Rowlings had in mind when she invented Hogwarts. It was all great. At church I work in the nursery and it's usually 5 adults for 3 kids--Ridiculous. The gardens were beautiful and we only got to see a small corner of them because, like everything else, they closed at 5. We did get to see the Queen's garden and that was cool. One room was made up completely of sea shells and pine cones, the design formed interlocking "E's" (for Elizabeth), and all the plants had names that had something to do with Royalty. When we went back home, Daniel made my new favorite soup -- Leek and Tattie. He also made a rubarb custard dessert. It was alright. Unfortunately, I prefer my rubarb with salt not sugar. It was a conflict of interest.
Monday June 6, 2011: We were heading to the National Museum, but seeing that the weather was somewhat good, we made a detour and went to rent bikes instead. Riding in the city to the train station nearly made me throw in the towel. I almost got hit by multiple cars and it really scared me. But I went anyways in a bad mood due to comments by one who shall not be named coughdanielcough haha (Don't worry, he's already read this...It's my journal/account so I can say what I want haha). We rode the train to Longniddry and then rode our bikes for 20 miles hitting up the beach and seeing the Island that was in mind when Treasure Island was written.--It was there I chose to forgive my husband, because the Island was that beautiful.
We also rode through a golf course and a "corn field" (which was actually full of wheat).
We saw ancient ruins/castles, ate fish and chips and then booked it back to the train station so we could get the bikes back by 7.
Our first train was cancelled. I was really tired, my butt hurt (did I mention that I was riding a large framed bike--for someone 5'11- to 6'1. I'm 5'2. I rode it for 20 miles and I hit my crotch on the dumb bar every time I tried to stop.) All I wanted to do was just sit at the station, but we were told that we had another hour so we went to tour the village. In doing so, we missed the next train and had to wait a while longer for the next train to come. I was pretty irritated. We didn't get the bikes back until late and once again, I was upset about one thing or another and even though the rest of the crew wanted to do a night time underground tour of the city, I left and went home, took a long hot shower and went to bed. It was what I needed. From what I hear, the others went out and got ice cream. So it was a win win for both of us.
Tuesday June 7, 2011: Daniel and I had to go into work. I was in charge of taking care of this HUGE petition that was being delivered to Colin...Supposedly, there was a bus of 50 people with signs coming to protest the closure of a nursery and I had to contact security, local police, news crews, etc to inform them of the big event. I did my job, and when I went downstairs with press release and camera in hand, what did I see??? 50 short attention span three year olds with neon vests running all over the place, ripping their signs, and having a blast. It was hilarious. Some protest.
Daniel and I only stayed a half day and his parents met us at the Parliament Building. We went and looked at the National History Museum for a little bit and then went home to rest our feet and prepare for the ceilidh. At 8:00pm off to the ceilidh we went. Luckily, there was a good band and we all had a really fun time.
Wednesday June 8, 2011: Daniel and I went into Parliament again for a half day and then headed home so we could rent a car and head off to the Highlands. We stopped in a town and got dinner (Sally ordered a pickle and cheese sandwich. They brought out a pickled beet and cheese sandwich... yikes haha) and then at about 7:00pm we headed to hike Glen Coe---the place where the McDonald clan was murdered by the Campbell Clan.
It was a beautiful, steep hike along a number of waterfalls: we were basically walking up multi-colored stone stairs the entire time. By the time we got to the last stretch to get to the top, we lost the trail, it started raining, and the fog was slowly coming in. We kept hiking. We were looking for the "Lost Valley," where the McDonalds who survived lived in order to escape further massacre. It's apparently up Glen Coe, down into a valley, up another mountain, and then down again.... but we don't know because we never found it---as Daniel stated, "it's truly lost".
Near the end up of the uphill hike, a huge stone rolled down the mountain and hit me in the ankle which really hurt. I turned around to start heading down and couldn't see ANYTHING. The entire mountain was fog. I started to have a mini panic attacked, but I made Daniel pray with me and we got to the bottom safe and sound. For the night we ended up staying in a huge bed and breakfast, off the beaten path, run by about six men from Bangladesh. We were the only guests there! It was kind of creepy, but they had good hot chocolate and the showers were warm so I couldn't complain.
Thursday, June 9 2011: The next morning, we ate our full Scottish breakfast (although we weren't allowed to have our eggs scrambled.... they had to be fried?) and headed off to see the Elian Donan Castle.
On the way, we made a number of pit stops so that we could appreciate the Highland scenery. Eventually, we got to the castle, the clouds moved out and we had a gorgeous day. We toured the castle and I loved it. I forget the family name that restored it, but they used it as a summer house for a number of years before turning it over to a Trust. I'm not exactly sure how that all works, but it was really cool. I loved seeing a finished castle and how a family would actually live in it (tapestries on the wooden/stone walls and rugs on the cold hard floors, etc).
Then we went to the Isle of Skye.
We went on a short hike near the Cuillen Mountains and then had to take a ferry over to Mallig because that's where our hotel for the night was. In Mallig... I liked seafood! That's right. We ate a a really nice restuarant and I had the best seafood I've ever had in my entire life: Prawns, mini prawns, shell fish, salmon, pickled haddock (?), crab, and I cant even remember what else came on the plate. But it was all really good. After dinner, we went to the hotel and then walked around the port.
Friday June 10, 2011: Friday morning we woke up, had our big Scottish breakfast and headed off to find the cave Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in. Unfortunately, we never found it due to a set of very vague instructions. Instead, we just walked along the sea and enjoyed the scenery. It was another beautiful day out. Then we decided to do one last hike before heading back to Edinburgh. Well, we picked a hike through a bog, but didn't really think it would be that boggy. We were SO wrong. By the end of it, Paul was up to his knees in mud. It was... interesting.
On our way home we saw the Viaduct (shown in Harry Potter 3.. the bridge the train goes over!) and we also saw the monument that was across from that (I can't remember what it's called).
We also stopped in Stirling to look at the outside of the castle, see the Wallace Monument from a distance, and see the old church/cemetary there. We didn't get back to our flat until about 11pm but for the most part, it was still light out... haha I love long summer days.
Saturday June 11, 2011: Saturday was kind of a relaxing day and it was pouring ALL DAY. We cleaned up a bit, packed, ran some last minute souvinere errands, stopped at the Greyfriar's Cemetary to visit Tom Riddle's grave, made one last run through the National Museum, and then went to a pub where we enjoyed a really great 3 course meal and live folk music. I really enjoyed myself.
Sunday June 12, 2011: The Baird's left. Sally's flight left at 8am and Paul left at 10am. Daniel and I went to church where I sat in the nursery with a few children (my favorite was a young Danish/Scottish boy named Sammie who would get really upset about one thing or another and then when something happened to cheer him up he would say, "I'm happy again mum"). And then we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens with Claire. We could have spent hours there. It's beautiful and the roses were mostly in bloom.
Monday June 13, 2011: Monday was the average go and work my unpaid full time job. But afterwords Daniel and I went to a French restaurant with Claire. I'm going to copy and paste the expirence straight from her blog so I don't have to write it out. It was fabulous. From the Blog of Claire:
I think we all died of happiness. I will not torture you with descriptions of deliciousness, but just know... you WISH you had been there."
Tuesday June 14, 2011: I went to work came home, and watched TV. Lots and lots of TV and I loved every moment of it. I watched a Brittish show called Take Me Out. Which is basically a panel of 30 girls and they decide whether or not they would like to go out with a man pretty much based on looks and maybe like two other facts. It's such a shallow, now brainer show. It amused me quite a bit. And then I watched America's Got Talent, The World's Strictest Parents, and Judge Judy. I told you it was a lot. Daniel practiced his canter and went to the store to find me rhubarb because I was craving it. (he's a fantastic husband). And that's it for today!
It's been a good two weeks since I last posted! I'm sure you are all distraught because you don't know what I've been up to... Actually, I stopped blogging for a few days because I wasn't doing anything exciting--just working my unpaid full-time job. YAY.... haha So quick update..
Tuesday, May 31: Just went to my unpaid full-time job
Wednesday, June 1: Went to my unpaid full-time job
Thursday, June 2: Went to my unpaid full-time job
BUT then Friday, June 3rd came along and I was on the go non stop. I didn't have the time, actually no, the energy to sit at my computer and actually think--The Bairds were in town! haha
Have you ever heard the saying "Shop until you drop?" Well, Daniel's folks apply that idea to every aspect of their lives. They are always on the go. And although I didn't appreciate it everyday, I sure do appreciate it now. We were able to do SO much stuff and in retrospect, I had a blast through it all (even the parts where I was mad at Daniel for one thing or another haha).
June 3, 2011: I went into work and Daniel stayed home to greet his parents. They must have brought the warm weather with them, because Friday, June 3rd was the WARMEST day we have had--Daniel's dad even wore shorts! They were pretty jet-lagged/ groggy, but we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather, so we hiked part of Arthur's Seat and enjoyed the city view.
It was so peaceful at the top, and it was exciting to have Daniel's parents together and to be with them (For those of you who don't know, Daniel's dad lives/works in India while his mom lives/works in North Carolina).
After that, if my memory is correct, I believe we used the bathroom at the Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when she's in town), got ice cream on Prince's street and people watched, went back to the apartment where Daniel made us Ciabatta Pizza and salad, and we started to plan out the next couple days of the trip, except Paul was so tired (he had been up over 48 hours at this point) that he couldn't sit down without dozing off. So we called it a night at about 9:30 even though we still had about 2 and a half hours of daylight left.
Saturday June 4, 2011: On Saturday, it was really cold and wet outside-- apparently, the good weather was a fluke. But we ventured off to the Edinburgh Castle.
Went to a pub on the Grass Market where me and Sally ordered fish and chips and the boys ordered Steak Pies, and then hit up a free "Ghost" tour of the city. It was really fun. The guide was INSANE and so weird.
Sunday June 5, 2011: We went to church, I took a wee nap, and then we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens and Fettes College --> The school that was apparently what JK Rowlings had in mind when she invented Hogwarts. It was all great. At church I work in the nursery and it's usually 5 adults for 3 kids--Ridiculous. The gardens were beautiful and we only got to see a small corner of them because, like everything else, they closed at 5. We did get to see the Queen's garden and that was cool. One room was made up completely of sea shells and pine cones, the design formed interlocking "E's" (for Elizabeth), and all the plants had names that had something to do with Royalty. When we went back home, Daniel made my new favorite soup -- Leek and Tattie. He also made a rubarb custard dessert. It was alright. Unfortunately, I prefer my rubarb with salt not sugar. It was a conflict of interest.
Monday June 6, 2011: We were heading to the National Museum, but seeing that the weather was somewhat good, we made a detour and went to rent bikes instead. Riding in the city to the train station nearly made me throw in the towel. I almost got hit by multiple cars and it really scared me. But I went anyways in a bad mood due to comments by one who shall not be named coughdanielcough haha (Don't worry, he's already read this...It's my journal/account so I can say what I want haha). We rode the train to Longniddry and then rode our bikes for 20 miles hitting up the beach and seeing the Island that was in mind when Treasure Island was written.--It was there I chose to forgive my husband, because the Island was that beautiful.
We saw ancient ruins/castles, ate fish and chips and then booked it back to the train station so we could get the bikes back by 7.
Tuesday June 7, 2011: Daniel and I had to go into work. I was in charge of taking care of this HUGE petition that was being delivered to Colin...Supposedly, there was a bus of 50 people with signs coming to protest the closure of a nursery and I had to contact security, local police, news crews, etc to inform them of the big event. I did my job, and when I went downstairs with press release and camera in hand, what did I see??? 50 short attention span three year olds with neon vests running all over the place, ripping their signs, and having a blast. It was hilarious. Some protest.
 |
| Daniel with Dolly the Cloned sheep |
Wednesday June 8, 2011: Daniel and I went into Parliament again for a half day and then headed home so we could rent a car and head off to the Highlands. We stopped in a town and got dinner (Sally ordered a pickle and cheese sandwich. They brought out a pickled beet and cheese sandwich... yikes haha) and then at about 7:00pm we headed to hike Glen Coe---the place where the McDonald clan was murdered by the Campbell Clan.
It was a beautiful, steep hike along a number of waterfalls: we were basically walking up multi-colored stone stairs the entire time. By the time we got to the last stretch to get to the top, we lost the trail, it started raining, and the fog was slowly coming in. We kept hiking. We were looking for the "Lost Valley," where the McDonalds who survived lived in order to escape further massacre. It's apparently up Glen Coe, down into a valley, up another mountain, and then down again.... but we don't know because we never found it---as Daniel stated, "it's truly lost".
Near the end up of the uphill hike, a huge stone rolled down the mountain and hit me in the ankle which really hurt. I turned around to start heading down and couldn't see ANYTHING. The entire mountain was fog. I started to have a mini panic attacked, but I made Daniel pray with me and we got to the bottom safe and sound. For the night we ended up staying in a huge bed and breakfast, off the beaten path, run by about six men from Bangladesh. We were the only guests there! It was kind of creepy, but they had good hot chocolate and the showers were warm so I couldn't complain.
Thursday, June 9 2011: The next morning, we ate our full Scottish breakfast (although we weren't allowed to have our eggs scrambled.... they had to be fried?) and headed off to see the Elian Donan Castle.
Then we went to the Isle of Skye.
Friday June 10, 2011: Friday morning we woke up, had our big Scottish breakfast and headed off to find the cave Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in. Unfortunately, we never found it due to a set of very vague instructions. Instead, we just walked along the sea and enjoyed the scenery. It was another beautiful day out. Then we decided to do one last hike before heading back to Edinburgh. Well, we picked a hike through a bog, but didn't really think it would be that boggy. We were SO wrong. By the end of it, Paul was up to his knees in mud. It was... interesting.
Saturday June 11, 2011: Saturday was kind of a relaxing day and it was pouring ALL DAY. We cleaned up a bit, packed, ran some last minute souvinere errands, stopped at the Greyfriar's Cemetary to visit Tom Riddle's grave, made one last run through the National Museum, and then went to a pub where we enjoyed a really great 3 course meal and live folk music. I really enjoyed myself.
Sunday June 12, 2011: The Baird's left. Sally's flight left at 8am and Paul left at 10am. Daniel and I went to church where I sat in the nursery with a few children (my favorite was a young Danish/Scottish boy named Sammie who would get really upset about one thing or another and then when something happened to cheer him up he would say, "I'm happy again mum"). And then we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens with Claire. We could have spent hours there. It's beautiful and the roses were mostly in bloom.
Monday June 13, 2011: Monday was the average go and work my unpaid full time job. But afterwords Daniel and I went to a French restaurant with Claire. I'm going to copy and paste the expirence straight from her blog so I don't have to write it out. It was fabulous. From the Blog of Claire:
"We finally decided to go to a French Restaurant, Café Rouge.
Uhhhhh possibly one of the top decisions of my life.
We were all hungry and a little impatient for the food until Daniel ordered a basket of assorted breads. That held us over, so we could just chat and have fun. And chat and have fun we did! We were at the restaurant for about 2.5-3 hours. I ordered bouillabaisse- amazing. Mandi had Poulet Breton and Daniel got a cheese souffle. It was all scrumptious. DELICIOUS, I tell you. Probably the best meal I've had since I came here, at least.
And it doesn't end there.
We took one look at the dessert menu and said, "Yes, please..." We got three desserts and shared them- Mandi has a picture I'll steal ASAP. Mandi got a Gauffre Belle Hélène- it was a waffle topped with white chocolate ice cream with white chocolate chips, a dark chocolate sauce, and a cooked pear. Daniel ordered crème brûlée. I ordered Coupe Rouge- white chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet with crème fraîche, fresh berries, and a red fruits coulis.
Tuesday June 14, 2011: I went to work came home, and watched TV. Lots and lots of TV and I loved every moment of it. I watched a Brittish show called Take Me Out. Which is basically a panel of 30 girls and they decide whether or not they would like to go out with a man pretty much based on looks and maybe like two other facts. It's such a shallow, now brainer show. It amused me quite a bit. And then I watched America's Got Talent, The World's Strictest Parents, and Judge Judy. I told you it was a lot. Daniel practiced his canter and went to the store to find me rhubarb because I was craving it. (he's a fantastic husband). And that's it for today!
your amazing! I love your posts and I am sooooo jealous of you guys right now. What an amazing experience! I'm way excited for Gramps 80th b-day party!
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