Scotland Part 1
Wednesday, December 27th - Sunday, December 31st
I left around 7pm on Wednesday. My flight was to land in Amsterdam and then go from there to Glasgow. The flight went fine and we arrived in Amsterdam early. While I was sitting in the airport I looked over and noticed that Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) was sitting 2 rows away from me. Apparently she was flying to Manchester.
Anyways, I got to Glasgow. I was thrilled to see John standing there waiting for me. It's like this wave of extreme happiness washes over you.
Anyways, the first day was mainly relaxation. We exchanged Christmas gifts. John was happy to see that I got him Lego Mindstorms NXT and we went downstairs to immediately start building robots. He bought me this gorgeous white gold diamond promise ring. Most promise rings have a very small diamond in it, or just chips, but this is a good size stone. It's currently shining on my finger.
The 28th - Glasgow
Our day started at the University of Glasgow. John showed me all of the buildings he has taken classes in and the lovely grounds. If you walk behind some of the buildings, you can see this amazing view of all of Glasgow. Their campus is amazing. It's funny to see how different my university is from his, and I have to say, I much prefer the look of his campus.
We also went to the Kelvin Art Gallery and Museum. There were a lot of kids in there checking out the various animal exhibits. It was really cool though. John and I had a fun time running around and pointing to various things in there. While there he also bought me tablet. Tablet is this Scottish candy that's really sweet. When you bite into it, you really think you just put a lump of sugar into your mouth.
We had some good Japanese food at Ichiban. They had a lunch deal going on. It was nice to sit down with him for lunch because it felt like a real date. In Florida we were with Scott all the time (don't get me wrong, Scott is awesome), but it was nice to eat out somewhere by ourselves like a couple should. While there I had some Irn Bru, which I actually liked.
We did make it into the city center for a while. Big shopping area. There weren't any tourist shops for me to buy anything for my family though. However, John did make a purchase - Chuck Taylors.
That night was John's cousin's wedding reception. Alex, John, and I sat with his cousin Thomas who was really nice. The night was fairly boring for me though. I chatted a little with his various family members, but I really didn't know anyone. I just kinda sat around and watched some people get intoxicated.
The 29th - Day at Home
Early in the day we headed up to Bothwell Castle. It's practically in John's backyard. We took a nice little walk up a dirt path to get there. It's mainly all ruins, but still nice. We sat up there for a while, just talking and looking around until it started raining a bit hard and we headed home.
I was still a bit jet lagged. So we put on Cars, and did some napping. John's new PDA arrived, so we fooled around with that for a while. I have to admit, seeing him with that makes me want something along the same lines, like a Blackberry.
We had dinner at the Drumpellier Golf Club, which John's family has belonged to for years. It was a bit empty that night, which was unexpected, but the food was really good. It also gave me more time to talk to John's parents who are def. some of the nicest people I've met. From there we drove through Coatbridge and saw the house that John grew up in.
The 30th - Travel to Ballater
We got a late start on picking up Jaime. Once we got him and got everything packed up in the car, we were on our way north to John's house in Ballater. We stopped off in Stirling at Stirling Castle. We didn't go in because we felt the price of admission was a little rediculous, plus we had to pay for parking. Instead, we stood outside the castle, took a few pictures, and took a gander out at the view of Stirling.
From there we headed to the Wallace Monument. We huffed and puffed up a steep winding hill to get to the base of the tower, before ascending the tiny, twisting steps to get to the exhibitions on each level of the tower. We did get to the very top (which is open) though it was very windy and beginning to rain. I distinctly remember feeling like an icicle up there because Scotland is pretty cold, windy, and rainy in the winter.
Our next stop was the Caithness Glass Factory. You would think we stopped there to watch them make hand blown glass, but actually we stopped there for the cafeteria to grab some food. It was a nice little stop, and we chatted for a bit before continuing on the long stretch north.
We had to stop off at Tesco's (grocery store) to get food for the stay in Ballater. We packed up on the booze and junk food (with the exception of some orange juice and my yogurt).
After a bit of glen driving (around tiny, twisty turny roads, some of which had snow and ice) we made it to John's house. Scott was sitting outside in his car waiting for us as he had been coming down from Loch Ness that day. The house was freezing and we spent about an hour getting a good fire going. My lovely boyfriend, seeing his girlfriend huddled up next to a very pathetic fire, went out to get more wood and coal to make a roaring fire so I could melt. The rest of the night was spent eating Chinese food from down the street and the boys beginning a very long game of Risk.
New Year's Eve -aka- Hogmanay
We lazed around most of the morning watching episodes of the X-Files (all 4 of us are dorky and we realize it). Before long we realized we had to get ready for New Year's Eve. The basic plan was to have a traditional Scottish dinner in fancy dress before listening to an Engeo performance (John and Jaime's band). While John and Jaime headed upstairs to practice, Scott and I headed to the kitchen to cook. We cooked a haggis, mashed potatoes, and mashed turnips (I know it sounds awful but actually it was very good).
We all got changed, with the exception of Scott who claims that he was never told to bring a suit. I was in a fancy black dress and felt like I was hosting a party at my house. The dinner was very good, with all of us seated at the dinner table surrounded by a lovely presentation of food and drink. We had stick toffee pudding (which is amazing), Turkish Delight (which is NOT so amazing) and some bread dessert John's mom gave us (not worth eating). But it was a lovely meal.
The Engeo performance was nice. I've heard John play before and he's written songs about me, but I have never seen him actually play with Jaime before. I felt all giddy when he played the songs he wrote about me. I taped one of the songs, "There's a First Time for Everything."
When it got closer to the end of 2006, we put on the New Year's Eve special live from Edinburgh. I was somewhat intoxicated, not overly so though. I drank a bit too much rum in a short time, so I was giggling a bit. Scott on the other hand was completely gone. At one point he attempted to entertain me by juggling chocolates. It was a nice night though. It was the first time I had a boyfriend to kiss at the turn of the year. I also made sure to call my parents to wish them a happy early new year.
So far the trip was going swimmingly, and I couldn't wait to see what the rest of my trip held.
I left around 7pm on Wednesday. My flight was to land in Amsterdam and then go from there to Glasgow. The flight went fine and we arrived in Amsterdam early. While I was sitting in the airport I looked over and noticed that Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) was sitting 2 rows away from me. Apparently she was flying to Manchester.
Anyways, I got to Glasgow. I was thrilled to see John standing there waiting for me. It's like this wave of extreme happiness washes over you.
Anyways, the first day was mainly relaxation. We exchanged Christmas gifts. John was happy to see that I got him Lego Mindstorms NXT and we went downstairs to immediately start building robots. He bought me this gorgeous white gold diamond promise ring. Most promise rings have a very small diamond in it, or just chips, but this is a good size stone. It's currently shining on my finger.
The 28th - Glasgow
Our day started at the University of Glasgow. John showed me all of the buildings he has taken classes in and the lovely grounds. If you walk behind some of the buildings, you can see this amazing view of all of Glasgow. Their campus is amazing. It's funny to see how different my university is from his, and I have to say, I much prefer the look of his campus.
We also went to the Kelvin Art Gallery and Museum. There were a lot of kids in there checking out the various animal exhibits. It was really cool though. John and I had a fun time running around and pointing to various things in there. While there he also bought me tablet. Tablet is this Scottish candy that's really sweet. When you bite into it, you really think you just put a lump of sugar into your mouth.
We had some good Japanese food at Ichiban. They had a lunch deal going on. It was nice to sit down with him for lunch because it felt like a real date. In Florida we were with Scott all the time (don't get me wrong, Scott is awesome), but it was nice to eat out somewhere by ourselves like a couple should. While there I had some Irn Bru, which I actually liked.
We did make it into the city center for a while. Big shopping area. There weren't any tourist shops for me to buy anything for my family though. However, John did make a purchase - Chuck Taylors.
That night was John's cousin's wedding reception. Alex, John, and I sat with his cousin Thomas who was really nice. The night was fairly boring for me though. I chatted a little with his various family members, but I really didn't know anyone. I just kinda sat around and watched some people get intoxicated.
The 29th - Day at Home
Early in the day we headed up to Bothwell Castle. It's practically in John's backyard. We took a nice little walk up a dirt path to get there. It's mainly all ruins, but still nice. We sat up there for a while, just talking and looking around until it started raining a bit hard and we headed home.
I was still a bit jet lagged. So we put on Cars, and did some napping. John's new PDA arrived, so we fooled around with that for a while. I have to admit, seeing him with that makes me want something along the same lines, like a Blackberry.
We had dinner at the Drumpellier Golf Club, which John's family has belonged to for years. It was a bit empty that night, which was unexpected, but the food was really good. It also gave me more time to talk to John's parents who are def. some of the nicest people I've met. From there we drove through Coatbridge and saw the house that John grew up in.
The 30th - Travel to Ballater
We got a late start on picking up Jaime. Once we got him and got everything packed up in the car, we were on our way north to John's house in Ballater. We stopped off in Stirling at Stirling Castle. We didn't go in because we felt the price of admission was a little rediculous, plus we had to pay for parking. Instead, we stood outside the castle, took a few pictures, and took a gander out at the view of Stirling.
From there we headed to the Wallace Monument. We huffed and puffed up a steep winding hill to get to the base of the tower, before ascending the tiny, twisting steps to get to the exhibitions on each level of the tower. We did get to the very top (which is open) though it was very windy and beginning to rain. I distinctly remember feeling like an icicle up there because Scotland is pretty cold, windy, and rainy in the winter.
Our next stop was the Caithness Glass Factory. You would think we stopped there to watch them make hand blown glass, but actually we stopped there for the cafeteria to grab some food. It was a nice little stop, and we chatted for a bit before continuing on the long stretch north.
We had to stop off at Tesco's (grocery store) to get food for the stay in Ballater. We packed up on the booze and junk food (with the exception of some orange juice and my yogurt).
After a bit of glen driving (around tiny, twisty turny roads, some of which had snow and ice) we made it to John's house. Scott was sitting outside in his car waiting for us as he had been coming down from Loch Ness that day. The house was freezing and we spent about an hour getting a good fire going. My lovely boyfriend, seeing his girlfriend huddled up next to a very pathetic fire, went out to get more wood and coal to make a roaring fire so I could melt. The rest of the night was spent eating Chinese food from down the street and the boys beginning a very long game of Risk.
New Year's Eve -aka- Hogmanay
We lazed around most of the morning watching episodes of the X-Files (all 4 of us are dorky and we realize it). Before long we realized we had to get ready for New Year's Eve. The basic plan was to have a traditional Scottish dinner in fancy dress before listening to an Engeo performance (John and Jaime's band). While John and Jaime headed upstairs to practice, Scott and I headed to the kitchen to cook. We cooked a haggis, mashed potatoes, and mashed turnips (I know it sounds awful but actually it was very good).
We all got changed, with the exception of Scott who claims that he was never told to bring a suit. I was in a fancy black dress and felt like I was hosting a party at my house. The dinner was very good, with all of us seated at the dinner table surrounded by a lovely presentation of food and drink. We had stick toffee pudding (which is amazing), Turkish Delight (which is NOT so amazing) and some bread dessert John's mom gave us (not worth eating). But it was a lovely meal.
The Engeo performance was nice. I've heard John play before and he's written songs about me, but I have never seen him actually play with Jaime before. I felt all giddy when he played the songs he wrote about me. I taped one of the songs, "There's a First Time for Everything."
When it got closer to the end of 2006, we put on the New Year's Eve special live from Edinburgh. I was somewhat intoxicated, not overly so though. I drank a bit too much rum in a short time, so I was giggling a bit. Scott on the other hand was completely gone. At one point he attempted to entertain me by juggling chocolates. It was a nice night though. It was the first time I had a boyfriend to kiss at the turn of the year. I also made sure to call my parents to wish them a happy early new year.
So far the trip was going swimmingly, and I couldn't wait to see what the rest of my trip held.