My weekend starting on a Wednesday (March 25) when I took a flight to Glasgow to meet and stay with a friend! Unfortunately, because I was flying Ryanair, my flight was delayed by an hour.
Anyway, it was a very short flight, so my friend, GC (who I went to Sweden with) picked me up from the airport and we headed to a cute little restaurant/bar called The Butterfly and the Pig. Their menu was really cute, it told a bit of a story for each of the items on the menu. I ordered the Cottage Pie
Which was pretty much a beef, carrots and pea pie with mashed potatoes and cheese as the topping. I felt my arteries clogging as I ate. *Speaking of clogged arteries, apparently Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy in the UK because of all the fried/greasy food they eat combined with little walking* While GC ate a butterfly and pig burger with chips and cucumber slices. Overall, it was a really really good meal!
Afterwards, we drove (yes drove! GC drove us around and it was pretty crazy sitting in the passenger seat on the left side of the car.) We passed the Glasgow Cathedral, the traffic was really bad, so GC just dropped me on the side of the road and I ran over to take pictures.
Surprisingly, on the corner from the Cathedral was a wonderful blue police box. I think it was an actual police box that they used in the 60's that they haven't taken down. It was just a Tardis to me, so I figured that Glasgow was a wonderful place to find myself.
After hopping back into the car we drove to the University of Glasgow campus, which reminded GC of Hogwarts.
Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful campus, just not Hogwarts enough for your girl.
After visiting the campus, it was time to go to Institute! I was excited to go and see how different it was from London and Arizona! GC had a meeting to go to an hour before Institute started, but I was content to wait in the lobby and read. When Institute finally started I was mostly surrounded by Scottish adults, you can imagine my face while they all started talking.
I find myself liking the Scottish accent more and more, it just makes me fall in love with Scotland even more. Although at one point during our lesson of D&C, GC leaned over to me and asked me if I needed a translation. While it can be a bit hard to understand if you're not paying attention, I still love listening to it.
Afterwards, it was dessert time and then some of the youth played chair football in the gym. I had a great time! We then headed home to GC's house where I would be spending the night. We arrived about 11:30, where I met GC's dad, brother-in-law, 2 sisters and cousin. They were a lovely bunch of people and let me tell you. It was probably the most perfect house I've ever seen. I'm not sure what I loved about it so much, maybe it was the fact that it felt very welcoming, or that I could definitely feel the spirit the second I walked in, but I loved it. GC's sister, RC wanted GC to make cookies, so we (RC, GC, JC (cousin), and myself) went out to the store close to midnight to pick up items to make cookies. One of the items we picked up was the drink of Scotland because I'd never tried it before. Irn Bru.
An interesting fact about this carbonated orange drink is that Scotland is the only country where another type of soda outsells Coke! Honestly, it tasted like drinking bubble gum and cough syrup so I didn't like it at all!
Funny enough, GC was pretty tired out when we got back, so RC and I made cookies while the four of us chatted about all sorts of stuff. Once the cookies were baking in the oven, GC passed out on the couch and the remaining 3 of us just sat and talked. Around 2 o'clock we decided to hit the hay. The next morning we woke up bright and early around 8 o'clock or so and headed downstairs for breakfast, where GC's awesome dad had made breakfast sandwiches with square sausage, eggs and ham. It was really good! (Square sausage is this sausage in Scotland that is laid out flat and shaped into a square.
After getting dressed and ready to go, GC drove us up to Loch Lomond next to her house (pretty much a very large lake, they are called lochs in Scotland). It was such a pretty day, there was a sprinkle of rain and a gorgeous rainbow shining over the loch.
Afterwards we headed back into central Glasgow and GC dropped me off at the train station with 5 minutes to spare before my train left for Perth. The train was about an hour long journey, but the view was AMAZING. There was snow on the mountains in the distance and the rolling hills were gorgeous. I would love to drive through all of Scotland someday.
My aunt picked me up from the train station and it was SO GOOD to see her and the kiddos! We drove past the kids school and then headed to lunch, where we had some fish and chips and met up with my uncle. We then drove to the church that he's in charge at, it was a lovely older building with pretty windows. Afterwards we headed to a birthday party of the families and had dinner and dessert and headed home around 8. My aunt introduced me to this wonderful invention: THE HOT WATER BOTTLE. You add hot, boiling water to it before you go to bed and curl up with it throughout the night and it stays warm THE ENTIRE NIGHT! I placed mine by my feet so they would stay warm and toasty and they did!
The next morning (Friday) I was awoke by a knock and breakfast in bed from my sweet cousins. They brought me a plateful of eggs, toast and tea and the two youngest climbed into bed to jump around and talk. After breakfast, we headed to a hike a bit of a drive away, the roads were curvy, so my aunt let me sit upfront so I would't get sick. The hike was through a gorgeous bit of wood, with small streams and waterfalls spaced throughout and it was green everywhere!
Our end goal was the castle on top of the hill, called Castle Campbell. Unfortunately because it wasn't the weekend, it was closed, but we were able to get a lovely view from the outside. We parked on the grass area next to the entrance and had a picnic consisting of PB&J sandwiches, fruits and crisps (Doritos). The hike back was much quicker and we piled into the car, just as it started to rain. Our next stop in the journey was the Wallace Monument in Sterling. My aunt and I were the only ones who went up in the monument, because some of the kids were sleeping and it was a bit pricey to take all of us.
A bit of a background, Sir William Wallace was a landowner who later became one of the leaders during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Inside was three levels that contained armor, maps, military strategies and stories of William Wallace's life. At the very top of the tower was an observation deck where you could see all of Sterling.
Afterwards, we then headed to Sterling Castle and as we walk in, we hear this amazing singing. Continuing through to the entrance and discover a whole bunch of missionaries! I'm not sure what they were doing at Sterling Castle, but it was nice to see all of them. My aunt and I then took a free tour of the castle given by a very cute older Scottish gentleman who was very enthusiastic about the history of Sterling and Scotland.
See that goldish color on the right side of the picture? Well that's a restored building of the castle and apparently that's what the rest of the castle looked like when it was freshly built. We were also informed that this castle was the best in Scotland because of the viewpoint it gave to the residents. Facing one direction, you could see into the highlands and looking towards the other direction you could see Edinburgh, so strategically you could see your enemies coming for miles and miles and prepare for war.
Inside the castle there was a large dining hall and our guide explained to us that this is where the parties and feasts would happen. He also told us that every King and Queen to sit in the chairs have had a terrible downfall, I thought I would take that risk.
After the castle tour had ended it was about 4 and we were pretty hungry, so we went to Nando's and had some tasty chicken related meals. Then because it had just been released we went and saw Cinderella!
I was really excited to see it because the trailers had looked so fantastic! And let me tell you, it was! Although I don't like the fact that Disney is remaking all of their classics, because nothing could ever replace them, there was something about the fact that we can relate to the characters more. I absolutely loved it and almost started to cry in some parts! So, go see it if you haven't! Once the movie ended, it was time for bed. So we headed back to the house and promptly passed out!
The next morning we had a bit of a hard time deciding where we were going to go. My uncle had to be back in town at some point during the afternoon to do something with the youth in his church, so we couldn't go very far, but we finally decided on St. Andrews. But our first stop was a cute farm shop that sold homemade/grown goodies. I stayed with something simple, berry tea and a scone. Which was delicious!
When then drove to the cute little college town of St. Andrews! It's not really that big, but there were quite a few people in town and it's right on the coast! They had some awesome castle ruins that you could walk through for a small price, so we skipped over it, but you could see most of them from the road.
Not only did they have castle ruins, they also had this GINORMOUS cathedral ruins.
I wish I could describe accurately how large this cathedral was. This was only a small portion of what you could see, but there was 2 other wings of the building including a chapel and a crypt. It still amazes me how people built things in those days.
Our last stop in St. Andrews was this cute little coffee shop where Kate Middleton and Prince William supposedly met!
After St. Andrews, we drove out to a small farm shop that was about 15 minutes away. But this wasn't any old farm shop. This was the entrance to Scotland's biggest kept secret during WWII, the secret bunker. It's mostly kept off the map and you won't typically find it listed on things to visit when you go to Scotland, but it is a large part of history.
Pretty much what this bunker was, was a last resort during the Cold War. Thankfully they didn't have to use it, but it was created as a place of refuge from nuclear warfare for the political and war leaders from surrounding areas in Scotland. This bunker is in the middle of farmland and is 150 ft below ground. There are two different stories that each cover an entire football field. There are many different types of rooms throughout the bunker: toilets, intel rooms, kitchens, sleeping quarters, war planning rooms filled with maps and all sort of old technology which would be considered high tech in those days. It was amazing! At the end of the tour we had the chance to dress up in costumes from that time period.
Not only was this place very inconspicuous, but it was placed close to the beach where it was very VERY windy. I was worried that my cousins would be blown away at some point while we were walking about outside. Unfortunately, after the bunker tour it was time to head home because it was getting late.
Just an example of how windy it was.
Once we got back home, it was time to relax. My aunt made homemade pizza and we watched the third Harry Potter movie. (My cousins are very into HP right now and I'm so proud of them!)
After putting the kids to bed and changing in PJ's my aunt MF and I settled on the couch to watch some telly, but ended up talking for almost 2 hours. Then it was time for bed because I had to pack up the next morning to head back to London.
At about 10 I was dropped off at the Perth train station to take the long 6 hour train to London. Thankfully, I had some books to read on the way, so I wasn't completely bored! And I could start preparing for my trip to Italy!
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