Thank goodness I was (sort of) keeping up on the blogging as I went - I would be overwhelmed to paralysis at the idea of having to recapture the entire trip at this point. It felt like a lifetime (in a good way!). I can't even believe Belgium and Lithuania were the same trip, they feel like ages ago. At one point I was starting to crash, just from exhaustion and the constant traveling and the living out of a suitcase. But then I caught my second wind and it was just sorta like... well, this is my life now. I live here. That made it sad to come home! But, we had a great time vacationing with Shannon and Luke in northern England and around Scotland.
First things first - got into Manchester and then got on that train heading up to Carlisle! When I used the restroom on the train, walking back I ran into one of the armrests so hard, I still have a bruise on my leg that is now in the green phase...
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| Me and Shannon out front of their estate |
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| We got to see all the puppers running around in the yard and when we yelled down at them, they came running over and barking up at us! Such cuties |
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| The view from Shannon & Luke's suite. It's hard to tell but there are sheep grazing in the field and the Solway Firth out beyond there |
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| So AJ and I had leftovers from our first dinner in Carlisle. AJ wanted to keep this rib and we brought it around with us but he never wanted to eat it. In the end we ended up throwing it away, but not before constantly asking everyone who wanted to eat that friggin rib LOL |
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| Heading into Scotland! |
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| Me and AJ sharing the spacious backseat |
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| Snowy road to Edinburgh |
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| AJ found us a pretty sweet Airbnb in the center of Old Town |
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| Caught a few snowstorms while we were there |
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| We did a lot of grocery shopping to cook in the Airbnb... did you know Squirty Cream is a thing?? Ewww |
We did a nighttime Ghost Tour of the city which was pretty cool, especially because we got to go into the underground vaults of the city that were only recently discovered and excavated in the 1900s.
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| An old sedan people would travel in, talk about style |
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| Pretty dodgy name if you ask me! |
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| Going in AJ - coming out Shannon |
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| Love that unicorn on top! |
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| Where Harry Potter all started... |
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| I also had to take a picture of the anteater since it's my school's mascot |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| Apparently there's something special about this bridge... |
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| Shannon taught me the art of being in a pano picture twice! |
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| Lunch at a St Andrews pub |
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| The road to Glasgow |
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| Was that supposed to be a giant golf ball? Literally no clue |
So, Glasgow was so-so. It's a bit more industrial and laid out more grid-like, but the real tragedy was the rain. It was basically non-stop rain the entire time which made it impossible to explore much or really enjoy the city. So on the first night, we walked to a local shopping plaza where AJ wanted to check out the casino. They had pool so we figured we'd stay for a drink and a game. But we got carried away, and then we all signed up for memberships for our free drinks and pretty much loved the place.
The next day was AJ's birthday and we tried to brave the inner city. We walked around, went to a mall, and got a pretty good Japanese lunch.
One thing worth mentioning is, while I was in Brussels watching the Brexit, they mentioned that beginning January 31 there would be a special Brexit-edition 50p coin minted and put into circulation, and I decided that I had to have it. So, I was on the lookout for it. Luke told us the best place would be to try the post office, so we finally found one to stop into. While waiting in line I took this picture of the date since it was AJ's birf.
I was really nervous and embarrassed to ask for the Brexit coin, especially because Scotland pretty overwhelmingly did not vote for Brexit, so they might find it insulting, but no one else would do it for me. Oh well, the lady I spoke to was nice, but she confirmed that they didn't have any here. Shannon took a picture of me on my walk back, thinking I'd be a happy holder of a 50p coin, but nope womp womp
Funny story, I was talking about that Brexit coin for so long, so that Saturday when I said that we needed to stop by a post office, AJ says "I already got you two of them!" I was like what the F are you talking about? Long story short, AJ dreamt it, and he dreamt it so clearly, he was CONVINCED that I had already gotten my hands on not one, but TWO Brexit coins because of him. It actually took all three of us; me, Shannon and Luke to convince him it was a dream and I definitely didn't have any and if I did I wouldn't still be asking about it or wanting to visit the post office!
And in the end, we went back to the casino for the night cause we all just loved it too much.
That was also our Scottish night, so we bought some braised beef to make, had whiskey and gin (not like we hadn't been drinking that the whole week anyway) and then had shortbread for dessert... all while watching Braveheart. Good God that movie is long.
AJ and I set off for home early the next day. It was sad - we didn't want to leave. We had a really good time all throughout Europe, and then with Shannon and Luke in Scotland. Here's hoping the next visit comes soon, since we actually have no idea when it will be!
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| Waiting for the flight from Glasgow to London |
I'm officially home when I'm in my pajamas and cuddling with my fur babies! Anana and Khaleesi couldn't even believe it was us, it had been so long. That made me sad a little. Yesterday we had off for President's Day, which technically was my recovery day, I could have been off today too but I decided to come back in (against my better judgment) and it's been a long road back to normalcy.
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