Highland Cattle, Loch Ness, and Tea on Easter Sunday

(A continuation from my last post)
    As we drove across the border into Scotland, I could just sense the excitement from the others in the car.  We'd spent one week in England and we'd finally made it up north, what we'd all been waiting for.  Don't get me wrong, England is lovely. But Scotland...now that's the kind of country I love to see. Besides that, Pat(Patterson) comes from a very strong Scottish background and he'd never imagined he'd have the chance to explore the area his family once lived.

  After stopping at the border to get our fill of pictures(with the signs and with the huge heard of cows right across the fence) we made our way to Edinburgh, where we'd planned to stay for a night or two. We'd arrived around 5 pm, just in time for social hour (we weren't sure what that entailed) but once they told us about the 24-hour bar available, we figured we'd sort something out.
  Mom and I went to the lounge for a bit to check in on our e-mails and such and as we were sitting there, we looked around at what was going on.  Mom leaned over and said, "Kari, I feel like I'm in a movie."  The room was full of rather posh over 60's, all smartly dressed, standing around talking about cricket.  A few men even had canes, while the women laughed in a dramatic sing-song amidst the posh Scottish/British accents. The wine glasses were shining, the fancy watches were gleaming, and there was Mom and I, sitting on a couch in the corner with our t-shirts, jeans, and Merrell walking shoes. We observed a few minutes longer(to which I found myself watching everything like it was a movie) then decided we'd retreat back to the comforts of our own room.
   As Dad and Pat decided they needed a break that night, I decided us girls needed a night out on the town.  I took Mom and Evelyn to catch the bus and head into the city to meet up with fellow Cobber and YAGM, Biz Sorenson, who is spending her year serving at a homeless shelter in Edinburgh.  Another friend from Concordia, Laura Mills, had been studying in Norway for the semester and was visiting Biz for a week so we had a mini- Cobber reunion.  We enjoyed (enormous!) desserts at an amazing Italian place two doors down from Biz's flat.  After overindulging our sweet tooth, and laughing hysterically as the Italian waiters smoothly flirted with us(mostly Evelyn), we decided it was time to head back as we had a big day planned ahead of us.

As seen on the Royal Mile

    The next day we headed for the Edinburgh Castle and spent a good few hours exploring there. I had seen it when I was in Edinburgh at New Year's but I still quite enjoyed it because I was with the others who hadn't seen it before.  I think they were most fascinated by the Scottish Crown Jewels- so BIG and SHINY!  We then started walking down the Royal Mile (the stretch of road between the Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland.  We turned off and headed for Princes Street, which is the main high street, mainly pubs and shopping.  After that, we, rather spontaneously, decided to head back, get the car, and drive to Dundee, a little town about an hour and a half north.  Dundee is where Pat's family came from and we figured, we'd come this far so we might as well go all the way.  When we got there, we walked around the town a bit then found a pancake house to have our lunch.  It was so cool to hear Pat tell stories about his family that had been passed down through the generations.  You could tell he was excited to finally make it there; he was all smiles that day.
  As we drove back to Edinburgh, we found our way to the St. Andrew's golf course.  St. Andrew's is home to the Open Championship(has been over 28 times, happens every 5 years) and thus attracts many players such as Tiger Woods and John Daly.  As Scotland is where the sport of golfing was invented, it seems rather fitting that they have the oldest course in the world.  Dad was excited, he kept saying "That's the actual place...I've always seen it on tv!"  To top off the wonderful day, we got to see one of the most spectacular bridges I've ever seen: the Forth Bridge, which is a railway bridge that stretches over the Firth of Forth. As we drove on the Forth Road Bridge, we looked across and through the fog and mist, we could see the shiny beams of steel that connects Edinburgh to Fife. I was blown away to read that over 200 trains pass over that bridge...in ONE day! We tried to get some pictures but we were moving too fast...guess we can find some on Google.
   The next day we set out on our coach tour to "Loch Ness, Glencoe, and the Highlands."  In the 12 hours we were gone, we saw SO many incredible sites, heard so many intriguing stories, and met some fascinating people.  As we traveled further north, passing the Stirling Castle, we started seeing more Highland cattle and even noticed that the road signs were showing the Galic(Scottish) names first, English second.  Our tour guide, though we decided by the end of the day he was actually exaggerating his Scottish accent, was rather knowledgeable.  He shared stories of William Wallace(who's story was turned into Robin Hood), Mary Queen of Scott, and cleared up a few inaccuracies of the Braveheart movie. I actually ended up taking some notes because he was sharing so many stories, I didn't want to forget them all!

Here's some of what I learned about Scotland:

• There are twice as many sheep than people.

• Over 30,000 Lochs(lakes)- gives Minnesota a run for its money, eh?

• Highland cows(the cute ones with really long hair, commonly ginger) used to be all black until the Norse brought the gingers over to cross breed.

• St. Andrew is patron saint of Scotland.

• Back in the days when Vikings would try to attack the sleeping Scottish, they would walk into thistles that were everywhere, thus alerting and waking the Scots. Thus the thistle became the national emblem(and is to this day).
• There is a fault line that separates the highlands and lowlands, containing 3 sea lochs and 1 ocean loch- this is where Scotland used to be connected to Canada.
• Fort William is the wettest places in all of the British Isles and holds the highest mountain. This is also the only place in Scotland you can order a BigMac in Galic.
• Ben Nevis,the highest mountain in the British Isles, has about 10 deaths a year due to poor visibility through the fog...and people walking right over the top of the mountain. 
• Scotland is the only land that Romans visited but did not conquer.
• There are over 300 whiskey distillers, of which 90% of their whiskey is exported(mainly to Europe and America).
• Golf was invented by the sailors-they would take a break from work and hit seashells into rabbit burrows. 
• Bagpipes were used to call men to war.
• The Battle of Culloden, which was the last pitched battle fought on British soil, was between the British Army and the Jacobites(the Scottish clans who were opposed to monarchy and were trying to regain the throne). Between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were wounded or killed while the government only lost 50 people and had about 200 injured. At that time, the government cracked down on the Jacobites and laws were put up against the Highlanders; they weren't allowed to play bagpipes, wear tartan(Scottish plaid), speak Galic or bear arms.  Many of the Highlanders were then shipped off to Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia...and replaced with sheep. 

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

  We continued up through the Highlands and reached our destination: Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. We had about an hour to explore the Castle which rests on the hill right beside Loch Ness and though is mostly ruins, is still beautiful to see today.  We then boarded a boat for a short ride across Loch Ness, keeping our eyes and ears open for possible Nessie sightings. It was such a beautiful ride, the fog made it even more magnificent (and somewhat eerie).  Our tour guide said in the 9 years he's been leading tours, he's had 5 sightings of Nessie from people on his tour, unfortunately, we weren't included in that figure.  So the mystery remains...
  As we returned from our long day, we decided to end our wonderful Scottish time (that wasn't quite long enough) with a feast at the Italian Restaurant we'd visited a few nights before.  Of course the flirtatious waiters were delighted to see us again, and we had yet another entertaining meal with them.  Biz and Laura joined us for dessert again and it was so fun getting to hang out with friends AND family!

Fellow Cobbers Laura and Biz!

   We set out the next morning with St. Albans as our destination but a planned stop off in Manchester to visit a distant relative of Mom's.  Vera is 87 and two years ago Mom and I had met her while visiting relatives in Arizona over Thanksgiving. She used to go to AZ once a year to visit but as her health has seemed to be failing, the trip two years ago she decided was her last one. I remember drinking English tea with her and being fascinated by the idea of adding milk into the tea.  I drank so much tea with her that Mom told me I was drinking up her whole supply and should be more courteous(which Vera, of course, assured me she wasn't bothered by).  Two years ago, I remember being completely enthralled by her stories of life in England; I'd never dreamed I'd get to have tea with Vera at her house.  So as we sat there sipping our cuppa, I told her how wonderful it was to be there.  That's a smile I will never forget.
   Her daughter made sure we had the right directions out of town, as our Sat Nav (gps) had been giving us problems, and we headed back to St. Albans.  Getting in rather late that night, we decided we'd sleep in a bit then explore more of St. Albans the next day. Saturday is market day so the town was bustling full of people but I wanted the others to experience such a thrill that I've become rather accustomed to.  Though the markets of India and Egypt are a bit more intense, English markets are still rather exciting.  I wasn't sure what Dad and Pat were going to do while I took Mom and Evelyn through the markets but things worked out great as they ended up making friends with a couple sitting in the coffee shop who were dairy farmers from New Zealand and had come to England to visit their son.  Thank goodness my Dad has the ability to start a conversation with anyone, he ended up being perfectly content for the afternoon as us girls explored the shops.

Easter Sunday at St. Peter's Church

   The next day, we decided to celebrate Easter Sunday at St. Peter's Church in London Colney instead of going straight back into London, like we'd previously planned.  I think we made the best choice as the family kept talking about how much they felt at home there, even after just one Sunday. They loved the fact that people recognized them from the week before and were so interested in hearing about life in the States and their trip so far.  After we finished our tea and chat, I informed Dad and Pat that I wasn't about to let them stay at the hotel all day and I'd decided they were going to come with us girls and take the train into London. Pat was excited because he'd never been on a train before and he never dreamed his first train ride would be in England. Yay for a trip full of "first-times"!

Crammed in the cab(Evelyn's hiding)

  I'd been telling Mom and Evelyn I'd take them to the Camden Markets, which were even better than the St. Albans market and even though I knew Dad wouldn't be too keen on the shopping, I decided Camden was just something they all needed to experience. The thing is, Camden is usually a stop on a normal tourists' route.  The people you see there are, well, something of the interesting sort. It's kind of hard to explain. The shops will be everything from goth/punk/neon garb to artsy/vintage/retro style to ethnic/worldly/earthy type.  It's quite an eclectic place, I've never seen anywhere quite like it.  I thought it was something my family should experience simply because I knew they wouldn't have a chance to see something like it anywhere else, especially in Montana.  I figured they'd either find it incredibly entertaining or they'd find it absolute rubbish and hate it all and then I'd feel bad for making them go. But it was a risk I was willing to take. 
    I'll admit, I made the harebrained assumption that because it was Easter Sunday, most people would be at home spending time with their families so the market wouldn't be too busy.  Well, I was wrong.  There were so many people there I even felt myself becoming a bit claustrophobic(which is saying something considering I've had the whole year to get used to huge crowds of people everywhere I go). I was so proud of Mom and Dad, they followed close behind as I ducked in and out of shops and took shortcuts to find the shops I thought they'd enjoy. I was determined to show them what I think is the coolest part of the whole place, the Underground Horse Stable Markets.  The market is built in the former Midland Railway stables and horse hospital which used to serve horses that pulled barges along the canal right next to it. As Pat has been a vet for several years, he was well intrigued by the place and Dad was happily interested in seeing so many antiques and vintage shops. I was relieved I didn't let their expectations down.
    I told them I really wanted them to see Westminster Cathedral before they left so we decided we'd catch the 5pm Easter Mass.  As we left the markets and got into the taxi and headed for the Cathedral, Dad said "Well, I can honestly say I'll never see any of those people ever again."  I laughed.

Westminster Cathedral

    We made it to Westminster Cathedral with about 20 minutes to spare so we walked around looking at the mosaics and little chapels and I showed them where we had our SPEC Commissioning Mass back in October.  As Mass started, I quickly realized that I must've read the schedule on the website wrong.  The 5 pm Mass was a sung Mass, which meant most of it was in Latin, and it was the one service that the choir wasn't singing.   So it wasn't quite what we'd expected but I was still glad they got to experience Mass in such a beautiful place.  The acoustics alone were something incredible; listening to the hymns (yes, mainly listening... only a few of them had somewhat recognizable tunes) was breathtaking.
  After Mass, we took the train back to St. Albans and I took them to dinner at the Colney Fox, one of my favorite establishments in London Colney/St. Albans.  It was the perfect way to end the trip: burgers, chips, beer, and dessert and all in the company of some of my favorite people in the world. When I told the bartender it was their last night in England, he said he felt honored we'd chosen to eat there and wished them safe travels back home.  Full, weary, and content, we went back to the hotel to start packing bags for an early morning departure for the airport. 
   It was such a weird feeling as I stood there, waving goodbye to my family.  I've always been the one that's left them behind, but this time they were leaving my place.  After a few rounds of good-bye hugs, several thank-you's for offering my chauffeur/banker/tour guide/informational services, and a few...okay, several tears, I assured them that the next three months were going to fly by and I'd be home before we knew it. Pat had given me some of his Scottish money he had left over and said it was a tip for all the trouble.  I assured him it was no trouble, it was an honor.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend Easter away from Montana then with my family, showing them around my home-away-from-home. 
  As I watched them make it through the queue for security, I realized just how quickly our two weeks together had gone.  Just then, an Indian guy, who looked about my age, said, "That your family?"  I said, "Yeah, I hadn't seen them since August and we just had two weeks together here."  He said, "Yeah, that's my Dad," as he pointed to a man in the line who had definite resemblance. "He was here visiting too. I didn't think it'd be so hard to say goodbye."  I said, "I know exactly what you mean." Then there was a slight pause, and then he quietly said, "Time goes by so fast. I guess the best we can do is be grateful for all the happy moments we have together."
   As we both stood there, watching our loved ones leave, the tears rolled down my cheek. I turned and looked at him to see tears in his eyes too, and all I could say was, "Amen."