Friday, December 16, 2011

{pt. 2}

Clocks (Extended Instrumental) by Coldplay on Grooveshark

so like i said, we arrived in edinburgh, scotland at 10:15 am, wednesday, november 30. the ten minutes it took to get from my plane seat to the terminal felt like a century and a half. the fifteen minutes it took to get through customs and claim our bags felt like a million jillion years. but as soon as we stepped into the waiting area and realized we were done with the last of the line-ups and questions and bag checks and squishy flights, the years and centuries of waiting were reversed and i was 24 again, happily. and there was barclay's uncle, brian, and barclay's cousin, annabelle.

there were hugs and introductions and all that, and then we jumped into their car and headed off.

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i felt like i'd stepped through a magical wardrobe into some alternate universe that i'd heard of but never visited before. it was exactly what i thought it would be like--the sheep dotting the rolling green hills, the water coming up onto rocky beaches, the CARS DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD.

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i know i'm a rookie at life for never having experienced this, but for real. so trippy.
we took turns sitting in the front seat, though i couldn't stay quite in the seat because i wanted to look at everything all at once.

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brian took us back home to meet his completely fantastic family, who live in the most adorable area and house. ruby, anne, & matthew fed us pancakes and croissants and we did origami and i told them about my horrible sweaty airplane seat mate and they made jokes in their thick scottish accents and then we hiked up a volcano with them, even though we hadn't slept in hours and hours and it was still technically 5 in the morning our time.

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the volcano's name was arthur's seat, and it was absolutely massive. the sky was grouchy and the wind was obnoxious, but i barely noticed. half sleep-deprivation, half awe, i'm sure. barclay had visited arthur's seat the last time he'd come to scotland, and on that trip he'd told his mom, "someday, i'm going to bring my wife here. this is amazing."

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so there we were.

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and, like anything worth experiencing, you had to have been there to understand what i mean when i say: the view. THE VIEW.

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the tippy top of the volcano was so windy that i couldn't stand up straight. i held on tight, because being blown off a 900 foot hill would've been a nasty start to our trip, for sure.

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it was hard to leave our place on top of the world, but we eventually made our way back down to earth.

we went back to brian and anne's house for a meal and some drinks with barclay's grandparents before finding our hotel and negotiating with the receptionist for a room with a view.

and thus, day one ended with us completely crashing into bed at 10 pm, having said, "i can't believe we're here" close to 98 times.

12 comments:

Sydney said...

that seems soooo exciting. i'm doing study abroad through school next year and scotland is my top choice! i've always wanted to go there so badly. i'm glad you had a fantastic time! :)

The Magnificent Lou said...

I'm swooning over the rolling hills and rocky beaches. Love the way you tell a story & can't wait to read more!

erin e flynn said...

oh wow, so cool!!! i love the photos.

Suzy Krause said...

sydney: you should totally do scotland. it's so great. do you know where in scotland?

merritt: aw, thanks friend. :D i'm having fun writing it out.

erin: thanks much!

larisaa said...

so, so pretty! i completely agree about driving on the wrong side of the road. i was in a car with like 15 people and i'm pretty sure we all screamed like little girls when we passed the first car. scotland is on the top of my list of places to go. and you're pretty good at convincing me to go pack my bag and just go right this moment.

Suzy Krause said...

just do it larissa. you won't regret it in the least.

Jamie said...

How exciting! I HAVE to make it to the other side of the world one day! There is no other option. Everything looks so magical and perfect!

Sydney said...

the one i'm looking at is in stirling, scotland. which i think is not too far north west -ish from edinburgh. i have an appointment with my study abroad office in january to figure everything out and apply, but i'm so stoked about it!

Antee Gurung said...

hey wat a beautiful place!!! awesome!!
anyways i just came across ur blog...n i think its gr8!!! i would love to see more of ur upcoming posts in the future...So how abt we follow each other?? XOXO
More2mystylediary.blogspot.com

Justine said...

I really really like the blurry driving picture! It belongs on an album cover or something.

Jen Glen said...

Craig really liked your pictures. You should have heard him grunting his approval behind me. :)

Amy @ AGirlCalledBeloved said...

Your trip sounds amazing so far! I bet it is absolutely gorgeous there! can't wait to see more!