98 something days later...

Christmas Card option 1

After counting down from 98 days, the time has finally come for the Marsh’s to invade Scotland! I never thought this day would ever come and it has. It was awesome actually seeing my family get off the bus and giving them all hugs. 

Dad and Sary with some Scottish hats on

Once I hugged them all, we headed to Jurys Inn (where they were staying) for them to drop off their bags and check in. They found out that they wouldn’t be able to get into their rooms until about 2 so I decided to bring them to Elephants and Bagels to have breakfast. From there I showed them my campus and then my room. I would say they were surprised by my room and impressed that I wasn’t more homesick. I think the pictures I have put up have made my room a little “homier”. When we sat down in my kitchen area it was obvious they were all jet-lagged. Sary was falling asleep on the stool and dad was pulling a mom (his head was bobbing). So we headed back to their hotel hoping their rooms would be ready and they were. Once they got to their rooms, Todd was asleep in about 5mins and Sary was soon after. Mom of course felt bad that she was leaving me so she decided to skip her nap and come with me to get Subway and some post cards. 

After everyone woke up and took showers we headed to the castle. The castle and view still impressive me and I have seen it probably five or so times. From there we headed to Princes Street and then to a pub on Rose Street for drinks and an appetizer. Then we went to a restaurant called The Filling Station, which is actually where I ate the first day I was in Edinburgh. After dinner Todd, Sary and I headed to Finnegan’s for drinks, while the old farts went to sleep.

Me, Sary and Todd on Calton Hill

The next day I showed them Calton Hill, where of course we took pictures. Then we went to Hoolyrood Palace, where for the first time I actually went inside. It was pretty cool, but I definitely would never want to live there. To old fashion for me…there weren’t any big screen TVs or couches to hangout on! Then I took them up Arthur’s Seat. Well, we of course took the long way around, so what should have been a 30min hike up took an hour. I think they were slightly surprised about how steep Arthur’s Seat really is. Mom said “people are going to ask me how my vacation went and I am going to say, as she is walking up the hill out of breath, ‘I had a heart attack and lost 25 pounds’!” I don’t think it was that bad, but then again after walking around Europe for 13 days I don’t think I could ever complain about walking again. After our hike, we met up with Nick and Alexa and we went out to dinner.

Mom and Dad overlooking the city

The van!

The next morning, Friday, we were off on our adventure around the highlands. It started off with dad and Nick going to the airport to get the van that we would be using. Once they got back, we took out one of the seats, loaded the car and started our journey. Nick was awesome and the best tour guide to have. He brought us through Glasgow, where he showed us Glasgow Uni, then headed to a Loch (don’t remember the name…Nick could you tell me), where we stopped and took pictures. Next we stopped at a Bed and Breakfast where we had lunch. The place was really cool and definitely Scottish. From there we continued our journey to Glencoe, where we would be spending the night. On our journey we stopped along the way to take some pictures of the views. Once we got to our hotel for the night, we went for a hike in the woods, and then came back for dinner and drinks. This is where we really got to know the locals. They were very impressed by the Marsh’s and kept insisting on buying us drinks. We met a guy named Danny and his brother Patrick and their friend Tattoo Tony and let’s just say they were as Scottish as you could get!

The first Loch

Christmas card option 2

Christmas Card option 3

Todd during our hike

The next day we woke up early and headed to Loch Ness where we went hiking. The hike was awesome! It only took an hour, but it followed the water and then opened up to this field. After our hike, we continued our trip to Inverness, which reminded me a lot of Amsterdam. That night we went a restaurant and then to another pub, where again we met some real locals, or characters as mom would say. On Sunday, we had a long drive ahead of us to St. Andrews. Lets just say I say more sheep than cars for awhile. During our drive we stopped at Castle Stuart, where the Scottish Open will be played, then went to a whiskey distillery called Glenlivet, which is the number 2 malt whiskey in the states. From there we headed to Balmoral to look around the estate. Or as mom and dad kept saying our new house! After our drive up hill, downhill, around a turn and through the woods we finally made it to St. Andrews.

Mom and Sary

Dad, Sary and SHEEP!

Inverness...which is the background on my computer!

Their future

I have already been to St. Andrews before, so it was nice going back and being in a place that I knew. Once we checked in at our Bed and Breakfast, we headed to the golf course to get a family picture on the bridge before the sunset. When we got there we met a couple from Georgia, who were going to be playing golf the next day and teeing off right after mom and dad. After talking and taking pictures we went and had dinner and then went to a pub where Todd finally got to play darts. Since they have gotten off the plane they all have been asking to play darts so it was nice to find a pub that had one!

On Monday, mom and dad had a tee time at 11:10 to play the Old Course at St. Andrews. So after taking pictures of them on the first hole, Todd, Sary, Nick and I headed to the chapel and to the castle. We spent about two hours probably at the castle, taking pictures and looking around. I never thought that was possible there, since there really is not a lot left of the castle standing. After walking around we found a pub to have lunch and then headed off to watch mom and dad on the 17^th green, walk with them over the bridge for the 18^th hole. They seemed to have fun and it was pretty cool being able to watch them play on a course where some of the best have played. 

Dad in the sand trap

Mom and Old Course

After golf, we got back on the road and headed back to Edinburgh to finish our trip. It was kind of a sad day knowing they would be leaving the next morning early because I didn’t want them to leave quite yet. When we got back I came back to my room and unpacked and then met them at Jurys Inn. From there we went out to dinner and then to Finnegan’s for one last drink with my family. They of course walked me home (mom didn’t like the idea of me walking home alone…um mom your about 90 days late!) where I hugged them all goodbye.

It was sad seeing them leave, but I kept telling myself that in 3 weekends I will be home. And then that got me to thinking where has the time gone? I remember telling myself and my family that in 97 days I would be seeing them and it has come and gone so quickly. That just means these next three weeks are going to go by even faster! 

So after a very fun, adventurous and exhausting spring break, I am back at school and should start to focus on school work. I am forcing myself to start studying tomorrow for my exam on Tuesday. Hopefully I can! Oh and I think we have enough options for Christmas cards to last 4 years!

A picture with Nick in it!!

Our new home...a.k.a Balmoral