My rambling blog didn't have room for these diddys, which I don't want you to miss on the Scotland side of the tour.
First and foremost: Jen insisted we stop by the birthplace of Harry Potter, which is a small cafe/coffee house on St. George IV Street in Edinburgh called 'the elephant house.' Apparently JK Rowlings sat at a table and typed the first Harry Potter there. WOW. I have read some Harry Potter and watched some of the movies, but I would never personally go out of my way to see where the thing was typed. I mean, yada yada, blah blah. When I think of Harry Potter I think of this British dude I briefly "saw" and a time we went to a bar. We were with my friend who was getting pretty drunk. By the end of the night every time the British dude would say anything at all, my drunk friend would respond in a British accent, "Harry Potter!" We would both laugh like crazy and say over and over, "Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" Poor British guy could hardly get a word in edgewise. He ended up drinking with some other people at the bar and needless to say, there was no love connection. To think of the horrors Harry Potter saved me from!
On the LONG plane ride to Scotland Jen and I had plenty of time to realize a few things. 1) the seats are too close together for anyone to actually be able to reach under and grab the life vest. 2) when the plane is going down I've heard you are supposed to put your thumb in your mouth so upon crashing the thumb can be bitten off and will be in your mouth when they find your badly bruised and probably charred body. We have decided that we need our thumbs. So, in the event the plane goes down, us single chicks are instead going to put our ring fingers in our mouths. Clearly if we live we don't need those particular fingers and we will still be able to grip the ever important wine or margarita glass. Win win. Who's with us!???
Lastly, my favorite photo from the trip thus far. Why? I took as I walked from the graveyard on the way back up to Stirling Castle. The tombstones behind me, pulling me back to the past, and the Castle ahead of me, pulling me toward the living. The leaves, the moss, the walkway it all makes me ponder that no matter where you are or what you do there's always a path you can take. You can chose to go back or forward. Sometimes, right around the bend is more beauty than you've ever seen. May all your choices make you happy and every walkway lead you where you belong.
First and foremost: Jen insisted we stop by the birthplace of Harry Potter, which is a small cafe/coffee house on St. George IV Street in Edinburgh called 'the elephant house.' Apparently JK Rowlings sat at a table and typed the first Harry Potter there. WOW. I have read some Harry Potter and watched some of the movies, but I would never personally go out of my way to see where the thing was typed. I mean, yada yada, blah blah. When I think of Harry Potter I think of this British dude I briefly "saw" and a time we went to a bar. We were with my friend who was getting pretty drunk. By the end of the night every time the British dude would say anything at all, my drunk friend would respond in a British accent, "Harry Potter!" We would both laugh like crazy and say over and over, "Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" Poor British guy could hardly get a word in edgewise. He ended up drinking with some other people at the bar and needless to say, there was no love connection. To think of the horrors Harry Potter saved me from!
Stirling Castle overlooks a magnificent graveyard that dates back to the 1600's. It is one of the best old graveyards I've been to and not a one tombstone was toppled. There were bullet holes on some of them, from when the Castle was under siege from the nearby Cathedral Tower and some unlucky man chose to hide behind some stones. Of note, one of the men buried in this graveyard is John MacFarlane, who is the uncle of Butch Cassidy of the famous American duo Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Totally cool factoid! We had to hop on over and see the grave. This new tombstone (new in 2000) was a shining star amongst the earlier, weathered stones from the 1800's. I actually posted the photo with the "orb" (aka my flash bounce) so Jen would think there was a ghost near the tombstone, since once she sees it she will totally think this little orb is her friend in the bolo hat from the paranormal tour.
I've suddenly realized graveyards are excellent photo ops and since there seem to be an abundance of them in Scotland (hmm and probably everywhere else) I've decided to seek out and photograph as many cool graveyards as possible. I mean, how could anyone pass up on these:
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| Stirling Castle Yard East Side |
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| Stirling Castle Yard West Side |
Here we have a perfect example of why some men are better than others. This is a dog cemetery, where the soldiers' dogs are buried at Edinburgh Castle. There is a special spot in heaven for dogs, and for those men who love them. If my dog doesn't like you, then I don't like you. That makes me the worst kind of old maid, but I wear that badge proudly since no one will ever love me like my dog. (Thank Gosh! I can only take one obsessive out of control relationship at a time!)
On the LONG plane ride to Scotland Jen and I had plenty of time to realize a few things. 1) the seats are too close together for anyone to actually be able to reach under and grab the life vest. 2) when the plane is going down I've heard you are supposed to put your thumb in your mouth so upon crashing the thumb can be bitten off and will be in your mouth when they find your badly bruised and probably charred body. We have decided that we need our thumbs. So, in the event the plane goes down, us single chicks are instead going to put our ring fingers in our mouths. Clearly if we live we don't need those particular fingers and we will still be able to grip the ever important wine or margarita glass. Win win. Who's with us!???
you wish crying would help. graveyards are beautiful. i think all rowlings genius was used by what she wrote. trips is good thus far. can't wait for Ireland, then you can be envious. my house already has someone else staying there so i am guessing that was a joke. :) Wait til you see all my photos!
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