Before I go on about how great it was, blahblah, let me just say thank god we drove up to Edinburgh and St. Andrews. I'm not sure I believe everything about this supposed volcanic ash floating all over England, but with the no fly zone in effect for the first time since 9/11, the roads were chaotic. I'm assuming things are 142 times worse in the airports. So again, lets all breathe a sigh of relief that I'm home instead of playing gin outside a Costa coffee surrounded by dirty crying children and crusty floors in the airport.
And now, Scotland was awesome. I know I say that about every single thing I write on here, but since I'm incapable of using any other adjectives besides awesome, cool, brillant, lovely and sweet, bear with me.
We started off going up to Alnwick, England for two nights before going to Edinburgh. The Castle in Alnwick (also the HARRY POTTER castle) is where Thom stayed during his study abroad through St. Cloud's exchange program, and they still have students coming and staying there. The Percy Family, which is worth about 300 million pounds (yes, I looked it up online) still lives in parts of the castle, but only in the winter. Attached to the grounds are elaborate gardens, filled with fountains and even a posion garden. They even grew a marijuana plant with a little sign next to it that read, 'please keep off the grass.'
From Alnwick we went right to Edinburgh and the lamb infested land of Scotland. We did all the touristy things, saw the castle, Hollyrood palace, Parliment, the Royal Mile, etc. There was even a tour we went on that took us underneath the streets to the underground vaults from back in the day. Apparently they're haunted from all of the murders that took place there, including the victims of the infamous body snatchers. Both nights were a bit chilly, so obviously we had to get pints of Guinness to make it through. Also, both nights we ate at this place called Kebab Mahal (yes, that's the real name) and it was some of the best Indian I've ever had. I don't know if it was becasue I was considerably buzzed both times I was there, actually it's probably the only reason, but man was it good. The last night I ordered Chicken Vindaloo, which apparently was the hottest item on their expansive menu. The server couldn't believe I ordered it, and even brought me out a pitcher of water before my plate came. Yes, it was freaking hot, but it was a delicious nice slow burn. Although my lips were a bit dry, so they had 3rd degree burns on them before the meal was through.
After Edinburgh we went to St. Andrews, home to the Old Golf Course and the British Open. Obviously, I suck at golf and couldn't care less about it, but there was a lot more to the town than it's golfing. The University Price William attended is there, and I now know why. Just by walking around the streets of St. Andrews for an hour, argyle no longer looked preppy, and the kids from Drake were made to look like the white trash of Menomonie. For these students, it was runway to streets. Plus, they had to wear velvet capes over their clothes, which didn't help their overly prep-ness.
In the 1990s, a man in Scotland bought a farmhouse outside of St. Andrews of the government website. When he went to look at the property he'd just bought, he discovered it wasn't a farmhouse, it was a massive 1950s-80s bunker for the leaders of G.B. should a Cold War fallout occur. So what did he do? Opened it to the public. So did we go? Oh hell yes we did. 'Scotland's Secret Bunker' was so weird, it was funny. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time we were in there. I can't really explain it, but since all of the original equiptment was in there (when the man bought the farmhouse it was still there) it made it all very surreal. There were movie theaters, a cafe, and even a chapel down in this massive basement They even had actual sound recordings playing over the loudspeakers.
So when we got out of the bunker and heard on the radio that the UK was a no-fly zone becasue of volcanic ash, I was a bit suspicious. I still don't really believe it. But, if it interfers with my plans to go to Florence on Wednesday, I'm going to punch someone.
Take that ash.
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