Bringing the Highlands Home

Bath

2009-10-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts about Bath was going to the fashion museum and trying on corsets and hoop skirts. They had clothing from the 17th century right up until today, but most of our time was spent in the dress up room. I'm sure we didn't have our corsets as tight as they are supposed to be, but even so I had trouble breathing in mine. It was difficult to sit down and bend over. I can't imagine wearing a corset everyday with all the other layers of heavy clothing the women wore back then.

Check out that skirt!

We also went on a tour of the Roman Baths. This place was huge and there are still areas of it that haven't been uncovered or were destroyed over the years. At the end of the tour you can sample the mineral water that everyone believes is so good for you. It was very warm and VERY mineral-y. Lacey and I had a sip but we dared Amy to drink a whole glass of it, which she did. I'm pretty sure she almost threw up.

Just so you know, the Romans didn't bathe in water that colour. It turned green from the rain and air mixing with the minerals... or something like that.

Bath is about 45 minutes from Stonehenge and even though it was getting dark and we knew it would be closed already, we decided to head there anyways. It was so cold that all we did was take a few pictures and get back in the car, but I'm glad I can say I've seen it.

Overall, the trip was amazing. In the end, it doesn't matter how much money you spend, what matters is that you have fun and make memories to last a lifetime. I think I can safely say for the three of us that we won't forget this trip anytime soon.

London

2009-10-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we took the Eurostar train (which is super fast and goes under the Channel) from Paris to London. After barely making the train, it only took us an hour and a half to get there. Like I said before, we didn't have a hotel booked before we got to London. We searched the web for hours but could never agree on a hotel or the price. We ended up going to a hotel booking place at the train station and got a beautiful four star hotel room for a great price (still more than I wanted to spend, but at that point I didn't care anymore). Even though it worked out fine I don't recommend doing this on your next vacation! Our hotel was a five minute walk from Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace so we headed there first.

Westminster Abbey

Parliament Buildings

Big Ben!

We then headed to Piccadilly Circus which is the Times Square of London. This area was my favourite part of London. It was so busy and had a ton cool shops and theaters. They even had a Cinnabon, which after more than a year of not smelling that delicious, cinnamony smell, I had to get some... twice!

A trip to London wouldn't be complete without seeing the changing of the guards. We got there early to make sure we got a prime spot. We watched the guards get ready near their barracks and then followed behind them on the road to the palace. It was cool to see the guards all dressed up, but it wasn't really that exciting. It was long, not a lot went on and it was so crowded that for a lot of it you couldn't even see anything. I'm still glad we went, though.

We also went to the Tower of London, where Anne Boleyn (among others) was imprisoned and executed. One of the coolest things about the towers was seeing the carvings on the walls done by the prisoners. They were so beautiful but so sad at the same time.

We rented a car and drove to the nearby city of Bath and visited Stonehenge, but I'll leave those for a separate post.

Paris

2009-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

sorry this took so long...

We spent the next three days in the beautiful city of Paris. The first day we did a lot of walking and saw the Louvre, Arc de Triomph and Notre Dame Cathedral. Out of those three my favourite would have to be the Louvre. We didn't go inside since its humongous and would take hours to go through, and the fact that none of us are really into museums or art. The only thing in there that I know of is the Mona Lisa, which I've heard is disappointing to see in person anyways because its really small. So we just enjoyed taking pictures of the outside and had a little break by one of the many fountains surrounding the building.

Arc de Triomphe

The Louvre

Notre Dame Cathedral

Our second day was spent at Disneyland Paris. Our family didn't go to Disneyland when we were younger so we were all pretty excited to unleash our inner child. The excitement wore off after we realized there weren't many adult rides. I think in total we went on five rides all day and only one of those was a roller coaster. We stood in line for a while to get Cinderella and Prince Charming autographs for Lacey's girls. We also got a recording of them saying hi to all of my nieces, which was worth the wait! I'm glad we went to Disneyland but I would never go back unless I had kids with me.

Saturday was our last day in Paris and we started the day by going to see Moulin Rouge. It is in the beautiful Montmarte area of Paris, which is built on a hill. Once you get to the top you have a gorgeous view of the city. The streets in this area are very cute and Parisian looking. They are lined with cafes, bakeries and souvenir shops. We used our last day as our shopping day (we can't go to a city without shopping!) and spent a few hours at various clothing stores. We also got some nice souvenirs at booths set up along the River Seine.

Our last stop before dinner was the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up the tower but spent an hour or so walking around the base of it and trying to get a picture of the three of us with as much of the tower as possible. Not very easy! I basically had to lay on the ground to get the first shot, but it was worth it. We had dinner at a nearby pizzeria then walked back to the tower to see it at night with the lights on. After eating the most delicious Nutella and banana crepe ever, we got back on the underground to go to our flat. We were leaving early the next morning so had to pack that night, as well as try and find a hotel for our four nights in London (yes, the night before we were to leave we still didn't have a hotel, but more about that later).

Paris is gorgeous. I would have enjoyed it more if I could speak more than five words of French (it's very stressful not knowing the language) but it's definitely a city I want to spend more time in.

A Little Busy...

2009-09-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted about the rest of our trip. I promise I will but I've been a little sidetracked with packing and trying to make the most of the last couple of weeks. Hopefully in the next few days I can find some time to write about it.

Just so you know, today is our last day here. We leave early tomorrow morning. SCARY!!!!

Normandy

2009-09-07T04:58:00.001-07:00

The first three days of our trip were spent in Normandy, France. We flew into Paris, rented a car and drove to the coast. Our first stop was Mont St. Michel, a rocky tidal island with a small town (population: 50) and a monastary. As we were driving up to it Lacey informed us that it is the number one tourist attraction in France and by the amount of people there, I believe her. Everything about the island was beautiful and we spent several hours checking out the 1000 year old monastary as well as the gift shops. We had to have our car out of the parking lot by 9:30 because of the incoming tide. We wanted to stick around to see the tide come in but we ended up driving straight to our hotel (we were all pretty tired from getting no sleep the night before).
We spent the next day around the D-Day beaches of WWII. The first place we went to was a museum with information about all the countries involved in the battle of Normandy. There was also a war memorial there. We then went to Juno beach, which is the beach the Canadians landed on. There is a museum there that is specific to the Canadian battles and what life would have been like during that time. The museum was interesting, but Amy and I spent most of our time walking along the beach. We had a long drive to our next hotel so after a quick stop for pizza, we headed towards Paris.
The next day was all about Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the Palace of Versailles. The palace was HUGE, especially the gardens. Inside, we got to see several rooms, including the hall of mirrors and the king and queens beds. You weren't allowed to use flash inside so a lot of my pictures didn't turn out but I did get a few good ones. There were several other buildings on the property, including two smaller (although they were still pretty big) palaces. Marie Antoinette also had a country home, which was a 10 minute walk from the main palace, where she would go to get away from everything.
The first three days were a lot of fun but we were all excited to get to Paris.

Versailles gardens with the palace in the background

Versailles

view of the gardens from inside

hall of mirrors

Versailles

Juno Beach

WWII war memorial

Mont St. Michel street

Mont St. Michel

I'm Back.............

2009-09-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

After 11 long, exhausting, amazing, exciting days I am finally back in Edinburgh. The train ride from London took nine hours when its only supposed to take four (tree branch on the line or something like that), but I'm back and ready to sleep in tomorrow! I'll try and write several posts over the next few days to tell you all about our exciting adventures. We all had an amazing time, despite now being deep in debt. I won't say much about it now except that I think Paris might be my favourite city ever. Its just so... beautiful. I've got more than 500 pictures and tons of stories to share so get ready!!

vaca update

2009-08-19T04:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last shift at the bar/restaurant. I didn't feel too sad because I know I'll see everyone for a few more weeks at least. I know when I leave the building for the last time I'll have a hard time holding back the tears. But thats not what this post is about. I just realized that I haven't really posted about my two week vacation thats coming up. So here is a little preview of what we will be doing.

My oldest sister, Lacey, and her husband are leaving tonight and arriving tomorrow morning. They are renting a car and going straight to the highlands for a little romantic road-trip. They will be in Edinburgh either Friday night or Saturday morning. We'll have two days in the city to show them around. Lacey really wants to see where Amy and I work so we might fit in a quick game of bingo before heading over to Cameo for dinner and to do the pub quiz. *Side note* The pub quiz is so much fun! Every Sunday night there is a quiz with four rounds of 10 questions. There are usually 15-20 teams and the winner of each round gets some chocolate, with the overall prize being a £30 bar tab. If its not too busy the bar staff try and get a team in there too, which is why I always loved working Sunday nights.
Sunday night the plan is (for me anyways) to not go to sleep. Weird plan, right? But we have to catch a bus in the city at 3:15 Monday morning. That means we would have to get up at about 1:30 for all of us to start having showers and make sure our room is spic and span. *another side note* Amy and I have to have our room completely packed up and clean before we leave on Monday. We won't be back until September, so to save us having to pay rent for two more weeks we are going to technically be out of the room. Then its up to Neil whether or not he finds someone to take the room. We'll still be staying here for the two weeks after our trip, but we'll just be on the couch (or if no one is in the room yet I'm sure we'll sleep in our old beds).
So, since Lacey and Duane only have two days in the city, I figure they'll want to enjoy it and not go to bed at 7:30 in order to get a decent nights sleep. The bus ride to the airport (we have to go to Glasgow) will take about two hours and the flight to Paris is about an hour and a half. Not a lot of sleep but I'm hoping our excitment for being in France will make us forget about the lack of sleep.
Here is a quick summary of our trip:
Monday morning: fly to Paris, get rental car and drive to beaches of Normandy. We have Monday and Tuesday to do the beaches, Mont St. Michel and visit any cute French towns along the way.
Wednesday: Tour of the Palace of Versailles. Wednesday evening will be spent in Paris.
Thursday: Duane flies home in the morning. Us girls will spend the rest of the day touring Paris
Friday: Disneyland Paris!!!
Saturday: Last day in Paris
Sunday: We have an early train ride to London. We are taking the Eurostar train, which is the super fast train that goes through a tunnel under the English Channel. We'll have most of Sunday for London
Monday: London
Tuesday: day trip from London... maybe to Stonehenge and Bath.
Wednesday: Last day in London
Thursday: Lacey flies home, Amy and I fly to Edinburgh.

It's going to be an amazing, long, expensive trip! I've been so busy with work the past few weeks that I haven't really had time to think about the fact that in a few days I'm going to see so many amazing things... and my sister and BIL, who I haven't seen since February. I can't wait!

Not much time left now...

2009-08-12T05:19:00.001-07:00

One week of work left.

Two weeks of holidays.

Two weeks back in Edinburgh to say goodbye.

And on September 17th I am moving back to Canada.

Crazy!

tattoo number two

2009-07-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

A week ago today I got my second tattoo. Before Amy and I moved here we talked about getting a thistle tattoo as a lifelong souvenir of our year in Scotland. We looked online a lot trying to find a design that we liked but they were all too 'real' looking, and if you know what a thistle looks like you know they aren't really the most beautiful, girly weeds! I got my eyebrow pierced at a tattoo shop and while we were waiting we looked through some of the design books they had. We found a page with several different thistle designs, including the one I chose. It's pretty and girly and very... me. I love it!

The first two pictures were taken the day I got it done and the last was taken today.

Tales from Northern Ireland

2009-07-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Amy and I got back from Northern Ireland on Saturday and I'm just now finding the time to sit down and tell you all about it! Work has been busy and I've been trying to spend as much time with friends as possible these last few weeks we're here. We were over there for four days and packed a lot in so this post may be a little picture heavy. Here we go...

We flew in to Belfast on Wednesday and were met at the airport by our flatmate Neil and one of his friends. They took us to Carrickfergus Castle but we didn't have time to go inside. To be honest, it didn't really look all that thrilling anyways. We did have fun taking some pictures with a good looking knight though.

After the castle we went back to Belfast to take a guided tour of the city. We saw some pretty amazing buildings, the dockyard where Titanic was built (so cool!) and a lot of murals on both the Protestant and Catholic sides of the city. It was pretty crazy to hear about all the unrest that went on in the city.

After the tour we went out for dinner and then headed to Tobermore, the small town that Neil is from. The next day we started off at the rope bridge I wrote about before. Amy and I were excited to go across but everyone else we were with were a little scared. We all managed to walk... or in some cases more like run... across to get some amazing views of the Irish coast.

We then headed over to Bushmills whiskey distillery, which, at 400 years, is one of the oldest in the world. We went on a tour of the distillery but unfortunately they were shut down for repairs that day so we didn't actually get to see any whiskey being made. At the end of the tour we were offered a free dram to try. The guide said there was one that tasted like chocolate and caramel, so I decided to go for that one. Lets just say it did NOT taste anything like chocolate OR caramel and I barely got one sip down. Whiskey is not my friend.

We then headed to Giants Causeway. The best words to describe it are: amazing, beauitful, weird and crazy. It's just so weird that all of the rocks are about the same size and shape. There are two different versions of why the rocks are there. The first has to do with lava many millions of years ago and the second is about the giant Finn McCool. I'll let you decide which one you believe.

After a delicious dinner and some fun and games at an indoor theme park, we headed back to Tobermore. The next day we went on a tour of Londonderry. It is another city that was really affected by the troubles between the Catholics and Protestents. Londonderry was a really pretty walled city. We went on a walking tour of the walls and got some history of the troubles that went on there. After a few hours we headed to a place called Musseden Temple. I don't know much about this place but it sure was beautiful. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Amy and I had a ton of fun here snapping lots of pictures. It was definitely one of our favourite places on the trip. Overall we had a great time in Northern Ireland and packed a lot in to the four days we were there. Theres still lots of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that we want to see, though!

titleless

2009-06-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

I just sat here for about 10 minutes trying to think of a title but my mind just doesn't seem to be working. So, titleless it is.

It's been sooooooo long since the last time I posted but there just doesn't seem to be anything interesting to write about.

Yesterday Amy, myself and our flatmate Neil's mom took the train to Glasgow to do some shopping. There is a store over here called Primark that is so incredibly cheap it is unbelievable. We don't have one in Edinburgh so Amy and I have gone to Glasgow a few times to get some shopping in. I don't have a lot of money so had to restrain myself but I did manage
to find some cute summer shirts for a pound each. Yep, a pound. I also found a really cute purse (I'm addicted to purses). We also got some new tattoos while we were there.... of the Henna variety.
Here's a pic of mine:

I love it. It makes me want to get a real tattoo there. I can just see myself when I'm 80 with a wrinkly old neck and the short curly haircut that every old woman has and this tattoo showing. Not the prettiest picture. I think I'll stick to getting them in places that are somewhat easier to hide.

Amy loves hers too. They say they last 2-5 weeks but Amy just got out of the shower and it's already a little faded. Oh well.

In other news... We are heading over to Northern Ireland for a few days in July. The main things that we will be able to see are the Giants Causeway, Carrick rope bridge and Belfast City. Here are some pics.

Yikes!! The bridge doesn't look too long in the picture, but I'm sure once I'm standing there ready to walk on it I'll be thinking otherwise. Can't wait!

A Few of My Favourite Things

2009-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

There are a few stores here that I have grown to love. Every time I walk to the shopping area I have to go in them to look around. For the most part I have never bought anything from these stores because they are out of my price range, but I like to dream. Today I bought something for the first time at one of my favourites. The store is called Cath Kidston and its a vintage inspired home ware/accessories/clothing store. It's a small shop but they have a little bit of everything. They have several different vintage inspired patterns and each of the mugs, purses, or whatever you're wanting to buy is available in each of the patterns. Here are a few of my favourite patterns:

And my personal favourite... cowboys! You can get anything you want in this pattern.... purses, wellies, baby clothes, baby bags, a crib set (so cute!)

I bought a mug in this pattern today. I was going to post a picture of it but it's not available on the website.

Seriously, I could spend hundreds of pounds in this store.

Another one of my favourite stores is called Monsoon. It's a clothing store that sort of reminds me of RW & Co. Probably because I love everything in the store but can't afford anything. Here's a link to the website. They have some beautiful dresses.
Monsoon

My favourite store here that I ACTUALLY buy things at is called New Look. It's another clothing store, but wayyyyyy more affordable. A lot of the clothes are a little too 'hip' for me, but I always manage to find something I like.

These are a few of my favourite stores here that I will miss shopping at. I signed up to recieve a magazine from Cath Kidston, but I put down my Canadian address so when I'm home I'll still be able to get a little taste of the store.

Our Last Three Months

2009-06-02T05:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we only have three months to go. Incredible. I have such mixed feelings about going home. I can't wait to see my family and friends. I can't wait to hug my nieces and meet my sweet little nephew for the first time. I miss my parents house and my bedroom (even though I'll only be there for a few weeks before I move to Waterloo). I'm excited to get my own apartment and finally be able to buy things at IKEA that I've loved for years but couldn't buy because I didn't have my own place. I'm excited to share my stories and pictures with the people I love in person.

BUT...

I love my job here. I love the people I work with. I love the fact that the bar closed at 12 but a bunch of us stayed till 3 am just talking and laughing. I love the city and the Royal Mile. I love being able to walk through buildings and on streets with so much history. I love the fact that for 5 pounds I can fly to Paris if I wanted to (which I do). I love being surrounded by Scottish accents, even though I'm so used to it now that they don't even sound Scottish anymore. I love that I'm annoyed at all the tourists in the city, even though I was one of them nine months ago. This feels like MY city and I'm going to miss it.

Don't worry, this is not my way of telling you that I'm not coming home in September. I'm just saying that it will definitely be a bittersweet moment. I can't wait to go home, but I (and Amy) will miss this place.

With that being said, Amy and I are going to try and make the most of our last three months here (without spending a lot of money). Here's what we've got planned:

- Not much going on in June. We'll maybe try and go to a few highland games in the area.
-We might head over to Northern Ireland for a few days in July. We'd stay with our flatmates mom and get to see the Giants Causeway and Belfast city, among other things. The end of July is the Clan Gathering, which has the world highland games championships.
-The month of August is the Edinburgh Festival. There will be lots of street performers, shows and people. It's going to be busy! Right now the plan is to quit our jobs around August 17th or so. Our oldest sister Lacey is planning on coming for two weeks so we want to be able to travel with her without worrying about working. We're not sure exactly what we will be doing when she is here but some highlights will be: showing her the city, going to London, somehow getting to France and Paris (we may take a boat from Dover, England to France) and possibly heading to Spain or Germany. Our cousin AJ is also planning on coming over for a few weeks so Amy and I will have one week with just Lacey, one week where Lacey and AJ are here and then one week where Lacey is gone and its just AJ. We are planning on going to Croatia and Prague with AJ... that is if we save up enough money. We've always got our visas though! We'll head back to the city for a few days to show AJ around, before heading home somewhere around September 10th (which is the day we left Canada to come over here!).

Those last three weeks are going to be busy...and expensive! Hopefully we can save up enough to do most of what we want to see. But, like I said, we've always got our visas and I'm not opposed to maxing them out if it means we get to travel before we go home.

On a side note, the weather here has been INCREDIBLE the past week. It's been sunny and about 25 degrees. The past few summers here have been really rainy so hopefully this means we'll be getting a warm, dry summer! Just like home :)

Who has short hair? I have short hair!

2009-05-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

So, these aren't the best pictures but it's rather difficult trying to take a picture of the back of your head by yourself. It took me a while to get shots that I liked enough to put up here. Whenever I took one, I didn't like how my hair looked--but I like it in person. Weird, I know.
But, these will have to do for now.

When I got this haircut I sort of, kinda accomplished two points on my bucket list-- be a model and do something that scares me. Although, accomplished isn't really the right word. It's not like I'm forever finished with these two things and I'll never again do something that scares me, but I'm not concerned enough to think of a better word. Anyways, the 'do something that scares me' one is pretty obvious. Who isn't scared when they get a haircut? But this was especially nerve wracking because it was such a change from any haircut I've ever had before. I loved the way this kind of cut looked on other people (short hair is really popular right now) but I was afraid it would look bad on me. But, I've always wanted to go short and for some reason the fact that I'm away from my friends and family and my regular life makes me more apt to do something risky, like get my eyebrow pierced, so I went for it.
The 'be a model' one might not be so obvious. I wasn't really a model in the way that most people would think of when they hear that word, but thats what the sign said, so thats what I was. The salon that I went to had a sign out front that said' models required'. After walking past it many times I finally went in to see what they wanted. Basically, they just want people who are willing to get their hair cut by a student. It was much cheaper than a normal haircut would have been at that salon and I've had my sisters cut my hair before, so someone still in college is a pro in my opinion. The owner of the salon told the girl exactly what to do, showed her a few cuts and then came to check in on her every few minutes. Every time she would start a new section she would go get the teacher to make sure she was doing it right. In the end, the teacher touched things up and made sure everything was even. So on Tuesday I was a model for about three hours (yes thats how long it took... the teacher had his own clients to deal with so he wasn't always available to come check right away).

Now it's your turn to go for a crazy new haircut, Emily!

I did it

2009-05-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut on Tuesday. It's short. Very short.

Pictures to follow.

Did I just do a bad thing?

2009-05-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

I just turned down a full time job...on the Royal Mile...at the kind of store I've been wanting to work at since I moved here. Have I lost my mind? I don't think so.

I'm only getting part-time hours at the bar so on Monday I started handing out more CVs (resumes). Last night there was a message on our phone asking if I could come in for a trial shift at one of the tourist shops I applied to. Hurray! No more job searching! It has always taken weeks to get any kind of response from jobs so I was so thankful that I got one early. I called this morning and she asked me to come in at any time today.

The first thing the manager said was that the hours are long (9-9) and could I handle that? I said yes, thats fine, and her response was "oh, I don't know, are you sure (as she looked me up and down)." I was thinking 'who are you to tell me whether I can work a long shift or not', but I just sweetly told her that I've worked long shifts before and worked 14 days in a row several times. So then she asked me if I was going to quit my other job, in which case I said no.

Apparently for the first month you work there you don't get put on the schedule. You get asked to work on a day to day basis, so theres really no guarantee how many hours you'll get. So she told me she needs people with a lot of availability and if I was still working at the bar then she didn't know if I could work there. I told her that I would tell my boss that I could only work at the bar Friday evenings and that I would be available for her the rest of the week. Before I could even finish the sentence she told me she couldn't do that. She can't work around other peoples schedules. So after five or so minutes of us trying to understand each other she said "so, you are going to tell your boss you quit and then you can come here and work." To which I replied "Um, I don't think this is going to work out, sorry" and left.

I don't have any regrets right now, but I might if I'm still looking for a job in two weeks!

This clearly shows how much fun I'm having working at the bar/restaurant. Well, I enjoy the people I work with more than the actually work, but I definitely don't want to quit. Especially to go work for someone who considers me having three hours where I can't work for her a week as being 'unavailable.'

My Bucket List

2009-05-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've never seen the movie The Bucket List, but I like the idea of making a list of goals/dreams that I have for my life. I started writing the list as I was sitting in the park near Edinburgh Castle today. Visiting Scotland has always been a big dream of mine that, truthfully, I didn't think would happen--at least not for a long time. So who knows how many of these will actually come true. Some of these are serious, some are silly and some will (most likely!) never happen, but I'm hoping that having this list will help me accomplish the more important ones.
In no particular order, here's my list so far:

1. Swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
2 .Write a novel
3. Own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes
4. Be on the cover of a magazine
5. Play with my nieces and nephew more
6. See the Eiffel Tower
7. Find and marry the man of my dreams
8. Take a picture in front of the Hollywood sign
9. Ride a horse without being afraid
10. Learn to play the violin
11. Be a better Christian
12. Own a Kate Spade bag
13. Be a model
14. Have three kids
15. Kiss the Blarney Stone
16. Go to New York City
17. Find a career I love
18. Learn to play the piano
19. Start running, or at least doing some sort of regular exercise
20. Meet Brad Pitt :)
21. Get another tattoo
22. Design and build my dream home
23. Go to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville
24. Meet the Pioneer Woman
25. Help build a school somewhere in Africa
26. See the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
27. Go skydiving or bungee jumping
28. Be more patient
29. Do something that scares me
30. Be more outgoing
31. Go on the bungee swing ride at Canada's Wonderland
32. Be an adventurous baker
33. Help a stranger
34. Give more to charities
35. Try to only buy something if I really need it (I already know I'm going to fail at this one)
36. Sponsor a child
37. Be a stay at home mom
38. Get married within the next five years
39. See Scotland --check!
40. Go on a real vacation with my family
41. Be an extra in a movie
42. Stop letting my shyness stop me from doing things I want to do
43. Get my own apartment
44. Build something out of wood
45. Go to the Calgary Stampede
46. Be a volunteer
47. Read my bible more often
48. Eat healthier
49. Run a marathon
50. Love myself even if I don't accomplish any of these goals

What are you goals? I challenge you to write down at least 10 goals you have for yourself, whether they're future goals or something you want to accomplish by the end of this week.
I know that having a list will help us all to be accountable for what we are, or are not, accomplishing. I'm already trying to eat healthier--right after I eat the delicious looking chocolate brownie mousse sundae thing I bought today...

Pronunciations

2009-05-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of doing a post about this subject when I first started the blog, but here we are several months later and I still haven't done it. Most of you will probably have noticed that our 'name' on the blog is Sassenachs in Scotland. Sassenach is from the Outlander books (surprise, surprise) and is used as a term of endearment by Jaime, the main guy, to his wife Claire. This word originated in the late 1700s and is simply a Scottish word for an Englishman. The pronunciation is the difficult part. It is not sass-a-natch. You pronounce the 'ch' more like a 'k', but with a guttural Gaelic sound with it, which I don't do. The way I say it is sass-en-ack. Say it with me now, sass-en-ack. Now that we have that one out of the way, there are a few other names I have come across that are pronounced differently than what you would think.

First of all, you don't pronounce the 'g' in Edinburgh.With places like Pittsburgh, where you DO pronounce the 'g', its understandable why people get confused. A lot of people say Edinburroh, which is acceptable, but the way the Scots say it is Edinburrah. If they are talking quickly, it can sometimes sound like the take the 'u' out and say Edinbrrah. Are you confused yet?
When we first got here we came across a road leading up to the Royal Mile called Cockburn St. I'm sure you can guess what we thought the pronunciation for this was. It's actually co-burn, as in co-worker. Now that I've warned you, if you are ever in Scotland don't make the mistake of saying Cock-burn St. outloud!

There are lots of crazy place names in Scotland that have WAY different pronunciations than what you would expect. Here is a website with lots of Scottish towns and words and how you pronounce them. Look through the list if you have time, it's kinda fun to see how well you can pronounce them.

Being lazy...

2009-05-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

I've decided to be really lazy and not write out my own retelling of my recent trip around Scotland, England and Rome. I know that most of the people that read my blog also read my dear friend Lucy's blog so I'm just going to tell everyone to go read her four part recap. I haven't asked her if this is OK, but I know she won't mind. Plus, if there's someone who stumbles across my blog who doesn't read her blog but is interested in finding about the trip maybe she'll gain a new follower! Everyone wins in this situation :)

I will say, though, that I had a FANTASTIC time while Lindsay and Laura were here. I got to see parts of Scotland that I hadn't seen yet, but more importantly, I got to see ROME! And more importantly than Rome, I got to spend 12 wonderful days with two amazing girls. We made memories that I know we will be talking about when we're 80 and sitting side by side in our rocking chairs.

Lin and Laura left early Sunday morning and Amy and I had another Canadian visitor by Sunday night. Amanda B., who we went to high school with and is the sister of one of our aunts, is traveling around Scotland and Ireland for a month with her grandma. She came down from Aviemore to Edinburgh for two days. We walked the Royal Mile, ate some fish and chips and took a tour of the underground vaults of Edinburgh. They have many ghost tours of the vaults but we all happily decided to take the more historical tour. It was very interesting and you should definitely look up the history of the south bridge vaults in Edinburgh. Even though it wasn't a ghost tour it was still a little scary. As the tour guide said, the ghosts don't respect the fact that its a historical tour and not a ghost one. We walked through several stone rooms, including a few that were said to be the most haunted. Amy thinks she saw something in the flash of someones camera. I really hope she didn't though because if she did the ghost would have been standing right beside me. I didn't feel any unusual cool drafts around me, so I think Amy was just seeing things. I did come out of the vaults wishing I had seen something though. What an interesting experience that would be. Maybe I'll have to find the courage to do a ghost tour before I go home.

Speaking of going home...there is only 3 1/2 months before the potential leaving date. We don't have a date set in stone but have always figured we'd be ready to go home at the beginning of September. M,y how time flies by. The summer is going to go by quickly as well (it always does) because of the many festivals that will be going on around the city. This year is the year of the clan and Scotland is celebrating by having the biggest clan gathering in the world. There will be highland games (can't wait!), calling of the clans, as well as a parade of all the members of clans that have come for the occasion. The city is going to be packed! I found out a few weeks ago that Diana Gabaldon, the author of the Outlander series and the reason why I am living here is going to be at the clan gathering. I've already met her and had my pic taken with her but will gladly get another book signed. Plus, theres the huge festival in August and the Edinburgh Tattoo. There'll be lots to see and do over the summer in Edinburgh. It will be a great way to end our year in Scotland.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

2009-04-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about getting my hair cut. I feel like doing something new and crazy...and drastic. Now unless I want to get hair extensions--which I don't--that means going short. Short crops are really popular in Scotland right now and I keep seeing all these cute cuts. I've tried to find pictures but none of them seem just perfect. Heres what I'm thinking of:

a little too messy for my taste, but I like the cut

Now here I am with my current haircut. You can't really see the style very well but you can see the length as well as my facial features to help you determine whether or not a short cut would look good on me. Please be honest!

I'm So Happy, So Very Happy

2009-04-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

I talked to my parents today and got some good news. First, a little background info...
When Amy and I go home in September we plan on spending a few weeks at home and then moving to Waterloo (an hour and a bit from our parents) to find an apartment and jobs. Our sister and her family have graciously agreed to let us live with them for a month or two while we figure things out. The thing is, we have no furniture. No bed, no couch, no bookshelves. We also won't have a lot of money to furnish our apartment with. Our parents got a new table a few months ago and kept the old one for us, but a table and a few chairs does not a furnished apartment make!
When we talked to our parents today they said they moved our furniture into our sisters basement. At first I thought they had moved my hope chest and maybe my bed but my dad started talking about a couch and coffee table and some cute lamps. What!? Who's couch? Whose coffee table? Whose cute lamps? Well, apparently we've received some nice hand-me-downs from one of our aunt and uncles (and her parents) who just built a new house and all moved in together. This made me so happy! Theres still lots that we will need, but its a good start and I'm just glad we won't be sitting on boxes when we move in.

Is it bad that I am living in Scotland and the idea of moving home and decorating my first apartment sounds more exciting to me right now?????

Top 5 Vacation Destinations

2009-04-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

My cousin Emily just blogged about the top five places she wants to go on vacation and it inspired me to make my own list.
Before I moved to Scotland I had never been out of North America. My family vacations consisted of long drives to visit relatives. I'm not complaining about that (these vacations did include several trips to Phoenix, St. Louis and Colorado) but they didn't really give me the chance to see the world. Part of the allure of moving to Scotland--instead of somewhere in Canada, like we first considered--was the idea that we would get the chance to travel around Europe quite a lot. Unfortunately, life got in the way and we haven't been able to do as much traveling as we hoped (we've still got 4 1/2 months left, though!). So without further ado, here's my list:

1. Australia/New Zealand - I know they are two different countries, but I also know that once I pay the nearly $2000 to get over there, I won't be leaving until I visit both of them. For that reason I think its OK to consider them as one on the list.

2. Iceland - I've been interested in Iceland for a long time. I'm a little ashamed to say, but I think the first time I really thought about Iceland was after Oprah did a show on women around the world and Iceland was featured in it. There are mountains galore in Iceland and I LOVE mountains. Theres also the Blue Lagoon. Enough said.

3. Greece- Ever since watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants I've wanted to go to Greece. I want to see the white houses on cliffs, people riding on scooters through the winding streets and the eat real Greek food. Oh, the food!

4. France- Who doesn't want to see the Eiffel Tower? But besides Paris, there are lots of other places in France that I would love to see like Nice, Cannes (the film festival is in May and I SOOO want to go!) Monte Carlo, Versailles...

5. Italy- Rome, Pisa, Venice, Cinque Terre, the beauty of Tuscany--I want to see it all. I've already been to Pisa and Florence and had a fantastic time. The gelato alone is worth the trip!

That was surprisingly more difficult than I expected it to be. I basically want to see the world, so it was hard to narrow it down to five countries.

What five countries do you want to visit?

10 reasons why this flat is NOT my home

2009-04-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

My BFF over at Lucy's Life is having a House a Home giveaway. The idea is to come up with 10 things in your house that make it your home. I don't have a house so I told her I wouldn't be participating in her giveaway. However, I said that I could probably come up with 10 things that show that this flat is not my home and she said that would be alright. Here's hoping I win!

1. Who doesn't have a favourite TV show? I have quite a few. This year I've had to watch my shows online because they are a season behind on most shows in Scotland. There are a few shows on tele here that are fun to watch but the one shown below is not. Hollyoaks is sort of like a soapopera mixed with 90210, with even worse acting. I miss shows like Jon and Kate Plus 8, Survivor, Oprah, The View, Ellen...the list goes on.

2. I miss my bed. This twin bed is comfortable enough, but its small. I miss being able to stretch out while I sleep. You can't tell in this picture, but my bed is about 30 cm away from Amy's bed. I miss my own room.

3. This is Joey. He's cute, but he's smelly. He is especially smelly when his owner forgets to clean out his cage for three weeks. I don't mind Joey being in the flat but I can guarentee you that I will not have a rabbit in my first home.

4. This is the wall above the couch in the living room. The eye sore on the left is an ugly metal TV stand that was put up to hold a projector so that Neil can watch tele and movies using the wall opposite as a big screen. As you can see, the projector isn't even up and when it was I think we used it once. He had a little trouble getting the stand in the right place and put a few extra holes in the wall. I like the idea of having a home theatre, but I would have bought a nice shelf to put the projector on, maybe along with some books or candles or something. The real reason I am showing you this picture is because of the big blank space beside the ugly eye sore. If this were my flat I would add some pictures to this wall, and perhaps some paint.

5. Theres nothing wrong with the washing machine, except for the fact that its in the kitchen. Well, really, theres nothing wrong with it being in the kitchen, its just weird. You know you're in Europe when your washer is in the kitchen.

6. This is the inside of our tiny freezer. As you can see, its pretty full. Most of the stuff isn't ours, and a lot of it has been in there since before we moved in in September. I can't really say to anyone "Yo, clean your stuff out of the freezer if you're not going to use it" because thats not my place. It just gets annoying when we are grocery shopping and have to limit our frozen stuff because theres not enough room. Theres always room for some Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey, though!

7. This is our tiny fridge. It's basically a bar fridge...for four people. We share milk and butter but thats it so this sucker gets pretty full. We have to limit our fridge food too when we are grocery shopping. We basically live on bread, pasta and potatoes because they don't have to be refridgerated. Although, if you saw the tiny cupboard we have to keep our food in...oh, never mind.
8. This is a picture of an open window. ALL the windows in the flat are ALWAYS open, even in the winter and the heat is never on. This makes for one cccccoolddd flat. I get cold really easily as it is, but when its 2 degrees outside and the windows are wide open, I freeze. I like the idea of letting some cool, crisp, fresh air in, but opening the window for an hour is good for me, not all day. I go around closing the windows all the time, but they always end up back open!

9. When I first decided to take a picture of these lovely dead, dried roses it was to say that they need to be thrown out but because they aren't mine I can't really do anything about it. But then I thought about the fact that my mom loves fresh flowers and often has a beautiful bouquet on her table. These dead flowers remind me that this is not mine, or my parents' home.

10. These are the DVDs in the flat. I could probably find five or six that I would enjoy watching, but most of them don't interest me. This is not my home because theres no Sweet Home Alabama, The Notebook, Tristan and Isolde, The Holiday or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang among the collection.

I just want to say that even though I've just complained about 10 things in the flat that bug me, I really do love living here. None of those things are major and I feel that God blessed Amy and I with a great flat and flatmates.

Cheers!

A Sneak Peak

2009-04-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Think about bagpipes while reading this...

In exactly 332 hours 15 minutes and 49 seconds (well maybe not exactly) two of my good friends will be landing at Glasgow International Airport for a 12 day Scottish adventure. I've already decided that I will do several blogs about the trip instead of one humongous blog that probably no one finishes reading, like I usually do. I'll try and write in my travel diary every night so that I will remember all the events of the day. It's been difficult trying to plan out the trip when we're an ocean apart, but I think we've managed to do a good job. We've started booking some hostels so I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peek of the first several days of the trip.

Day one will consist of:

~Airport pick-up around 10 am
~stop at Glencoe for the best Highland scenery~fish and chips in Fort Augustus (home of Nessie)
~tour of Eileen Donan Castle (used in Made of Honor film!)

~drive on to Isle of Skye and stop in Portree, the islands capital (also in Made of Honor)
~drive on to our hostel with great views of the coast of the island

Day 2

~drive around Isle of Skye stopping at whatever looks interesting
~end up back in Fort Augustus for the night (perhaps another fish and chips dinner!)

Day 3

~drive across Scotland to Stonehaven to tour Dunnottar Castle

~drive along the east coast of Scotland stopping at any fishing villages that look cute
~depending on the time, we may stop at St. Andrews, the home of golf, and a great little town (Prince William went to uni there!)
~end up back in Edinburgh

The next few days will be spent in Edinburgh walking the Royal Mile, touring Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when in the city) and probably some shopping, among other things.
We are going to visit Northumberland in Northern England, but we haven't finalized our plans for that part of the trip yet. It will include a trip to Alnwick Castle, used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. It's also the second largest inhabited castle, the first being Windsor Castle. Can you imagine living there???

Well, thats it so far. I'll give you updates as soon as we finalize plans for the second part of our trip. It will probably consist of some day trips from Edinburgh to the borders, St. Andrews if we didn't get to see it at the end of our road trip and other small villages along the east coast below Edinburgh.

I can't wait!

Goosebumps

2009-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite female singers is Carrie Underwood. I have been a fan of hers since she auditioned on American Idol. In my opinion, she's one of the few singers that sound amazing both live and recorded. A while ago I found this Youtube video of her singing the amazing "How Great Thou Art."

It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it.

Enjoy :)

Cake Disaster

2009-04-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I came across a website called uglydress.com. Naturally I clicked on the link hoping to have a laugh at some hideous prom and wedding dresses. There was a story on the website about a wedding cake that is just too good for words. My friend reminded me of it today so I thought I would share it with you.

First of all, here is the picture the bride sent to her baker:

So, it's not the cake I'll choose for my wedding, but its not horrible. Maybe it's for a Scottish wedding.

Now here is the cake the baker delivered on the wedding day:

Are you kidding me? There must be something seriously wrong with the baker. If I were the baker I would rather not bring anything to the wedding than show up with this hideous cake that looks like it was decorated by my four nieces. If I were the bride, I would rather not have a cake than have this ugly excuse for one. When I first saw this picture I think I stared at it for ten minutes in disbelief. I wish I knew what was going on in the bakers mind. The bride ended up suing the baker and I'm thinking she probably got her money back.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did the first time I saw it.

Haydn Magnar Knutson

2009-03-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 8:34 am my first nephew was born! I got a call from my mom at 11 am (7am at home) saying that Sarah was on her way to the hospital. We talked on the phone for an hour and then an hour later she called again to say that she had the baby. I think she was in labour for 5 1/2 hours total. What a woman! He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches. Both mom and baby are doing great.

Now that Haydn is actually here it makes it harder to accept the fact that I won't see him until he is 6 months old. I saw all of my nieces within a few hours of them being born so it'll be tough missing out on that with him. I'll just have to rely on my family posting weekly pictures of him. :)

Here are the first few:

Haydn

Big sister Emma

Big sister Ada

The happy family of five!

What is wrong with me??

2009-03-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still jobless and poor and bored and...poor. I don't know whats wrong with me but no one seems to want to give me a job! I have had some interviews so hopefully things will turn around for me soon.

I had an interview on Monday for a catering assistant at a department store called John Lewis. The interview was a group assessment that lasted for two hours. If any of you know me you'll know I was NOT pumped for this interview. I usually do pretty well in interviews and don't get too nervous, but this one was freaking me out. I made the mistake of google-ing 'John Lewis group assessment interview' and got some pretty good information about what usually goes on at them. Things like introducing yourself in front of 40 people, talking about an item like you're trying to sell it to the whole group and so on. I HATE talking in front of people. It doesn't matter that I'll never see them again, it still gets me all nervous and makes me stumble on my words. Ugh, I'm getting sweaty palms just thinking about it.
With that being said, the interview really wasn't that bad. There were 15 or 16 of us and four managers. We had to do a few group activities while the managers walked around listening in on our conversations to see how well we worked in a group. The next day I got a call asking me to come in for a second interview, which would be more hands on. I went to it yesterday and had a really good time. The restaurant is kind of like the IKEA restaurant except a little nicer and with more food options. I sat down with one of the managers (who is from New York and has read the Diana Gabaldon series!) after a few hours to have a little chat. She basically told me, without actually saying it, that even though everyone liked me and I did well I wouldn't be hired for the full time position. They put a lot of time and effort into training each staff member so she said they wouldn't hire someone knowing they would be leaving within the year. She said that all the training can take up to a year to complete. Totally understandable, but still frustrating. She told me she'd keep me in mind if any part time work became available.

So after the disappointing news I went back to the flat. One of my flatmates, Rachel, was home and told me that her friend is a manager of a restaurant that was hiring. She called him and got me an interview for that night. The interview went well and I have a trial shift on Tuesday. I'm pretty nervous about it because I haven't worked in a restuarant before. I think I'll be working behind the bar (shhh, don't tell my mom!) and I know absolutely nothing about alcohol or how to pour a beer. The manager said as long as I don't drop every glass or spit in people's drinks then I'll get the job. So, lets hope I can keep my uncontrollable spitting problem at bay.

Check out this blog!

2009-03-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

Remember my recent post about my 25 random things? And how I said I wanted to marry a cowboy and live on a ranch? Well I just found a blog about a woman who did just that! I randomly stumbled upon The Pioneer Woman's blog and have spent the last few hours reading her stories and looking at her pictures. Her blog seems to be quite popular (a post that she put up today already has 300 comments!) so some of you may have heard of it already but if not I encourage you to go check it out. She also has a lot of recipes if you're into cooking, which I'm not at this spends-the-absolute-bare-minimum-at-the-grocery-store point in my life.

Definitely worth checking out. I can see myself falling in love with this blog!

Katie's 25 Randoms

2009-03-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

If you're on Facebook you know that everyone has been writing a note with 25 random facts about them. I'm always trying to think of new blog posts so I thought I would write my list here instead of on Facebook. Hopefully I can come up with 25 things! Here goes: (and I'll try not to make them all about traveling and Scotland!)

1. My parents have four daughters and my two oldest sisters each have two daughters. Sister #2 is due WITH A BOY! any day now. It's about time, eh?

2. I LOVE cowboys. Anything with a cowboy design on it I love. I have a set of sheets that I got from Target with cowboys on them. I got them a few years ago but I still love them...even though I'm now 22.

3. I have dreams of marrying a cowboy and living on a ranch in Montana with lots of horses. I also have dreams of being a big shot book publisher in New York City. I'll probably grow up to be a stay-at-home mom of three with a mortgage, a duplex and a mini-van...which I would be very happy with :)

4. I love visiting my Grandparents in Phoenix. I love waking up in the morning, going into their backyard and picking a grapefruit or tangelo to have for breakfast. If I could move there I would. I've looked into moving and working in the states countless times, but unfortunately, unless you have a uni. degree its hard to get a work visa. If only my parents had gotten us girls dual citizenship back when it was a matter of signing some papers and paying the $100 fee.

5. To go along with #4, I love traveling. My first trip without my parents was a roadtrip from Vancouver to Calgary through the Rocky Mountains. It was amazing! My first trip out of North America was flying over to Scotland.

6. I hate being late for things. I hate it even more when other people make me late.

7. I love baking and I am famous for my Chocolate Lava Cakes. They are to die for, if I do say so myself! They are actually very easy to make and I use the recipe from the T.V. show Take Home Chef (with a few changes).

8. If I could change anything about myself it would be to be able to sing like Carrie Underwood (or someone equally fantastic) and to draw/paint.

9. I love my huge/crazy/fun extended family. The Whitfields usually get together twice a year, with many smaller get togethers in between, and we always have a fantastic time. Every summer we all go to our grandparents farm in Northern Ontario. This summer will be the first time in 22 years that I won't be going to the farm. *tear* We don't get together as often with my mom's family because most of them live in the states. I wish we could see each other more because we always have so much fun together.

10. My favourite TV shows are Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters and The Amazing Race. I can't live without these shows and watch them online every week to stay caught up with this season.

11. I've never broken any bones.

12. I got my eyebrow pierced a few months ago. My mom thinks its too 'harsh' for me, but I love it!

13. I don't like driving. I would much rather sit shotgun and relax or read a book. With that being said, I am glad I have my license and am able to drive somewhere (the mall!) whenever I want.

14. I LOVE reading. One of my favourite stores is Book Depot in St. Catharines. I love going there to find amazing deals on books. I have a bookshelf full of books at home that I have never read but I still continue to go to Book Depot to buy new ones. It's kind of an addiction.

15. I love spending time with my nieces. One of the hardest things about living so far away is knowing I will miss out on the changes they will go through in the year. I am very thankful my sisters had kids before me because I have learned a lot from them. Kids are hard work but totally worth it!

16. I think I have some pretty amazing friends. Two of my closest friends just booked tickets to Scotland for 12 days for an awesome Scottish roadtrip. I can't wait!

17. My grade 5 teacher, Miss Moore, is a professional curler. In her first appearance at the Scott Tournament of Hearts her team got second place to Sandra Schmirler (a famous Canadian curler, for those of you who aren't Canadian). I just googled her and apparetnly she had her own team for a while before joining another. Way to go Miss Moore!

18. I have no desire to be an actress but I would gladly become one if I could be in a period movie, just to wear one of those fancy dresses...corset and all.

19. When I was three or so I watched Chipmunk Adventure every afternoon for months.

20. Again when I was three or so a babysitter made my sisters and I watch Friday the 13th. As you can imagine it freaked me out and I had to sleep in my parents room for about a year after.

21. I have a really hard time not laughing when I see someone fall.

22. I can't burp.

23. I have always wanted to learn to play the violin.

24. I'm ashamed to say I love reading celebrity gossip magazines, watching shows like TMZ and Entertainment Tonight and reading celebrity news from the MSN homepage. But, I hate that the celebrities get hounded by paparazzi every where they go to get the pictures and stories that I love to see and read.

25. I secretly want to be a celebrity or model for a day or two, just to see what it would be like to be famous. I would also love to go to the Oscars wearing some fabulous gown that some designer like Vera Wang or Oscar de la Renta handmade just for me. It would be the ultimate game of dress-up.

Finally finished! Hope you enjoy it. :)

Scottish Borders and Hadrian's Wall

2009-03-03T04:29:00.000-08:00

One of the worst things about being unemployed is having so much time on your hands. This is especially frustrating when you are surrounded by countless cheap travel options but don't want to spend any money because you don't know when your next paycheck will be. Since we got back to Edinburgh Amy and I have been really good with our money so we decided to reward ourselves with a little day trip :)

Car rentals are rather cheap so in all we each spent about 30 pounds on the rental, gas, entrance fees and a few snacks (it would have been cheaper but Amy got suckered into buying the extra insurance on the car). We packed our own lunch and snacks, but it wouldn't be a proper road trip without stopping at a little bakery for some delicious Scottish desserts.

We had been planning a trip to the Scottish Borders for quite a while but Amy's license got lost in the mail so we haven't been able to rent a car for a few months. Thankfully, when we were back in Canada she was able to get a replacement. So off we went! The area is called the Borders because, surprisingly, it is very near the Scotland/England border. Although, because it is the same country its not really much of a border. There are two big rocks, one on each side of the road, with Scotland and England written on either side to mark the border. But I'm getting ahead of myself...we visited a few abbeys in Scotland before we made it to the border.

The firs abbey was called Kelso. It was very much a ruin, with not a lot to see. This abbey was free to get into, but was closed the day we were there. This wasn't horribly disappointing though because we were still able to take some pictures while standing outside the gates. Compared to the other ruins we've seen it really wasn't all that special and I won't even bother putting a picture of it up. Kelso was about an hour and a half from Edinburgh. The next stop was Jedburgh, another half hour down the road. Amy was very excited to see this abbey. A few years ago she found a picture of it and has been wanting to see it in person ever since. It didn't dissapoint! This place was beautiful and we had great weather to match. We were the only ones at the abbey which added to the beauty. I don't think it would have been as amazing if we had been one of 150 tourists snapping photos.

We both decided that it would be the perfect place for a wedding. I even did a little bridal walk to make sure. Yep, perfect.

As you can see it was very sunny! Amy didn't even have her coat on. Yeah for warmth!

Our next stop was Hadrian's Wall across the English border. This wall is REALLY old. Definitely the oldest thing we've seen so far. The Romans started building it in 112 AD to keep out the Pictish people (the guys in Scotland at the time). Besides the historical appeal, one of the reasons I wanted to see the wall was because it was in one of my favourite movies, Robin Hood. Kevin Costner walks along Hadrian's Wall at the beginning of the movie and eventually comes across this now famous spot, known as the Sycamore Gap. So, we were driving along the road when we suddenly come across this tree in the distance! Yeah :) We found a car park and started walking. And we walked (more like climbed) and walked and walked. I guess we didn't realize how far down we drove to get to the car park. We had to climb up and down four rocky mountain like hills to get to the tree. It was cold and windy and quite beautiful. The wall ran all the way along these hills and most of it is in realy good condition for being so old.

Thats me half way up the next hill. The tree was just over the next hill but Amy decided to stay where she was.

I made it! It doesn't look like much but I'm sure in the summer when the leaves and grass are green it would be a lot nicer. I didn't go down the hill because it was starting to get dark and we had a LONG hike back to the car and I didn't want to be hiking down huge rocky hills in the dark. I didn't really get a good picture of it but if you google Sycamore Gap you'll see some nice ones.

We're almost done at this point. The hill in the background is one of three or four that we climbed. We're crazy.

In other news...Amy got a job! Yippee!!! She starts on Thursday at Gala Bingo! She's not exactly sure what she'll be doing but all the flatmates are excited to hit up the bingo hall with the old people. My job search is still ongoing but hopefully I'll get something soon.

As always, we've put all of our pictures up on our flickr account: www.flickr.com/iheartscotland.

What a pilot SHOULDN'T tell the passengers before take off

2009-02-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

Amy and I flew back to Edinburgh Tuesday evening and as we were waiting for the plane to start moving the pilot came on over the PA and announced that a passenger had decided not to travel at the last minute. This meant they had to sift through all the luggage in the cargo hold to get to his bag. That wasn't the problem because they had the bag out within a few minutes and we were on our way, it was the crazy thoughts of plane crashes that had us worried! Why didn't he want to travel!??! Did he have a 'feeling'!?!? Is the plane going to crash!?!?

Obviously we made it here safe and sound. We've started our job search and hope that we'll hear something within a few days. We had an amazing time at home visiting with everyone, but are excited to start working again so we can start traveling.

We're not sure where we'll go next, but we're hoping it will be somewhere WARM!

A Blessing in Disguise

2009-02-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

I am writing this blog from the comforts of my own home...in CANADA! That's right, I am home. Not for good...just for a two week visit, but a visit none the less. It feels so weird, but so good to be home. Some of the things I've missed: sleeping in my very comfortable double bed, looking in the fridge or pantry and having more than one thing to choose from to eat, going shopping at all my favourite stores (although I was quite disappointed...no good sales!) and of course seeing my friends and family after five long months! We kept the trip home on the DL because we wanted to surprise my best friend, Lucy from Lucy's Life. My parents had the difficult task of keeping it a secret and they did very well. We got here on Wednesday and that evening Lucy and her hubby were set to have dinner with my parents. When they got here, mom told them that one of my nieces was hiding and wanted Lucy and hubby to find her. Amy and I were hiding as well and gave them the shock of their lives. There was a lot of screaming, a lot of hugging and a little bit of crying. It was so fun! We are here until the 17th, when we will go back to Edinburgh and start looking for a job. Now a little about that...

On January 31st, Amy I worked our last shift at Baxters. The store isn't doing well financially so they decided not to keep the Christmas staff. Thats why this post is called 'A Blessing in Disguise' because if it weren't for loosing our jobs we wouldn't have had the time off to come home. The Tuesday before our last day we were checking tickets on-line for fun and found insanely cheap flights to Toronto. They were 258 pounds round trip! Our amazing parents agreed to pay for half of the ticket so we're talking 129 pounds each for two weeks. We would spend some of that on food and just living, so we figured we might as well go home where we can see our family and eat our parents food for two weeks!
It will be stressful trying to look for a new job when we get back, but it will all be worth it.

I'm off to get ready to go out for lunch with my parents to the Mandarin...oh, how I missed the Mandarin!

Happy 250th birthday Rabbie Burns!

2009-01-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

Every year on January 25th, the Scots celebrate the birth of the famous poet Robert Burns with a Burns night dinner. This usually consists of haggis, neeps (turnip) and tatties (potatoes). On Saturday night we had a bunch of people over for dinner to celebrate the birth of Scotland's national poet. We had a huge meal consisting of haggis, neeps and tatties, of course, as well as scotch pie and haggis sausages. Amy had tried a bite of haggis before but this was my first encounter with the Scottish dish. I have to say it was quite tasty. It looked and tasted a lot like meatloaf and as long as you don't think about whats in it you'll be fine!

Before you cut into the haggis someone is supposed to read one of Burns' poems 'Address to a Haggis'. I took a video of our friend reading part of it but for some reason I can't upload it onto the blog.

Robbie Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne, which I just realized not too long ago actually has words to it. Every year at New Years I would just hum along or say 'la, la, la' to the tune without actually knowing what the words were. Here's a link to the words. To make the night interesting we were all supposed to come up with 30 seconds worth of entertainment, whether it be a poem, song or perhaps...a rap about Canada??? Yep, Amy and I went all out and rapped a poem about Canadian provinces. It went over quite well. Heres a pic of our gangster outfits.

Happy Birthday Rabbie Burns!

Italian adventure

2009-01-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

I guess the easiest thing is to just start from the beginning...

We got into Pisa at 10:30 pm and set out to try and find our way to our hotel. We decided a taxi would be easier than trying to figure out which bus would take us there.We stood near the taxi line for a few minutes sort of in shock of being in a country where English is not the first language. This was the first time being in that situation for both of us. We felt silly trying to say things in Italian but you could tell people appreciated the effort.
The hotel was a three minute drive from the airport but ended up costing 9 euros. Most of that was a service charge that is tacked on to most things in Italy. I would recommend finding another mode of transportation if you are ever going there. Our hotel was pretty nice and right beside the train station, which is why we chose it. Once in our room we read through the Florence section in our Italy book to figure out what our plan of action would be the next day. Our room had nice shutters opening onto a little balcony. We took a few pictures opening our Italian shutters onto our Italian balcony with our gorgeous Italian view -- a palm tree, a road and some train tracks.

It was raining when we woke up, which was quite disappointing. We were hoping to see some nice Tuscan countryside on the train from Pisa to Florence but because it was rainy and overcast it was nothing spectacular. It wasn't all because of the rain though; it seemed like the train tracks went through the ghettos of Italy. We did see some nice houses on hills (Italy is a lot more hilly than I was expecting) surrounded by Cyprus trees.
Once in Florence we found our hostel, dropped our bags off and went out to explore the sights. The first thing we came across was the San Lorenzo Market which is a street market filled with stalls selling mostly stuff made from leather. There were a lot of belts, bags and wallets. They were also selling the typical tourist things like t-shirts, pictures and mini David statues (Amy wanted to buy said statue but I told her it was too tacky!). I bought three Italia t-shirts as my souvenirs. I normally wouldn't buy three t-shirts of the same place but they had a deal going on that was too good to pass up! The had a selection of shirts that were one for 8 Euros, two for 10 or three for 12. I had picked out two and Amy was going to get one but she couldn't find one that she liked. Well, I wasn't going to buy only two when I could get another for 2 Euros! So, I ended up with three t-shirts.
We had a map of the city but mostly just ended up walking around taking pictures of whatever we happened to pass. So we weren't expecting to see the Duomo when we did. We were walking along a narrow street when we turned the corner and BAM! there it was. I turned the corner first and even yelled "whoa!" right in front of an old couple because I was so shocked to see it. It's size is shocking but mostly it was the contrast in the colours of the buildings around it. Most of the buildings in Florence are done in yellows and oranges but the Duomo is white, pale pink and green. This was the only building we went inside, mostly because it was the only free one! It was quite dark inside so we couldn't get good pictures, but we did happen to get some of the paintings on the dome. Construction started on the cathedral in 1296...1296! isn't that incredible!?!?! The dome is what makes this cathedral so famous. It is self-supported and was built without scaffolding. You can climb to the top of the dome, but we both decided after the four flights of stairs we had to climb to reach our hostel, that the 450 or so steps to the top were not doable. However, we'll use the fact that it was overcast and it wouldn't have been a great view anyways as our excuse :)

After the Duomo we got our first taste of gelato. Before we left we read up on how to tell if the gelato was homemade or not. You are supposed to check out the colour of the pistachio flavour and if it is a lime green it is not homemade. Apparently, sometimes they put food colouring in it to make it a brighter green colour, but if it is made au naturale it is a darker green. With that in mind, we wandered around (there is a gelato shop around every corner) until we found a shop with the appropriate pistachio colour. We got two flavours each, Amy got pistachio and strawberry and I got coffee chocholate chip and ferraro rocher. Delicious! They all tasted exactly like the real thing. We got gelato three more times on our trip (we couldn't resist!) and the flavours were banana, coconut x2 (it was that good!), panna cotta, coffee and lemon.

The rest of the day we wandered the streets taking pictures, going into tourist shops, as well as some normal clothing stores, and window shopping at all the delicous bakeries and delis that are on every street in Florence. Around 8 we decided to have dinner and found a cute little restaurant near our hostel. Amy ordered pasta with an egg cream sauce and bacon and I got pizza with mushrooms, mozzarella, tomatoes and salad. The salad turned out to be some kind of bitter leaves and I ended up scraping most of it off. The rest of the pizza was good, though. Once back at the hostel we did some research on line about Pisa and went to bed praying for sunshine.

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. We decided to walk around Florence for an hour to see some of the buildings in the sun. The day before Amy had seen a mask (like the ones worn at costume balls in movies) at one of the vendors in the market and decided thats what she wanted as her souvenir. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it again so instead she got some beautiful scenery pictures.

Once back in Pisa we went directly to the Piazza dei Miracoli, which has the famous tower as well as a duomo and baptistry. We were both very excited to see the leaning tower and have both said it was our favourite part of the trip. The tower is something you learn about as a child, so to be able to see it in person after all those years is amazing! A trip to the leaning tower wouldn't be complete without a few famous 'holding up the tower' poses. We felt a little silly but it had to be done. They turned out quite well, too!

Pisa is a cute little town with a lot of cafes and what looked to be some good shopping. Unfortunately, all of the shops are closed from 1-3:30 for a siesta. We definitely felt as though we didn't have enough time in Pisa. Our flight left at 4:45 which meant we only had a few hours in Pisa before we needed to get to the airport. You could easily spend an hour or two at the tower and surrounding buildings.
All in all our first major trip went smoothly, with the only problem being that it was too short. For our next trip, we are planning on going to Greece for four or five days. Before we left Canada we didn't think we would be able to go to Greece because we figured the tickets would be too expensive. Amy found some good deals though and we're thinking about heading there at the end of February. Let's hope everything works out!

Tim Hortons in Scotland!?!?!

2008-12-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

Imagine my excitement when I found a corner shop that sold Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts???

A few weeks after we arrived, we drove past a little shop that had a Timmies sign out front. We aren't in that area very often so it was a while before I was able to go back to try some. It wasn't much - just a self-service coffee machine that had cappuccino, coffee and lattes and a small stand with doughnuts. I was excited to try the cappuccino, hoping it would be like the french vanilla cappucino back home (something I've been craving for a while!). Unfortunately, it wasn't at all like it. It tasted like a normal cappuccino, but not a very good one. I ended up dumping most of it out because I didn't want to drink it but wanted to keep the cup. I didn't try any of the doughnuts - the chocolate on the Boston Creme (my favourite) was sweating and I didn't think that was a good thing! All in all, it was a little disappointing and not a very good representation of Tim Hortons, but having the cup in my room is a nice reminder of home.

Always fresh, always Tim Hortons.

Leaning Tower of Pisa here we come!

2008-12-09T03:15:00.000-08:00

A few days ago Amy and I booked our first trip to Europe. We will be heading to Pisa, Italy on January 13th and staying until the 15th. It's a short trip--we'll only be there for a day and a half--but Pisa is relatively small and everything we've read online suggests it is easily doable in a day. Of course, Pisa is famous for its leaning tower but there are many other interesting old buildings and 'piazzas' throughout the city. Here are a few photos to give you a taste of what we will be seeing.

And of course...the tower!

mmm looking forward to trying the pizza and gelato in Italy...

Update: After being advised by an Italian man Amy and I work with we have decided to go to Florence as well as Pisa. We will take the train from Pisa to Florence early on the 14th and spend the night there. We will then take the early train back to Pisa and have most of the day to traipse around the city before our flight back to Edinburgh.

German Market

2008-12-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

Every year Edinburgh has a big street market called Winter Wonderland. It is filled with rides, a skating rink and lots of wooden huts filled with exciting and delicious gifts and treats. It started November 27th and is around for a month or so. I went to the opening night where they turned on all the Christmas lights on the main street. This sounds like it would be exciting but it was a bit of a let down. It was freezing that night and I waited around for two hours for the lights to come on. When they eventually got around to flipping the switch a few trees with lights lit up and some "fireworks" went off. I say "fireworks" because I heard maybe four bangs but didn't see any actually fireworks in the sky. Even though the opening night was a bit of a let down the actually market is pretty cool. Amy and I walked around it for a few hours (before the eyebrow piercing!) and bought a few festive treats--chocolate covered apples and sugared almonds. We'll definitely frequent the market quite a bit as they have crepes--my favourite--and delicious looking mini sugared doughnuts that we must try!

Here are a few pictures we took of us enjoying the market:

Our new, WARM Scottish hats.

The market at about 4 pm. It gets dark insanely early here.

We saw this dress on display while we were walking down the Royal Mile towards the tattoo parlor. Very cool!

Black Sheep

2008-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

I believe I am officially the Black Sheep of the family. Wanna know why? Today I got my eyebrow pierced. Yep, my eyebrow. When I told my mom the other day that I was getting it done she said "why don't you get your nose pierced instead?" Well, I didn't want my nose pierced, I wanted my eyebrow pierced. I've wanted it done for probably four years but refrained from getting it done because I knew my parents wouldn't be too pleased. Now that I'm out on my own I decided it was time. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. The pain...the aftercare...keeping it clean...whether I would actually like it or not...but I figured I've wanted it done for a long time and the only way to find out if I would like it was to get it done. So Amy and I went to a tattoo parlor on the Royal Mile to check things out. My flatmate Rachel told me about this place and said that it was a safe, clean place to go. So, I went in, filled out the paperwork and got it done. In total it took probably 5 minutes. I was worried about the pain, but honestly it didn't really hurt. It just felt like getting a needle--which I guess is essentially what it is! The barbell that I got it pierced with is bigger than what I would have wanted but it is the smallest one that they could actually pierce with. It has to be a little bigger to accommodate for any swelling. After it is healed, in about 2 months, I can change it to a smaller one. I was feeling a little faint after I got it done so had to sit down for a couple minutes. You know how your hearing starts to go when you feel like you are going to faint? Yeah, that happened to me. It went for about a minute than slowly started to come back.

Here I am feeling a little faint. I am wearing the new coat, but there will be a better picture of it later.

Back at home...feeling much better. I tried to upload the video that Amy took of the actual piercing, but it didn't work. I managed to get it on Facebook so if you really want to watch it you can head over there. I promise it isn't gross and is suitable for everyone to watch. You can't see the needle going in because the guys hands are in the way. I've had it for a few hours now and it feels really good. It isn't throbbing or hurting at all. I'm not looking forward to the first cleaning though, or sleeping with it in. I'll let you know how it feels in the morning :)

Update: I've now had it for more than 24 hours and it feels great. Cleaning it is a breeze and I slept with a hat on last night to keep my bangs, sorry fringe, away from it and that seemed to work well.

Glasgow shopping adventure

2008-12-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

Last Monday Amy and I went to Glasgow to do some shopping. It was her birthday so we wanted to do something special and at first we decided we would rent a car and drive down to the Scottish Borders. However, we didn't rent the car on time and I wasn't feeling very good the day before, so we thought a less adventurous trip might be in order. Who doesn't love a little shopping!?!?

So, we caught the bus to Glasgow and were in the city till 6:45. There is a store called Primark that we discovered for the first time in Inverness that is incredibly cheap, but really nice. They don't have any in Edinburgh--don't know why--but have about four in Glasgow. We were very excited to go back to this store and do some birthday/Christmas shopping. I bought a nice winter coat (which you'll see in later pictures) for 25 pounds, a pair of shorts for 50 pence (thats like cents, folks!) and a little something for Amy's stocking. Something I love about Scotland is that the tax is included in the price already. When you are shopping what you see is what you pay. This makes it much easier to calculate what the total cost will be when shopping, and whether or not you have enough cash on you.
So back to Glasgow...after Primark we walked around the downtown area for a bit. Glasgow's downtown area is more normal looking compared with Edinburgh's. There are a lot of new builds in amongst the old buildings that gives it a normal downtown area feel. It's definitely not as nice looking as Edinburgh so if you are planning on visiting Scotland I would recommend going to Edinburgh over Glasgow any day. We didn't really do much in Glasgow besides shop so I don't have a lot to type. I will say that the malls there are actually malls, in the North American sense of the word. In Edinburgh, all the malls are quite small and the same shape, a straight line where you can see one end while standing at the other. The mall we went into in Glasgow was 4 stories and had lots of different wings. Oh how I missed the feeling of being lost in a mall!

wacky word list

2008-11-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

At the bottom of the blog I have added a list of words. These are Scottish words that I have heard being used here and what they mean in North America. I'll continue to add to the list when I come across more words. It is hard enough trying to understand the accent here without them throwing in words I've never even heard before! Hopefully the list will help anyone thinking about coming over here :)
If you've been to Scotland and have any words you think should be added to the list, let me know and I'll put them up.

Katie

Payday!

2008-11-21T13:57:00.001-08:00

Today I got my first paycheck since the end of August. What a wonderful feeling! I've only been working at this job for a week so it wasn't a lot (but more than I was expecting!) but at this point, anything seems like a lot. I get paid once a month only, so this money has to last me a while, but it was very nice to see the bank account going up for a change. In honour of this momentous occasion, I thought I would tell you about my job and the road that lead me to it.

I started handing out CVs (resumes) at the end of September and it was a month before I heard anything from an employer. They say that finding a job IS your job, and although I wouldn't exactly say I made it my job I definitely went out everyday (well, almost everyday) for that month to hand out a few CVs. Applying for jobs is something I hate doing. I hate that you have about 5 seconds to make a good impression. That just terrifies me. Although handing out all those CVs did let me get a good feeling for the city, it was not fun.

I got a phone call from a store called Peacocks on October 25th and had an interview on the 27th. Peacocks is a clothing store that sells mens, womens and childrens clothes. The interview went well and I heard back on the 29th that I got the job. I was super excited because I really wanted to work at a clothing store -- in order to get a good discount, of course! I went in on the 3rd to watch some cheesy videos about how to properly lift a box (bend with your legs, not your back!) and sign some contracts and stuff. They had me read through about 50 pages of store policies and sign the back of every page to show that I read it. Not a very fun way to spend two hours, but I did get paid for it. I went in on the 4th for my first shift and basically dusted the whole time. I was the accessories and christmas gift person, so I was in that section the whole time dusting shelves and restocking. I literally wasn't supposed to go to other sections of the store. I didn't talk to any of the other workes unless I was asking them a question because we were all in our own areas. I won't go into detail about why I didn't like it, I'll just say that I wasn't happy working there. I was working 20 hrs/wk and my contract was only until Dec. 24th so even if I loved it I would have had to keep looking for work.

On Nov. 10th, only a week after I started, I got a phone call from a company I handed my CV in to a few weeks before and set up an interview for the 12th. That night, Amy told me there was an opening in the retail section of her store and her boss said that if I was still looking for work I could have the job. I was so thankful to have options and that I wouldn't have to work at Peacocks for much longer. The interview was for Geoffrey Tailor, a big kiltmaker with a shop on the Royal Mile...right beside the castle! I was really excited about working there so I went to the interview even though I had another job offer. I thought it went well, but I had to tell the woman that I had another job offer and needed to know whether I got the job or not as soon as possible. I don't think she liked that very much. I didn't get a phone call back from them and I like to think it was because she knew that another job was available to me and not because I didn't do a good job at the interview! So, I quit at Peacocks on the 12th and started at Baxters on the 15th. I haven't even been there a week and already I feel very comfortable. I work in the retail section and Amy works in the restaurant, but she can tell you about her job later if she wants. The store is in a mall near our flat and has two retail floors, one with their famous soups and other food products and the other with kitchen gadgets and dishes. My tasks vary from day to day but mostly I just stand behind the counter waiting to cash out customers. Much more relaxed than Peacocks! Everyone is really friendly and I actually get to talk to the other workers. All in all I am very happy that I was able to switch jobs. They've even agreed to give Amy and I the same days off, which will make it easier for traveling. Plus, its more hours AND more pay...but thats just an added bonus to having a relatively stress-free job for the year.

If the use of 'Amy and I' didn't give it away, this was posted by Katie.

Posting styles

2008-11-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

So far, all of the posts have been written by me, Katie. Amy and I have very different writing styles and don't always agree on what to say or what pictures to put up. To make things easier we are going to write our own posts, probably not always about the same thing, and write our name at the bottom so you will know who wrote it. Enjoy!

St Andrews

2008-11-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

November 1st we took the train from Edinburgh to St Andrews. It took an hour to get there and cost about 12 pounds each, return. The train station isn't actually in St Andrews, it's in a small town called Leuchars thats a 10 minute bus ride from the city. We arrived at 10 and had all day to explore. We stopped off at Starbucks for a quick caramel macchiato before heading over to explore the castle ruins. We were very lucky with the weather that day. It was a beautiful, sunny day with blue skies, and no rain! We spent a good two hours walking around the ruins. Not a lot is left, except the lower half of the outer walls...and the ultimate loo with a view!

The castle was built in the early 1400s and was in ruin by 1689, a relatively short histroy by castle standards. Some interesting things inside the castle are the dungeon and the mines. The dungeon, called a bottle dungeon, is the best preserved of its kind in Scotland. There is only one way in, being lowered (or, more likely, thrown) down the hole, and only one way out...death. To save some time, I'll copy and paste some information about the mine and counter mine.
During the seige of the castle by the Earl of Arran in 1546 - 1547. The French / Catholic attackers dug a seige mine in an attempt to (literally) undermine the foundations of the castle. The idea was to remove a large quantity of supporting rock from under the foundation, while supporting the roof of the mine with timber. When sufficient rock had been removed, the timbers would be set on fire and thus become unable to support the weight of the wall and foundations. The defenders of St. Andrews castle were well aware of the mining attempt, and dug a counter-mine to try to intercept the attacking mine. Guided by the sound of the attackers digging, and racing for time against the attack, their counter mine was much smaller and branched off in different erroneous directions.The two mines eventually met where the ladder is in the picture below. The mine was re-discoverd in 1879 when the foundations for a house across the street from the castle were being layed.

The mine was very cramped. You almost had to crawl on your hands and knees to get to this ladder. Only Katie went down, but it was probably 3 times as big down there. It was pretty interesting.

After the castle we walked to the beach, past some of the St Anderws University buildings, as well as the house that Prince William lived in while he was a student there! The beach is right beside the Old Course (for those who don't know, that is the first ever golf course). It is the very beach that parts of the movie' Chariots of Fire' were filmed at. The tide was out so we walked along the sand and picked up some nice shells. We then walked to the old course, which isn't very big, and stood at the first hole to watch some golfers. There is an old members only club that only men are allowed in. The only day that women are allowed in the club is St. Andrews day, which is the end of November.

After lunch we walked to the cathedral. What an amazing place! The ruins were beautiful and humongous. It would have been wonderful to see what the cathedral looked like when it was first built. We bought tickets to walk up St. Rules Tower, which is a tower with 158 tiny, twisty stairs, to get a wonerful view of the whole town. The cathedral was started in 1160 and took 150 years to complete. The cathedral area is made up of a few different religios buildings. There are gravestones around the grounds, mostly dating from the 1800s. Many of the gravestones had names of at least one child that died before the age of 5.

We walked around the grounds for a while before heading back into the town to browse the shops. There was a fish and chips shop that sold deep fried chocolate bars for a pound. Katie heard about these on a TV show several years ago and had to try one. It was delicious! We had a snickers bar and the chocolate was all gooey and warm...yummy. We also stopped at the local bakery and picked up some desserts to bring back to Edinburgh for our flatemates. Again, we ran into the problem of having all the shops close at 5:30. Our train wasn't due to leave until 7:45 so we had some time to kill. We lingered over dinner and then took a taxi back to Leuchars to catch the train back to the city. It was a long day with a lot of walking but St Andrews in an amazing town with a lot of history and character. If you want to see more pictures we have a flickr account at www.flickr/iheartscotland.com

Northern Scotland Road-trip

2008-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

On October 6th, we left on a four day road-trip to the top of Scotland. We took a bus from Edinburgh to Inverness, which took about three hours and cost five pounds return. Can't beat that! We had that day to explore Inverness, which wasn't very exciting. When we were thinking about which city to move to, Inverness was one of our considerations. There are about 80,000 people living there, which makes it seem like a fairly decent sized town. The downtown area is rather small, with not a lot to do. There is a nice mall there (of course we had to check it out!) but since it closes at 5:30...yes, we said 5:30...we didn't have a lot of time to shop. In fact, all of the stores, besides restaurants, close between 5 and 6 (that includes Edinburgh and other cities we've been to) so we ended up reading in our hostel room for most of the night. Not a very exciting start to our trip, but at least we got a good nights sleep.

The next morning we took a taxi to Enterprise to pick up our rental car. Amy was the driver and was a little nervous about driving on the other side of the road and car. She did very well though, and Katie only had to tell her to get to the left side of the road a few times! Once you get past a certain town, most of the roads turn into one lane. There are 'passing zones' that you have to pull into if a car is coming the other way. Although it was kind of annoying to have to pull over all the time, at least Amy didn't have to worry about staying on the right (and by right, I mean left) side of the road! We spent most of the morning driving to the very top of Scotland. Our goal was to get to a town called Durness, where we knew there was a huge cave you can go in. When we got there, we were surprised that they were even allowed to call Durness a town. There were maybe five buildings in a cluster, most of them homes, and that was it. We don't even know if there was any kind of store. There was a beautiful beach in Durness, which we walked around for a while. The tide was coming in, though, so we had to leave quickly!

About five minutes down the road was Smoo Cave. There are three different caverns that you can go into. The first two you can walk to, the third you have to take a boat to get to. There was no boat available, but if there had been we probably wouldn't have taken it. The opening to the third cavern barely looked big enough for a small boat, and while doing research of the cave we read that passengers have to lie down as the boat is going into the third cavern or they won't make it. Interesting, but kind of scary! To get to the second cavern you walked along a wooden platform that was above the water. It was very dark and we could barely see anything. There was a waterfall, so it was also very noisy. The darkness, the deafening noise and the fact that we were the only ones in the cave freaked us out a little and made us get out of there rather quickly.

After leaving the cave we drove to our hostel in Tongue. It was really nice with beautiful views overlooking a lake. Tongue was another one of those towns with nothing to do so we stayed in the hostel and played Pictionary with two of our roommates. One was from Burlington, ON and the other was from Syracuse, NY. The were backpacking together and hitchhiking their way across the top of Scotland in the opposite direction that we were headed in.
The next morning we drove to Thurso to pick up some sandwiches for lunch. We were headed to Dunnet Head, which is the most northernly point on the mainland. We bought some lunch to go and two millionaire slices (amazing desserts...bottom layer is shortbread, then a layer of caramel, then a layer of chocolate) and drove to the point. The cliffs were amazing. Think Cliffs of Doom in Princess Bride. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we could see the Orkney Islands in the distance. Once again, we were the only ones there so we had the cliffs to ourselves. It did start to rain, so we ate our lunch and dessert in the car, with the ocean and a full rainbow in front of us.

The rest of the day was mostly spent in the car, with a few stops for pictures. We did stop at a few castles but because it was late in the season, they were closed. One castle we went to was open, though...our hostel for the night! We stayed in Carbisdale Castle, which was built between 1906 and 1917, so relatively new compared with most castles. We had read about this castle quite a few years ago and always thought it would be neat to be able to sleep in a castle for a night. We were quite excited to be able to fit it into our schedule. We spent most of the evening exploring the castle and trying not to get lost. It is said to be haunted, and they even have pamphlets for you to read, but we both decided we would wait until we left the next morning before reading them. We actually wanted to sleep that night! Two of our roommates were Austrailians who had been living in Edinburgh for about 5 months, so they told us about good places to eat and things to do.

The next morning we drove back towards Inverness. Before we dropped the car off we headed over to Culloden Battlefield, the famous moor where the Jacobite army fought the English in 1746. We have to confess that the reason why we know so much about this battle and why we are interested in it is, again, because of the Outlander series. However, when you are standing in the middle of the field you can't think about anything besides the thousands of men that fought and died there. There is a brand new visitors centre with lots of information about the events leading up to, during and after the battle. There are also cases full of artifacts that have been found on the moor during the years. Unfortunately, we had to get the rental car back so we didn't have as much time to look around as we would have liked.

While we were waiting for our bus back to Edinburgh we ran into the two North American girls we met at the hostel in Tongue. We had coffee with them and ended up on the same bus back to the city. We knew they didn't have a place to stay so we offered up the couches in our flat. They ended up staying for two nights and we had a lot of fun showing them around the city.

First Trip to the Highlands

2008-11-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

For Katie's birthday on September 26th, we decided to do a day trip to the highlands with one of the many tour groups in Edinburgh. The tour took us to a few different places including Glencoe, Fort William, Fort Augustus and Loch Ness. It gave us a nice taste of the highlands, but it made us realize that renting a car and doing our own tour is a much better option. The tour lasted 12 hours but covered a lot of miles and was mostly spent in the van, with a few short breaks for food and picture opportunities.

The first stop was to meet Hamish the highland 'coo'. Hamish has in interesting history. Back during the days of Mad Cow Disease, the government decided that the best way to deal with it was to kill all cows under the age of two. Hamish was under two, but as he was already a famous tourist attraction, the workers of the coffee shop next to his home petitioned for the government to spare Hamish. They did, as long as he never came into contact with other cows, and now 12 or so years later Hamish is still a lonely tourist attraction.

While we drove to our next destination, Glencoe, our tour guide told us about something called Make Tracks Scotland. It is a company that offers independent walking holidays throughout the highlands and other parts of Scotland. Some of the tours take 8 or 9 days, walking anywhere from 12-20 miles a day. It is a great way to see parts of Scotland that you can only see by foot. There are no wolves or other predators in Scotland, which makes walking through the highlands a relatively safe thing. On our drive we saw three people who were making the journey from Glasgow to Inverness.

Glencoe was beautiful, but has a rather bloody past. We won't go into great detail, you can look it up if you want, but the basis of the story is that in 1692 the highland chiefs were ordered to sign an oath to King William...or else. Because of bad weather, among other things, the chief of clan MacDonald of Glencoe was late in signing the oath. Captain Campbell and his men were ordered to go live with the MacDonald clan, where they were at first told to collect taxes. The Campbells lived with the families for two weeks before they recieved word from the King that they were to slaughter the clan for being late in signing the oath. In all, 38 men were killed in their homes or as they were trying to flee and 40 women and children died of exposure. It is now nicknamed the Weeping Glen.
The next major stop was Fort Augustus, home of the famous Loch Ness. It's amazing to be able to visit places you've heard about your entire life. Loch Ness is probably one of the most famous places in all of Scotland. Fort Augustus is rather small, definitaly a tourist town. Part of the bus tour was a boat ride on the famous loch. Before we got on the boat we bought fish and chips and ate them overlooking the loch. Neither of us are huge fans of fish, but this was amazing! And not just because it was covered in batter, the fish actually tasted good by itself. The chips were also amazing. The best chips we have ever had, and after trying a few fish and chip shops in Edinburgh, they are still the best chips. We can't even describe why, they were just amazing! The boat tour was about an hour long. Loch Ness is actually a HUGE loch. It is more than 700 ft deep and 23 miles long. Lots of room for Nessie to hide in. Unfortunately, we didn't have any sightings of the legendary monster.
After a few more stops for photos, we were on our way back to Edinburgh. It was a long day and at times it was difficult to stay awake on the bus but we had a great time and were happy to be able to see the mountains we have read and dreamed about for years. It was definitaly a birthday to remember!

Settling In

2008-11-13T05:27:00.000-08:00

We are now two months and two days into our yearlong adventure. Time has flown by! We will quickly fill you in on some details of the first two months.

When we arrived in Edinburgh we went straight to our hostel, which was downtown, right beside the main shopping area called Princes St. We each had two big suitcases, a carry-on, and a purse. The bus dropped us off around the corner from our hostel and we had to practically drag our bags to the front door and up two flights of stairs. It was then that we realized we brought way too much stuff! This was our first experience with a hostel and we were a little apprehensive about it. The thought of sharing a room with 6 other females did not sound like a lot of fun, but we actually had a really good time. There were four other girls in our room who were from Italy, France and a mother and daughter from Spokane, Washington. We all got along really well and we had a good time getting to know them.

Before we left Canada we had set up an appointment to view a flat at 6:30 the day we arrived. It ended up being the flat that we chose and now happily live in. We stayed at the hostel for five days before we moved into the flat. Those first five days we acted like tourists and walked around different parts of the city, taking pictures of the amazing old buildings.

The first few days were the hardest emotionally. We were in this strange new country, on our own, with no idea what we were doing or where we were going to live. The excitement of being in Scotland was overshadowed by the huge tasks of finding a flat, handing out CVs (resumes) and opening up a bank account. On the third day here, while taking the bus back to our hostel, Katie saw a sign at The Playhouse, which is a live theatre, for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. This was one of our favourite movies as kids so we knew we had to go see a live production of it. It was amazing and incredibly funny and brought a little bit of home to Scotland.
After setting up our bank account, the next step was to start looking for a job. We started handing our CVs out on Tuesday September 23 and neither of us got a phone call for an interview until October 23. A month of looking for a job with no positive feedback is very stressful! Amy got the first phone call and was offered the job at the interview. She is waitressing at a restuarant in one of the malls. Katie got a call the next day and is working in retail. Payment for both jobs is done monthly, so we will have gone almost three months without a paycheck. We don't advise anyone trying this! Soon, though, we will be able to jet off to London, Paris or Rome for the weekend and get some more stamps on our passports.

The Perfect Quote

2008-11-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

The book series that got us interested in Scotland is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. We brought the series with us to Scotland, of course, and while Katie was re-reading the first book she came across this quote that fits our situation perfectly.

"...and as I sat in the silence of the chapel, I seemed to see you as a shipwrecked traveler. And it seems to me that is a good parallel to your present situation, is it not? Imagine such a soul, madame, suddenly cast away in a strange land, bereft of friends and familiarity, without resources save what the new land can provide. Such a happening is disaster, truly, and yet may be the opening for great opportunity and blessings. What if the new land shall be rich? New friends may be made, and a new life begun." Outlander, pg. 820

It's so perfect we don't even think it needs an explanation.

Our Dream

2008-11-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

Since we came to Edinburgh many people have asked us why we chose to move to Scotland. You'd think after all this time we would have perfected our answer, but it is still difficult for us to think exactly what it was that got us interested in all things Scottish. We know that most of it comes from reading a book series that is mainly set in Scotland, but our love for kilts, castles and bagpipes goes further back than that. Scotland has been a part of our mom's family for a long time. Our grandpa has visited different parts of Scotland many times and we imagine hearing his stories added to the excitement we felt about the country. When we were younger we always said that when we had enough money the first place we would go to would be Scotland. Living here for a year really is a dream come true!
We'll give you a little history about us and the year leading up to our departure.
We are the two youngest daughters in a family of four girls. Our two oldest sisters are married and have two daughters each (lots of girls!). We were both still living at home and decided it was time for a change. The thought of moving out of our parents house and into an apartment in the next town, finding minimum wage jobs and basically having the same life just with a lot more to pay for, didn't sound very exciting to us. We both knew that if we wanted to do something crazy and different, now was the time. This was around December 2007. At first we thought about moving out east to Halifax. We have a good friend there and Katie even flew out there for a weekend to check things out. After doing some research, though, we decided that going west to Calgary would be a better option as there are endless amounts of jobs there. This was around February 2008 and our goal was to be in Calgary by May or June, as Katie was not going to miss the Calgary Stampede in July! However, one day while Katie was at work, Amy started doing some research about moving to Scotland. As soon as Katie got home Amy told her that they were moving to Scotland instead of Calgary. It turns out it is a lot easier than you might think. The biggest hurdle is figuring out which visa to apply for and being approved for it. So, from February we started saving our pennies.

Fast forward to August 2008. Not a lot could be done until we applied for our visa. We didn't apply for it until we had enough money saved up, which was the middle of August and we left September 10th, so those couple of weeks were quite stressful! We went into Toronto on a Wednesday to hand in our application and by Tuesday we found out we were approved. What a feeling! For months we had been planning, praying and hoping that we would be approved and our dream would come true. It was great to know that everything we had planned for was going to happen. Next we had to buy our plane tickets, order British pounds from the bank, deal with OHIP and buy health insurance to please our mother. :) At the beginning of September we started to pack and say our goodbyes. Our tickets were booked with a great flight straight to Edinburgh from Hamilton. The weekend before we left we went to Waterloo to spend some time with sister #2, S, and some friends. That Sunday we drove home and had a big family dinner with all our aunts and uncles that live in the area and said goodbye to them for the year.

Wednesday was the day we left and a day of tearful goodbyes. Our flight left at 10 pm, arriving in Edinburgh at 10 am their time. Our parents and sister #1, L, drove us to the airport. After a few hugs from each of them and a prayer for our safety from our dad we were off on the adventure of a lifetime.

blogging

2008-11-12T04:55:00.000-08:00

Before we left Canada, many people asked us if we were going to blog our travels, to which we replied 'no'. We have travel journals that we have been writing in since we got here to help us remember when and where things happened and a couple hundred pictures so far. We thought the journal would keep the memories alive until we got back to Canada and were able to put the pictures and stories together in SEVERAL scrapbooks. However, after reading a few different blogs we decided that it would be a good idea to put the stories and pictures together now! So, we hope you enjoy reading about our adventures in Scotland and Europe. Cheers!