| SCOTLAND VACATION 2004 May 18 - May 30, 2004 JOURNAL ENTRY 16 entry begun on May 29th, 2004 at 11:24 Newcastle Time It was a bit more than an hour and a half drive into Edinburgh to our next destination, a paint store that was once a chapel. In fact, it was in this chapel that my grandparents were married. Taking a picture or two there with Ginger was a top goal of the trip for me, to show to my grandparents when we returned. When we arrived at Libby's we were greeted with hugs and handshakes (and glasses of Champagne) from Libby and her family. We were shown our room, which Libby's daughter had very nicely and graciously given up for the night. After putting our bags up into the room, we went downstairs to gather in the lounge to chat. Family and friends trickled in throughout the next while, particularly Libby's twin sister Jacka and her family. We showed our pictures from Arizona around, and I finished my second glass of champagne and most of a bottle of Stella beer before we had even sat down for dinner. I was feeling festive, I suppose. Dinner was amazing. We started with a salad of lettuce, spinach, strawberries, and some sliced vegetable that seemed like carrot dyed red and flavored with bacon, all with a light salty dressing. Along with the salad we were served crackers and melba toast with our choice of homemade hummus or chicken liver pate. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio with my main dish, which was salmon baked in a bacon wrap, set in a creamy sauce with a side of french crisp green beans. It was pure dead brilliant, very likely the best meal of the trip for both myself and Ginger. After dinner I had a glass of Bailey's and whiskey and settled in for a few more hours of chatting with family. I was able to speak with everyone but not speak as much as I would have liked with anyone. At about midnight we cut and ran, since we knew the days of traveling we had ahead of us, lugging bags all over train stations, tube stops, and airports. The family very reluctantly let us get to bed, but not before several rounds of hugs. We went upstairs to our room and got ready for bed. Ginger asked me to go back down to ask Mick when we were getting up in the morning. When I got back down everyone cheered and thought I was coming back to party. It took a few more hugs and a dance with my Cousin Jacka to convince everyone to let me go back to bed. IMAGES FROM JOURNAL ENTRY 16 ---> |