A couple nights ago I was enjoying dinner in Edinburgh with my new Australian friends from the Scotland tour, Harriet and Kristen. We had a funny exchange that went something like this:
Me: "I was wandering around this street earlier and saw a sign on a bar door that said 'No stag or hen parties. No football colors. No fancy dress.' I get that stag and hen parties are bachelor and bachelorette parties and that football colors aren't allowed because of fighting amongst rivals, but I don't get the 'No Fancy Dress' thing. I'm picturing a man in a tux with a woman in an evening gown being turned away. It's like 'Your money is no good here. bwahahaha.' I was chuckling to myself as I thought of the randomness of this when people dressed like that could probably afford a pint or two."
Kristen: hahaha "You don't have that saying in America? Fancy dress?"
Me: "Uh-oh. No. What does it mean?"
Kristen: "Costumes, but I do like where you were heading with your thoughts."
There have been more than a few times when I've been tripped up by terminology, but I still love my random side thoughts as I learn them all. :)
I'm in York, England now. I just got here yesterday and promptly took a 6 hour nap, called my Dad for Father's Day, and then went to bed for the night. I'm not going to lie. It was amazing. The tour in Scotland was absolutely wonderful, but it's left me more than a bit tired. I did a 5 day tour of the Highlands and Isle of Skye through MacBackpackers (http://www.macbackpackers.com/), and I absolutely loved it. You should all check them out whenever you're in Scotland. They're run by a sole Scottish guy instead of a conglomerate of people from other random places, and the guides wear kilts. :) hahaha We stayed in Inverness, Kyleakin (on the Isle of Skye), and Oban. I have lots of amazing pictures of churches, castles, monuments, lochs (lakes), mountains, battlefields, graveyards, rivers, waterfalls, and on and on...but some of the best moments and memories were of just experiencing all these places and experiencing them with our group of 8. Andrew and Helena are married and originally from Australia, although they've been traveling for the past year. Harriet is from Australia, as is Kristen, except that she lives in Edinburgh now. Jasmine and her Mom are from China, and Mun is from South Korea. I especinally loved the unique way Neil (our tour guide) told us of folklore and legend along with some real true history of the region. He's been doing it for almost 7 years, and I completely shocked him by answering a question right as we pulled into a town:
Neil: "We're now in Fort William. What person do you think this town is named after?"
Me: "William of Orange"
Neil: "What?!?!? How did you know that?"
Me: "Because we've been talking about him for 4 days now..."
Neil: "That's incredible you put that together. I don't think anybody's ever gotten that right in all the time I've been doing this tour."
hahaha - Up until that point, I don't think he knew how closely I was paying attention. I love listening to stories, fiction or not, and I especially love learning about history this way. So anyway, everyone should check them out when you get a chance. We also got suckered into some amazing walks through forests and mountains, and I loved every minute of the challenges. One of my favorite memories was getting lost hiking through some mountain range with a hand drawn map from Neil. We just sat down on the path, looked at each other, and sent a German guy to go scope out the potential alternative. He waves us around to the other path, and Harriet gets up in her rented Wellies (rain boots) that were 2 sizes too small and just plainly goes..."I hate my life." I'll never forget that moment. We had some great laughs through the days. :)
Today I spent the day wandering around York. I took in pretty much all of York Minster and the downtown shopping area (It's sad to not have money or room in my luggage to buy clothes), and tomorrow I'm off to explore the castle and see a play tomorrow night. Wednesday it's off to Iceland. I'm so excited I can't see straight. My hotel here is about 2 miles from the city centre and on the walk home I had a thought that I think I'm the happiest I've been in quite awhile (aside from quality family and close friend time back home). I started to think of that song..."If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...*clap* *clap*" and actually started chuckling out loud. So I'm sure you can picture me...chuckling, smiling ear to ear, limping to my hotel on a bum ankle and just having the grandest of times.
Love, Love
Me: "I was wandering around this street earlier and saw a sign on a bar door that said 'No stag or hen parties. No football colors. No fancy dress.' I get that stag and hen parties are bachelor and bachelorette parties and that football colors aren't allowed because of fighting amongst rivals, but I don't get the 'No Fancy Dress' thing. I'm picturing a man in a tux with a woman in an evening gown being turned away. It's like 'Your money is no good here. bwahahaha.' I was chuckling to myself as I thought of the randomness of this when people dressed like that could probably afford a pint or two."
Kristen: hahaha "You don't have that saying in America? Fancy dress?"
Me: "Uh-oh. No. What does it mean?"
Kristen: "Costumes, but I do like where you were heading with your thoughts."
There have been more than a few times when I've been tripped up by terminology, but I still love my random side thoughts as I learn them all. :)
I'm in York, England now. I just got here yesterday and promptly took a 6 hour nap, called my Dad for Father's Day, and then went to bed for the night. I'm not going to lie. It was amazing. The tour in Scotland was absolutely wonderful, but it's left me more than a bit tired. I did a 5 day tour of the Highlands and Isle of Skye through MacBackpackers (http://www.macbackpackers.com/), and I absolutely loved it. You should all check them out whenever you're in Scotland. They're run by a sole Scottish guy instead of a conglomerate of people from other random places, and the guides wear kilts. :) hahaha We stayed in Inverness, Kyleakin (on the Isle of Skye), and Oban. I have lots of amazing pictures of churches, castles, monuments, lochs (lakes), mountains, battlefields, graveyards, rivers, waterfalls, and on and on...but some of the best moments and memories were of just experiencing all these places and experiencing them with our group of 8. Andrew and Helena are married and originally from Australia, although they've been traveling for the past year. Harriet is from Australia, as is Kristen, except that she lives in Edinburgh now. Jasmine and her Mom are from China, and Mun is from South Korea. I especinally loved the unique way Neil (our tour guide) told us of folklore and legend along with some real true history of the region. He's been doing it for almost 7 years, and I completely shocked him by answering a question right as we pulled into a town:
Neil: "We're now in Fort William. What person do you think this town is named after?"
Me: "William of Orange"
Neil: "What?!?!? How did you know that?"
Me: "Because we've been talking about him for 4 days now..."
Neil: "That's incredible you put that together. I don't think anybody's ever gotten that right in all the time I've been doing this tour."
hahaha - Up until that point, I don't think he knew how closely I was paying attention. I love listening to stories, fiction or not, and I especially love learning about history this way. So anyway, everyone should check them out when you get a chance. We also got suckered into some amazing walks through forests and mountains, and I loved every minute of the challenges. One of my favorite memories was getting lost hiking through some mountain range with a hand drawn map from Neil. We just sat down on the path, looked at each other, and sent a German guy to go scope out the potential alternative. He waves us around to the other path, and Harriet gets up in her rented Wellies (rain boots) that were 2 sizes too small and just plainly goes..."I hate my life." I'll never forget that moment. We had some great laughs through the days. :)
Today I spent the day wandering around York. I took in pretty much all of York Minster and the downtown shopping area (It's sad to not have money or room in my luggage to buy clothes), and tomorrow I'm off to explore the castle and see a play tomorrow night. Wednesday it's off to Iceland. I'm so excited I can't see straight. My hotel here is about 2 miles from the city centre and on the walk home I had a thought that I think I'm the happiest I've been in quite awhile (aside from quality family and close friend time back home). I started to think of that song..."If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...*clap* *clap*" and actually started chuckling out loud. So I'm sure you can picture me...chuckling, smiling ear to ear, limping to my hotel on a bum ankle and just having the grandest of times.
Love, Love
And you have now made me very happy thinking about you being very happy. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having a great time Rachel! You always seem to be in motion; keep the stories coming. (We ran into the 2 prong converter 3 prong computer plug last year in Australia. I just removed the third prong . . . worked like a charm).
ReplyDeleteTim