We bummed around that night. It was Eloise's son Gregor's birthday so we had Domino's Pizza and watched some of the original Monty Python series.
Saturday morning Eloise and I went to a farmer's market to look around. It was a small market at Queens Park, less than a block from her house. The market was full of organic vegetables, meats, cheese, and jelly. I was impressed with how many people were there buying from the local farmers.
In the afternoon we went to Edinburgh to visit Tom, Eloise's oldest son who attends university there. Tom came to Galena for a month two summers ago so it was fun to catch up with him. We took the train from Glasgow and met Tom at the station. We walked around the Royal Mile and through St. Giles Cathedral. We toured the National Galleries art museum full of Scottish paintings. Then we walked around Rose Street where there is some shopping and ate at an Italian restaurant.
We rode back to Glasgow and concluded the night watching Moulin Rouge, one of my favorite movies. It was a good day.
Sunday was a day about Glasgow. Eloise drove me past where she and my mom used to go to school.
In front of mom's school
Then we went to the modern art gallery. I found the special exhibit interesting. It was about the GBLT community and how it is very active in the city. The exhibit was called sh[OUT] and "our vivid stories". For more info click here.
Peter and Gregor met up with us and ate lunch in the center. Then Peter, Gregor, and I went to see highland cows at a park in the middle of the city.
I met some of Grandpa's friend internationally.
Think Central Park) We also looked at the Burrel Collection. This man collected tons and tons of things and none of it really matched the other. He had lots of tapestry, Egyptian artifacts, and paintings.
Monday we drove north! We went to Callander where Peter went to his favorite second hand book shop where they sell rare books at inexpensive prices. The place smelled like old books, that's for sure. We continued driving and went to the ????????????? Castle where a majority of the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" movie was shot. It's remarkably complete (I think I say that about every ruins site!?). We had fun stormin' the castle!
Right before I stormed the castle!
Then right before we went to the hotel we stopped to go for a walk in the woods. It was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs.
After that we went to Dunkell where we were to stay at the Atholl Arms Hotel. Funny story. There are two Atholl Arms Hotels and we were at the Blair Atholl one, located about 15 miles away. So we got back in the car and drove to the rustic hotel. It was very nice.
We had dinner at the bar and I had spicy veggie chili with potatoes. It was yummy. I concluded with a toffee dessert, also yummy.
The next morning we were served a full Scottish breakfast. I actually didn't have one, I just had oatmeal and crackers and cheese, but Peter and Eloise enjoyed.
A Scottish breakfast
Then we went for a walk in Bruar Falls.
And that's when a migraine hit! It was pretty miserable because there was nothing I could do to stop it. It only got worse and we stopped at the nearest town and picked up some migraine medicine and went home. We later discussed that migraines are triggered by red wine, chocolate, cheese, and coffee. I had had all four of those things in the 24 hours before it hit!
Wednesday I met up with Wendy, my mom's host sister, and Mum, my mom's host mom, from when she was an exchange student in 1976-77. They took me to the People's Palace, a museum about the history of the people of Glasgow. I found it really interesting.
We then had lunch right at the museum. I really like Scottish lunches because they are light. It's usually just a cup of soup or a sandwich. I had a baked potato with veggie chili and a caramel shortcake. DELICIOUS!
I flew from Glasgow to London on Thursday because it was about $30 cheaper than taking the train and a better alternative to spending 10 hours on a bus. Fancy that.
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