We had 4 days off for Christmas. And, well, we kind of wanted to get out of London considering all transportation is shut down on Christmas Day. So we went to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Me.
Ben.
Valerie.
Jordan.
On Christmas Eve eve we journeyed out to Victoria station to await our 9 hour bus ride. Midway there I realized we forgot our passports. Yay. So Valerie and I went ahead to get a good spot in line for the bus (because I was NOT about to sit to a stranger for 9 hours). It was a hilarious sight to see me to attempt to carry 2 massive suitcases up some stairs. I guess there was some Christmas spirit in London because two men stopped to help us carry our stuff.
We managed to all make it to the bus station and after a good fight to keep our first in line spots, we were all set on the 9 hour overnight bus ride. It wasn't a good sleep at all, BUT when I awoke it was to beautiful white snowy Scottish hills all around me!
I was so excited about a white Christmas!
CHRISTMAS EVE DAY CONSISTED OF:
Walking a mile to our hostel in the snow, luggage in tow. Checking into our hostel and then exploring the city. This included many Harry Potter sights where J.K. Rowling wrote the books. We enjoyed breakfast at The Elephant room where she wrote the first books. Ben had a full Scottish breakfast.
Haggis. (mix of the nastiest parts of animals and oatmeal)
Black Pudding. (not quite sure but there's blood in it. sick)
The real deal.....
I stuck with a chorizo/egg panini and a beautifully crafted soya latte.
Then we walked around in a graveyard to try and find the Tom Riddle grave. We finally did :)
By this time we were all exhausted but kept on trucking. We walked down the royal mile, enjoyed watching some bagpipe playing, browsed a German Christmas Market, etc.
Oh, and for those of you who don't know my maiden name is McKinney, which is Scottish. So I found our plaid and bought material to make a blanket.
We came back to the hostel and I made some Bubble bread and popcorn. Ben and I just stayed inside and watched some Christmas movies. I went to bed a little sad and yes, cried a little bit for not being in the U.S. with the fam...but all in all it was a pretty good day.
CHRISTMAS DAY
I woke up to see a long black sock hanging from my bed and then Ben telling me some elves had come in the middle of the night. (The hostel workers literally came into our room and hung socks filled with goodies on all of our beds. Kind of creepy it sounds, I know, but it was fun to wake up to).
Ben and I got ready for the day and went to St. Giles, the 2nd oldest building in the city, for a morning Christmas service. It was a conservative Anglican service but we really enjoyed it. The inside of the cathedral was absolutely gorgeous.
After the service, we walked back to the hostel and it was time for breakfast and presents! I warmed up the bubble bread and made some starbucks coffee (thanks Mom for sending that!) and then we opened presents next to the fire. One of my favorite gifts was an owl hat (pictures on facebook) from Ben!
Ben and I decided to spend the majority of our Christmas day hiking up to the very top of a dormant volcano (Arthur's seat). Keep in mind that it was very snowy and icy. It took quite awhile to get to the top, maybe an hour or so. Getting down seemed to take longer since it was so icy. Honestly, we pretty much skiied down on our boots haha. And we also rolled down the hill (video on facebook). It was fun.
But I was FREEZING! and it took an hour in the freezing cold to walk back to the hostel.
When we got back and ready for the evening, I found Jordan was talking to some of the guys from the hostel around the fire. There was a LOT of talk happening. They were basically grilling us about our faith, what we believe in, the Bible and its accuracy, Jesus, etc. It was AWESOME!!!! By the end of the conversation, everyone we talked to left telling us that we were different than "Christians" that they had met. I've decided that I am going to be much more careful about calling myself a Christian because for a lot of people in this world, that is a negative thing. They picture a bible thumping screamer on the side of the street, condemning people. Anyway, it was a highlight of our time there. Some major seeds were planted.
It didn't seem like Christmas at all, truly. But thankfully our friend Rebecca (who lives in Edinburgh) invited us over to her house for a few hours that night and when we arrived it totally felt like Christmas! Her house was so cozy and warm with a Christmas tree. We were served tea and shortbread (very British) and opened Christmas crackers (also very British). It was super fun. And we had jambalaya for dinner.
Thats right.
Jambalaya as my Christmas meal.
Beat that.
It was so good considering we had only eaten breakfast.
So this Christmas was different. But it was good. A good time....
Hope your Christmas was good as well. :)
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