It had been a long time since I had to travel on my own, but naturally I had taken the idiotically pointless route to Charleroi airport in Brussels before so I was prepared. I have to take the train to the train station, then a bus to the actual airport. Now normally this is fine, but it’s more just a pain in the ass timing wise to make sure you aren’t standing waiting for the bus for an hour. Okay, so I’m getting ahead of myself here, I got to the airport no problem and the flight was smoothe. I arrived in Edinburgh late afternoon and had to then find my hostel. I wasn’t meeting the girls until the next day, so I would have the night to myself. Cool. So I found the bus 100 that goes to town and jumped on. Turns out it’s about a 10-15 minute walk, but no worries, I had my directions and I was off. Of course though…being Scotland, the weather had forecasted rain. I am not kidding; it was sunny until the absolute second the plane touched the ground…then torrential downpour. Superb. Welcome to Scotland alright.
I was finally able to track down where the hostel was, which by the way, was up hills, down hills, ridiculous, but god it was pretty. I arrived and there were 2 girls in my room already, since I was alone we started chatting and they invited me to dinner. It’s that awkward first chat that you have, “so what are you guys doing tonight? Can I join you?” chat that I wasn’t too thrilled on having to do, but honestly, no problem, you chat and it wasn’t awkward at all. They invited me and were off. We went to a cute little pub called Deacon Brodie’s up the way and we got some dinner and drinks. Nothing major, but nice to have company for sure and Scottish food was good thus far. Once we got back we chatted for a while seeing as how I was going to be living in Berlin, and one of the girls was German living in Berlin. Perfect. She wrote me up the most killer list of all the shopping places, bars, clubs and the major things to see. How useful eh?
The next morning I wasn’t meeting up with the girls until later that day, so I had some time until around lunch to start touring around. Of course, in good ol Scotland style, it was raining so I grabbed the rain coat and the girls and I: Sarah & Anne heading up to the castle. Have you ever seen a Scottish castle? One of those things you see in pictures but don’t quite do any justice until you get there in person. Holy crap batman, it was sensational. Gorgeous, old, everything you would want it to be. And the rain, well didn’t exactly help for the spectacular view, but still, it was sensational anyways. We did a little bit of shopping and that’s when I got the call from Jess saying she was in St.Andrews square and less than five minutes from me. Excellent! I couldn’t wait to see Jess again, we had all had such a killer good time in Barcelona and Rome that I knew Scotland would be everything I was looking for and more.
And of course it was. We got some lunch at a fabulous place up the road from our hostel called Bobby’s bar. I got Haggis; can you believe it? I mean, of course I was going to try it…c’mon now. But when you hear how it’s prepared; well just don’t really think about it. Turns out a) it’s delicious and b) looks like ground beef with spices. Hmm.
As always, timing was perfect and as soon as we got back to the hostel before heading out to track down Jewels, she was at the hostel! I get a call from Jewels asking where we were and we said…S: ”in the hostel? Where are you!?” J: “What? I’m in the hostel!” S: “really? Were in the room! Where are you now? Did you leave?” J: “Umm…I’m at reception!” Of course she was. How perfect.
All ladies reunited, we were off. We walked down the royal mile (in the rain no less) and just started catching up. We rubbed the lucky toe and spit on the heart in front of the church. All wonderful. We got to a restaurant called Bella Italia at around 5 something-ish and decided we could get some dinner. Turns out we stayed and chatted for just over 4 hours. Record? I think so. Actual I know so…the waiter told us we were the longest guests in the restaurant…ever. Ha. Well what can I say? When you have a lot to catch up on…you have a lot to catch up on. And boy did we chat!
A very successful first day in Scotland for sure. The next morning we got up early and ate and showered and headed for the free tour at 11. So I guess it wasn’t really that early, but still. C’mon now. We met a bunch of Canadians (surprisingly from the Toronto area actually) and one Aussie and just clicked. The walking tour was fantastic. We went up the hill to the monument at the top which provided a phenomenal view, we saw the castle again, and the back streets which are honesty, the best part really. The tour ended at a bar called “The Last Drop” which ironically enough was where they brought people for a beer just before their hanging. So literally…their last drop. Ha. Well, regardless, it was sensational. We had several rounds of drinks complimented with some nachos and awesome convo with the guys.
Turns out one of the guys had been to Ottawa before at a great bar he loved but couldn’t remember the name. We started playing the name game. But also, it had been a good 5ish months since I had been home…and names start to slip. Well, I knew exactly which bar he was talking about but just couldn’t remember the name. We were talking about he same place for sure but he was convinced it was called “The Ball & Chain”. No way was it called that because I’m pretty sure that sounds like a strip club, but regardless I couldn’t think of it so I had to text Lauren from home. HEART & CROWN! We finally figured it out though; with a little help from Canada.
Turns out we were also in luck and witnesses a Bollywood movie called “Seasons” that was filming right outside the pub. We met the main actress in the washroom and she was a) gorgeous and b) incredibly nice. I will for sure be checking up on the movie later to see any press about it!
Unfortunately we had to rush out from the bar because we had booked…drum roll please…HIGH TEA! Woo! I was so damn excited about this! It’s like afternoon tea, but fancy and you have to dress up and wear heels. The guys got a huge kick out of it since it was raining but we had booked it and were determined to go. A nice tea break right after beer was never a bad idea eh? Nah, never. What a life. So we got back to the hostel, got all dolled up and then our hostel room door opens and IT’S THE GUYS! Ha! The three Canadians were in our room; at first we thought it was a joke, but how damn ironic eh? We saw Troy (our Aussie friend that was with us) outside of our hostel, and he helped us hail a cab. The homeless man outside the hostel even complimented us, maybe mentioning something about nice legs and we were off. We pull into the hotel where our High Tea was being held and our mouths dropped. It was beautiful!
Off the main road, and surrounded by trees it was beautiful. A man came right up to the taxi door and we each received our very own umbrella and were escorted to the front door. Wow service, we felt posh alright! We had some raspberry and elderflower tea I believe complimented with cucumber sandwiches, and some finger licking desserts. So damn elegant if I may say so myself. Being all grown up and such, we continued our chat fest and just loved life a little bit more than was already possible.
We arrived back to the hostel fully satisfied with our tea and snacks and were ready for the highly chatted about pub crawl. First things first, the guys in our room set up the most ridiculously funny clothes line since the dryer in the hostel was utter crap, but this became the biggest liability of zig zag wire going across our room. Rather humorous to us, but eventually had to come down. We had it up there for a good while though.
The pub crawl was free (fantastic) and of course our Canadians and the Aussie were present as well. We were to do 4 different bars and clubs and all I can say is it was a night to remember…forever. We had a freaking blast. The mix of great people, cheap drinks, drinking games in bars and some of the funniest stories of all time would help to make a hell of a good time. We started in what was called Oz bar, where Paul, one of the Canadians got shot glasses and we decided to do beer shots. Each time we would cheers to something ridiculous, a person, place or thing and just had a really good time. We then moved to another, and another, and another. I lost the girls in the last one but Troy and I managed to track them down at the hostel. Too funny. We continued to have fun at the hostel where we met some ridiculous Irish guys, and then Troy left at 4am-ish to catch his flight the next day to Paris. I’m pretty sure he was intoxicated while on the plane…actually I am positive he was. But we gave him a damn good send off.
We awoke the next morning with a ton of funny stories and a major appetite. Jewels and Jess had gone to this place once called Elephants & Bagels and we were determined to find it again. We finally did and boy was it worth the search. I had a bagel (which do not exist in France by the way) with salmon and cream cheese and damn goodness in my belly was what that was. In addition, it was raining again, of course. To celebrate our last day in Edinburgh we did some shopping and just enjoyed the weather. Ha. But honestly, it was so nice just walking around, window shopping, we purchases some books and were on our way again. We checked out of the hostel and managed to wake the guys up to say goodbye before we left. We caught a bus to Aberdeen (which was freaking freezing) and had to change a couple of times. Honestly though, back to the cold, this bus was freezing. Apparently all MegaBus buses are effing cold, but wowza, this was like “I can see my breath” cold.
Once in Aberdeen we took the treck back to the girl’s apartments, and boy was I happy to arrive. My feet were soaked, which doesn’t exactly help with the cold and the wet you know. I seriously debated buying some wellies, which in the long run I should have done, but you know, all was well. We had a nice warm night in compliments with pizza and a movie: 500 days of summer. Love love all of the above. We were exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before but hey, this is where Jewels went to school and I couldn’t wait to see more of it starting the next day.
Good ol Jewels got me some breakfast from her cafeteria the next morning (which I wasn’t allowed in) and we took it easy that morning catching up on SYTYCD (with 3 dancers, duh). It was now time to hit the shops in Aberdeen and they promised to take me to Primark: the most legendary of all stores. Like my love H&M but everything is less than 10 pounds….and super cute. Go figure. Yeah, well that shopping trip was not only fantastic but was not even that expensive for what we got. Heaven really.
We stopped at a place called Enigma, which we had dinner for 50% off to = amazing. Delicious too. Of course, some more chatting which was so nice. It had been so weird in Lille once all the girls had left so it was genuinely nice to just chat about everything and nothing in particular. We were back to Jewels rez before I knew it and compliments of delicious Vodka and crystal light (which Europe doesn’t have either) we indulged in our very own classy pre-drink. The plan for the night was a bar called JPs for cheap drinks then a club called Liquid. Woo hoo. Ladies night out. We met a bunch of other dancer girls at JPs and were at Liquid by 11 for our free entrance (yes yes yes). Needless to say we dominated the dance floor and had a freaking fantastic time. We danced, chatted and I was introduced to some of the guys from Jewels & Jess’ rez. Needless to say it was another late night but man oh man did we have fun. I hadn’t been out like that in a long time, just dancing you know?
The next morning we had a later breakfast, cough cough 11:30 and this began Jewels packing fiasco. She was going home to Canada on the 12th and that was the same day I would be taking the treck back to Lille. One of their good friends Lucas was leaving that day so we went to a handmade burger place which was delicious. Mine had mozzarella and pesto. Yumm. After that the girls and I did a nice bit of shopping, again, shocking right? And Jewels was finally able to show me the infamous Pandora store that we had long searched for in Rome that one time.
It was a pretty easy going rest of the day and we finished the night off with the local university of Aberdeen bar called “The Watering Hole”. We hung out with another one of their good friends Matt as well, and we ended up chilling in his room, late night talking and guitar playing. It was first year all over again and yet somehow, it was just as fantastic even 4 years later.
The next morning was our official, and Jewels & Jess too, which was so weird. For them especially, obviously. But what to do with a last full day in Aberdeen? We headed to have a photoshoot of campus obviously. God was their campus ever pretty. Just gorgeous, so much history, all the old buildings, just fabulous. I loved every bit of it. We got some awesome pictures and even stepped into a local bakery and had a donut. Needless to say, our mouths were salivating even after the fact. We spent the remainder of the day downtown. Jewels went for a run and Jess and I hung out while she did her last minute packing. Impressive really. She had been smart enough to only bring one suitcase which we lovingly called Tonka because the thing must be the size of Texas. Just enormous weighing I’m sure no less than 45 kgs. We had bought the mixings to a great homemade dinner (aka sandwiches) earlier that day and when Jewels got back from her run it was just delicious.
Now my favorite part: the beach. We made the nice walk down to the beach and just gorgeous. It was the perfect time of day, late afternoon, early night, so the sun was beginning to set but we still had sun on the beach. It was so cool to actual be at the very top bit of Scotland, in the North Sea. It was freezing, don’t get me wrong, but just beautiful. The tide coming in, silence along the ocean, it was just the most amazing feeling. I was so envious they could see this whenever they wanted. Lille was gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but no ocean. Calais was great too, but a long treck.
Anyways, we spent a few hours at the beach and concluded our eventful last day with a solid movie: The Proposal. Epic right?
Saturday morning was the morning of truth: the girls both had to be out of rez by 11ish and I was only catching the bus back to the airport in the early afternoon, and Jess at 7 that night. We were going to chill the day at the station, since I had Big Blue and she had Tonka (our bags, remember?) to accompany us. Not prime for travelling the city. But we were up early, breakfast, showered and out of rez for Jewels at 915. I saw Colleen again (we met in Rome) and the two girls were off like lightning. We finally made the treck of our own to the bus station and finished our lovely time together by having an Italian feast at one of the restaurants. Delicious. So I managed to locate my bus and was off.
Turns out what I thought was going to be one change bus wise, was 3 changed. Pardon? Right. Okay sure, let me just stay awake to ensure that. The woman driver was a complete doll and made sure to come get me when it was time for me to get off since well, I had no idea that I was in the middle of effing nowhere in Scotland. Beauty. All went well of course since I followed the directions and I managed somehow to get to the Edinburgh Airport and on my flight. Once again, ryanair pulled through with a smooth flight. Fantastic.
This was to be the first of 2 all nighters that I would be spending at the Charleroi Airport in Brussels. I got in around 830ish, and by then there were no trains, car, buses, nada going back to Lille. An all nighter it would be. I got some snacks and drinks and found my place. Book in hand I spent until 6am reading, where I could finally catch the bus back to the station to get a train back to Lille. Wonderful.
Honestly though, it really wasn’t as bad as you would think. It was super busy which was comforting, and the water/diet coke pulled me through the night. Of course texting Petey also helped too. Duh. But I took a coffee break and made some friends, so around 2:45 am I actually found myself laughing with the people around me and then indulged back into my book: Eat, Pray, Love. What a fantastic book, but that’s another post of its own. It was nice to have some time for me reading.
Anyways, Scotland was better than expected and I was so fortunate to be able to see Jewels and Jess again in their own territory. I will absolutely be going back to the North to the ocean again.
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