The Journey

Monday, October 2 – Brandi Green

We caught the bus into town to visit Greyfriars Kirk. We saw the famous Greyfriars Bobby statue. Before you ask … yes, I did touch the nose, and yes I know you’re not supposed to. Hear me out though, it was just a light tap and I’m trying to cancel out some potential bad juju I got from touching a standing stone at Kilmartin. 

We walked around the cemetery looking at the old stones, admiring the changing leaves, and trying to sneak a picture of George Heriot’s School, the school that inspired Hogwarts. Another rule broken … Vacation Mom must be a bad influence on me.

After leaving Greyfriars, we wandered through Old Town and found Victoria Street, the street that Diagon Alley is based on. You are correctly sensing a Harry Potter theme here, I quite enjoyed the books. After a cup of hot chocolate at a cafe on Diagon Alley, these muggles headed back to bus and towards home.

“It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” ― Albus Dumbledore

Tuesday, October 3 – Brandi Green

Today was a low key day. I was not feeling great, so the only outing was a walk around the block to Regent Road Park. The neighborhood park had a nice path around that allowed views of Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace, Arthur’s Seat, and a gentleman feeding the magpies.

Back at home we ordered dinner in and binged on Downton Abbey.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir

Wednesday, October 4 – Brandi Green

Our last day in Edinburgh. With some struggle we manage to zip up our suitcases and store them by the door. Our host has been gracious to give us a late check out, so we head out for a bit more sightseeing. Our first stop is Dean Village. It’s as pretty as the pictures, but save for a coffee cart, there’s not much in the village. So we head back up the steep hill in search of lunch. Why is everything in Scotland up hill? We find a cafe, refuel and recharge for our final stop, Circus Lane. The wait for the bus was long, the bus ride was short, and we got off the bus just in time for a very cold downpour. The weather was our deciding factor to forego the walk to Circus Lane. We grabbed an Uber back to the apartment and headed to hotel where we would spend our last night in the city.

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

Arthur Rubinstein

Thursday, October 5 – Brandi Green

We rise early knowing we have a 17 hour travel day ahead of us.  At the end of that very long day we have family and fur babies waiting who we haven’t seen for 3 long weeks, so it makes the journey a bit more bearable. Plus I’ve heard rumor of a fantastic cheese sandwich on the flight to Amsterdam!

The past 3 weeks with my family have been nothing short of amazing and I’m so grateful for the memories. Despite the rain, rain, winds, and more rain, Scotland is still magical and moody and one of the most beautiful countries I have seen. I’ll definitely be back, but today…today, I’m glad to be touching down in my old Kentucky home.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.

Audrey Hepburn