Playing Tour Guide

abson and lara here!  edinburgh!  aberdeen!  curry!  loch ness! urquhart! exhausted!

Okay, so that's not enough detail for such a great few days.  =D  So here's the scoop. 

I was so blessed to get to see Abson and Lara again-- twice in one year!  They were back in the UK for Abson's PhD graduation (congrats, my friend!), and they took a few days to come up and visit me in Aberdeen.  It. Was. Great.  And It. Was. Exhausting.  But even that was great. 

So they came up in late June, I think... I'm all out of sorts now with my dates.  Anyway.  They flew up from London and I met them at the airport.  It was so exciting to have people coming to visit!  It's been too long since I've had visitors (hint, hint!).  The first day we just hung out in Aberdeen.  We went shopping at the beach (hence the hat-trying-on in the first photos), walked down to Footdee, and wandered back home via Castlegate and the city centre.  That evening, we went to Paige and RitaBekah's for Khyber Pass curry (the best curry in all of Scotland).  It was a really fun evening, and we had so many connections in common.  I love it when that happens.  Friends who know friends through other friends... it was like six degrees of John Wesley.  Actually, it was more like six degrees of Johnny Winkle, because we all knew him before we all knew each other. ;)  And we all were sad that Wes hadn't made it, as we all know and like Wes.  He stood us up, shame on him, and Liz was not happy about it at all.  =D  Seriously, though.  It was great to spend the evening with friends old and new, who are all somehow connected.  And to enjoy a lot of laughter and some fabulous curry. 

The next day, we rented a car and headed over to Inverness and Urquhart Castle.  This is one of my favourite places to show visitors-- it's in a gorgous setting on Loch Ness, it's a great preserved ruin, and it's just so darn cool.  It was a long day, with a long drive after a couple of nights of very little sleep (thanks to anticipation and visiting late into the night), but we had a brilliant day for it.  The weather was warm and lovely, we had a picnic on the shores of the loch, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I have a couple of pictures up there of our day-- see for yourself how perfect it was! 

The third day, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn to catch the Megabus to Edinburgh.  Our weather was not quite as perfect, but still it was worth it to spend time in the capital.  We explored the castle, the Royal Mile, and did a good bit of shopping.  We got rained on, but that's got to happen at least once on a visit to Scotland.  =)  When it wasn't raining, however, it was h.o.t. hot.  I mean it.  Sweaty hot.  I was dying.  Which means I am well and truly Scottish, as it was probably only the mid-70s.  Fahrenheit, of course.  Somehow I managed to not get many photos... I know Abson and Lara have some, but I don't have copies of them yet.  Perhaps I'll post them later, if I get them. 

That was the last day.  We stayed up late visiting and packing and just generally enjoying each other, before we had to part again.  The next morning we got up decently early, and I walked them to the bus stop so they could head back to the airport and London before going on home to Jamaica.  I was so sad to have them leave, but it was worth it to have them here, even for a few short days.  Thanks for coming to see me, Abson and Lara!  I love y'all!  Hopefully I'll get to return the favour and come visit y'all sometime soon!  =D