It has been a bittersweet week. We did the transitioning from Dublin to Scotland and from having the company of friends to having only the company of each other. See, none of these things are bad in any way (except for maybe the dirt and puke and blood that is all over the streets in Dublin) so it is hard to decide how to feel about it all.
Our week started with 4 days off of work and a whole lot of down time and extra time to hang out with Chelsea and Jason. We spent our last few days in Dublin doing nothing too remarkable, but just relaxing, sleeping in, and enjoying the company of one another. We played a lot of Monopoly Deal and tried to play Euchre, but Chelsea didn’t like the learning process too much. We drank a lot of hot cocoa and coffee at Starbucks and we walked along the Liffey one last time together. Then on Sunday night we decided that rather than spending 40 euro for 2 taxis in the morning (luggage) we would just take the night bus to save some money and spend our last night in the airport. We packed our bags and left the B&B at about 11, and we said our goodbyes to Derek, who we got to know pretty well by the time our month was over.
Spending the night in the airport may or may not have been a mistake. I mean, we did save some cash, but we were all exhausted and somewhat grumpy which makes for a terrible evening and an even worse way to end our time with Chelsea and Jason. We snoozed sitting at the tables at McDonalds and ate because we had nothing else to do. Fun, right? Finally when 4:30 rolled around we could get going. Chelsea had an awful surprise when she couldn’t have 2 carry-ons and she had to check one for 40 euro. We checked a bag with Jason that cost us 40 euro as well. Good thing we didn’t take that taxi.
At security I had a terrible incident. I forgot to take out the pocket knife that Jared gave me from my purse. So after the guard searched my bag about three times and finally found the knife I got some scowls, and a short lecture. He said that this time I will not be arrested but that I will have a warning in my name that will be on my record forever in Ireland. He told me that if I ever come to Ireland again and bring an item like that through security again I will be arrested. The security guard took the knife over to the other officers and none of them could figure out how to open it, which had Jared laughing. After about 20 seconds they finally figured it out and turns out it is an illegal knife in Ireland to have. So, I was really embarrassed and mad at myself for not remembering it was in my purse. And, I don’t get it back, sadly. I did ask though. Ha! I thought they might ship it to me, but since it is illegal he looked at me like I was an idiot and that made me mad so I said “Well, I hope you enjoy my knife” (since I know he was going to keep it for himself – it is a really cool knife). And then we were walking away and Jared said “If you’d have asked me to pack your purse I’d be on my way to prison right now. “ I realized that is probably so true… so I am at least grateful that I was the one with the knife… even though the whole security situation put me in an even worse mood.
Also, we collected vouchers throughout our trip and we kept all of our receipts because we were told that at the airport we would get all of our tax money back. Well, the office didn’t open up until 7 AM and our plane was leaving at 6:40. We found the drop-off box after searching for a while, and there were no envelopes and the machines where you entered your information were broken – all four of them. So, we spent so much time finding our receipts and looking forward to getting the VAT tax back, and turns out it was all for nothing.
After what seemed like a never-ending string of bad events we then had to said goodbye to Chelsea and Jason and then finally we boarded the plane and slept until we landed, which was only one hour. We were in a haze when we got off the plane so we sluggishly grabbed our baggage and headed out to customs – or so we thought. We ended up taking the wrong hallway, but the sign was very misleading because it said “No Claims – Coming from the EU” which was true for us. We had no claims and we were coming from the European Union. Turns out we should have taken the other hallway so when we realized we hadn’t gone through customs and we were out we asked a guard what we should do. She said that we couldn’t go back and then really had no clue what to do from there, so we just got a taxi and now we are in Scotland without a stamp on our passport! Sad. Jared is actually much more upset about it than I am.
We hopped in a taxi and took the drive from the airport to our flat. The taxi driver was very kind, but he didn’t have kind things to say when we mentioned visiting Glasgow. Guess the Edinburg-ites have something against Glasgow… he said something about city rivalry. After about a 20 minute ride and a $20 fare we arrived, woke up the landlords (oops!) and made our way into our room. We took showers and then slept for the whole day! After waking up we ate some pizza, which is our staple food of the trip, and then went to the grocery story which made my day. We share our house with 4 other people. An Asian married couple, 1 girl from Germany who is doing an internship here, and another lady who is doing historical research for a couple of weeks. She is from Jersey. We have full access to the kitchen which is amazing for me. I made fajitas last night! I actually got to cook. First time in 5 weeks. I never thought I would miss cooking like I do. Everyone here is really nice and respectful of our things and the flat is in the city center right next to a beautiful, green park. The building we are staying in is really old and has a spiral staircase up to our flat. The flat itself has been remodeled but the old charm is still here with intricate crowing on the ceilings and dark chocolate hard wood floors. The walls are all light colors like baby blue and sage green and all of the trim is white. The kitchen is amazing with cabinets that slide out and tons of storage space. I pretty much want to live here.
Since we have been here we have done a whole lot of nothing really. We went on a walk yesterday and I went on a short run around the park for about 30 minutes (which was so fantastic). I met a girl from Wales who lives in the flat upstairs. She had the most adorable accent and when I held the door open from her she said “Cheers!” which was probably why I thought her dialect was so adorable. We have been scoping out the city some so that when we are ready to actually stop laying around and snuggling 24/7 we will know where to go. It is like we are on our honeymoon again. We haven’t been alone for more than 20 minutes in 5 weeks so the last two days have been so fantastic.
From what I can tell of Scotland I love it here. I love our beautifully decorated flat and our comfortable bed. I especially love the huge kitchen. I love that Edinburgh population is only 500,000 and that it is not such a large city that we feel swallowed. I love the old buildings and the school uniforms that all of the students here wear. We saw Edinburgh Castle today (10 minute walk from our flat), and I love it as well. The men in kilts are definitely something to look at. More than anything though, I love being here with Jared. Just Jared. I realize how easy it is to take all of the time that we have together for granted. We seriously spend almost every moment of every day together, which might seem like it could get really annoying, but for the last 2 days I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If I want to get anything done tonight I have got to stop babbling. But before I go I have to add that Edinburgh is moving in pretty close to Barcelona and I have seen so little! I think I am so fond of it because I feel like I am in a Harry Potter book… with the school uniforms and old buildings and just being in the UK. I know that makes me like mega-nerd, but who cares. I don’t.
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