Doune Castle!

What?! A blog title with an exclamation point? Heck yes! If you don't know already, Doune Castle is the castle that they filmed a lot of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at. This castle is the main reason we flew into Glasgow and not somewhere else.  I really wanted to go there.  Yesterday we got up and took a train to Stirling, then took a bus to Doune and had a short walk to the castle.  It was fantastic I tell you hwhat (insert Hank Hill voice here). I got the few manditory pictures of the castle and of where many of the scenes took place.  I'd also like to thank my photographer Grant.

That was a fantastic day and worth the train tickets back and forth.  I'll just have to remember to show Courier Mike the pictures as I know he'll enjoy them.

And now for the part of the blog I've been wanting add for a while now.  This one is just for mom, who has, throughout the years blessed me with lots of good advice like how to fold you towels just so (she will go back and re-fold them), and also advice on cooking and baking (or when the recipe says just add the egg yolk and she just says "aww screw it" and puts the whole egg in), and all the other motherly advice throughout the years. I have one confession that I wanted to say while there is an ocean between us....deep breath....I have...picked up a hitchhiker.

It was last year I believe and it was on my way back from Saskatoon (after I bought that Queen CD). I came across someone on the side of road with their bike sitting beside them. I slowed down and picked them up cause I was thinking the bicycle may be broken or something, and also that the hitchhiker looked like an older woman.  We took the front wheel off the bike and slide it into the back of my Soul. The hitchhiker turned out to be a like 60 year old woman named Lynn. It was quite the interesting ride back to Prince Albert where I dropped her off.

Haha! I'll have to tell you the rest of the story at some point. It's a good'n.

That's it for now. We got to Edinburgh today and have a few days here before we head to Belgium.

"Supreme Executive Power Derives from a Mandate from the Masses

Not some farcical aquatic ceremony."

Quote doesn't really match the post, but I'm in Scotland so I'm just going to leave it.  That and Monty Python makes me laugh.

So we got to Glasgow earlier today after 3 flights and many hours in airports.
There we no major hiccups on the way here.  Just the usual panicked thought while going through customs that they are going to deny us entry for some reason.  I think maybe I've just watched to much Border Security.  We took a taxi from the airport to the hostel after we landed.  The taxi driver was super nice and gave us some suggestions.  He told us to take the subway that is just around the corner from the hostel.  We actually did do that and got off on one of the stops that sounded interesting and walked around for a while. We got back on the subway and came back, it was kinda fun.

We did some more wandering around town for a while and decided we both can't get used to driving on the other side of the road. Supper was actually some sandwiches that we made with groceries we bought at a store close by.  Which we figure is a little more healthy than the Mcdonalds we had for lunch. We even bought food for breakfast tomorrow as well.

Tomorrow it is on to Doune Castle which I'm totally looking forward too.

7 Hours And Counting.....

It's just over 7 hours until we leave and what do you think I'm doing? Sleeping? Why ever would I do that? Haha.

Today was full of packing, checking and double checking all of our stuff. I do think we have everything. If we don't, well it's not like we are going anywhere to crazy, so we can just buy what we need.

Talk to you guys from the other side of the pond!

On second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

Not Camelot, but the next best thing.

So if you can't guess by now, I'm going on another trip.  I'll pause for you to collect yourself after that bombshell....

This time though, I'm not going alone which will be a little different.  In two weeks my cousin Grant and I are headed to Europe for a couple of weeks.  Our first stop will be Doune Castle (I believe that's what it's called) which is where a large chunk of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed.  I am really looking forward to that part cause of you don't know by now, that is definitely my favourite movie.  That is also the only part of the trip where I don't care if Grant likes it or not, we're going. Haha.

The plan after that is a little more of Scotland, a ferry ride to Belgium and then we will make our way to Frankfurt, Germany and fly back.  Although on the way home we are stopping in Reykjavik, Iceland for just over 24 hours.  I'm really looking forward to that part as well. I've heard Iceland is beautiful.

Well, I'm actually looking forward to the whole trip.  I've been wanting to do something like this for pretty much forever.  And it will be fun to have some company on the trip.  I would have no problem going by myself but I'm excited to enjoy the trip with someone else.

That's all I got for now, watch this space for more..

We Will Remember Them

Well I feel like I should update this since I have gone on a little trip. I am currently sitting in the Ottawa airport waiting to board my flight back home.  I've only been here for 3 nights, but they were memorable. This trip came up quickly compared to my other ones that I had booked and planned for a long time.

I've wanted to come to Ottawa for the rememberance day service for a few years now. Whether I've ever actually said that out loud or not is a different story. But after the events in October, the 2 Canadian solders killed on home soil that kind of decided it for me. I had to be here.

I wasn't sure where I should stay, I didn't really want to stay in a hostel but hotels are expensive. After deciding on a hotel, my wicked awesome family gave me my birthday present which was to pay for my hotel stay. I can truthfully say it is definitely the thought that counts and not the fact that they just gave me money.

I got here on Sunday afternoon and after staying in the airport for a bit (I've said before, landing is starting to not agree with me, which sucks) I took a taxi to my hotel. I didn't do to much that night, although I did plan out my next day.

Monday I woke up and was out of my room by 9:30 am and headed to Parliament Hill. Went through security there and went on the free tour that they have. That was actually really awesome. I then walked to the Canadian War Museum and spent probably 2 hours there. That was also super interesting.

On the way back I stopped at the National War Memorial. Even then, a day before rememberance day, it was still powerful to be there.

On November 11th I was up at 7:15 am and at the War Memorial by 8:15 am.i know, it's a shocker that I am up that early willingly. Is a good thing I was there at that time though as it filled up fast. It was warm-ish though which is good news. I'm not sure what security usually, but the cops, RCMP and military were all over the place. I saw some snipers on the roof-tops around, police dogs and the like.

When the service actually started, I was right across the street from where the PM, Governor General, the Silver Cross Mother and Princess Anne got out. The moment of silence was powerful and the speech by the Governor General was particularly memorable.

I could go on for longer, but this is not as great to type out on my phone, so I'll just finish it up soon.

When they cleared the War Memorial and let us go up and place our poppies on the tomb of the unknown soldier is something I'll not soon forget. Out of the 50,000 people that were there, I'm thinking 95% of them stayed to put there poppies on the tomb.  It was incredible.

I went to the War Memorial the next day to see if anything was there still. The poppies are still lying there, along with the wreaths, letters, flowers and notes of rememberance.  One letter in particular caught my made me tear up.

See You Later Toronto

That week went by fast that's for sure. And was it ever fun. After sleeping a lot on day one of being here, I was pretty busy the rest of the week.

First was the Blue Jays Game on Sunday. They lost but it was still awesome to be in the SkyDome.  Next day I went shopping at the Eaton Centre which was sweet.

The day after was the Royal Ontario Museum. That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I spent all day there and probably could've gone back.

Wednesday was the Hockey Hall of Fame.  That was the other highlight of my trip. I got there at 11am and left 10 minutes before they closed. It was awesome.

Thursday I did the CN Tower. I'm not afraid of heights, but that was a little scary. I spent the extra money and went up the other elevator to the higher level (sky pod they called it). It was fantastic. I also stopped at the aquarium that is right beside the CN Tower because I had heard good things about it. It was surprisingly good to, a little expensive though.

Friday I really didn't have many plans so I went back to the Eaton Centre and did some shopping.

That's pretty much it. It will be nice to get home and eat good food as I've been living off of Tim Hortons and Subway for the last week. My flight leaves at 6:40 PM tonight so I have a little time to waste before I leave.

Toronto

Well, I said I'd travel again. And here I am, not Ghana, but it's something. Just flew into Toronto this morning and will be here for a week. Why here?  It's easy, Hockey Hall of Fame.  My flight this morning was good, if you leave out the part where I had to run to the gate, then yeah, it was good.

I was thinking on the flight over here that I have been on quite a few flights in total, so I wanted list them:

Saskatoon to Toronto
Toronto to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Rome

Paris to Toronto
Toronto to Saskatoon

Saskatoon to Calgary
Calgary to Frankfurt
Frankfort to Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa to Accra

Accra to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Calgary
Calgary to Saskatoon

Saskatoon to Calgary
Calgary to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Accra

Accra to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Toronto
Toronto to Saskatoon

Saskatoon to Toronto
..... And next Saturday will be Toronto back to Saskatoon

That's 19, soon to be 20. Wow. And yes, I did have to go back and count.  And after all those flights, I'm liking the landings less and less. Taking off and the flights themselves are fine. But whatever, as long as I get there in one piece we're all good.

It was super weird taking a taxi and not haggling over the price, not fearing for your life, and actually wearing a seat belt. I kinda missed it. But it was easier than I thought to get a taxi, they were waiting right where your walk out of the doors of the airport.

My plans for this week so far are, Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower and maybe a Jays game if I can make it. Past that, I haven't really decided yet. I have one full day dedicated to the HHOF because that's what I'm going to need. And that's also the reason I'm going to go alone as most people that I would go with would be way to fast. I'm gonna need a long time with no one rushing me.

I think I may actually update this thing this week while in here. So stay tuned.