Bagpipes, emo cows, whiskey and other Scottish experiences...

So currently I'm writing from a beautiful house in Beauvais, France.

France. I'm in France.

Anyway, moving back in time to bonnie Scotland where I believe we were just traveling to Glasgow. Now as a city I wasn't super impressed by Glasgow (sorry Scottish friends) but the place that we stayed in was absolutely gorgeous.  It was an old converted house that to my understanding was owned by a few of the residents and the rest of the room rented out (like the room we stayed in).  We were met by Felix the renewable energy engineer and Toby (I'm not sure what he did).  They showed us around the place, gave us the Wifi password and Netflix password and then gave us a map of Glasgow with places highlighted that were good to eat. After that welcome we settled in for the night ready for our exciting day to follow, slightly exhausted from the hike we had done that morning of Arthur's Seat. 

We awoke. Which was good because we had a tour booked that day to go to (drum roll please)... the Highlands.  This included Glencoe, Loch Lomond, and Loch Ness (cue gasp of awe).  We walked into Glasgow and successfully found our minibus.  With the sound of bagpipes coming through the speakers we started our tour with our tour guide; Grant. First place we drove pass was Loch Lomond. This was the first loch I've seen and it didn't disappoint. Even our brief look driving by was enough to fill the soul with awe of creation.

Loch Lomond 

We then moved on to start driving through the highlands, stopping regularly in order to have photo opportunities.  I can't tell you much about the places but I think that pictures speak louder than words, so prepare to be bombarded. 

 That's snow... I was freaking out! 

Glencoe

We then got to Glencoe where the sad tale of the MacDonald massacre was told to us.  It was hard to fathom that such a beautiful place could hold such a sad history.  It's hard to know how to write the wonder and awe I felt when looking at these beautiful sights, words do not seem sufficient to write about the colour and the splendor of the mountains and valleys.  Every shadow, every cloud, every tree in perfect placement to create the picture of absolute majesty.  The heavens do indeed declare the glory of God and the earth displays his power.  Even in it's corrupted state it is beautiful.  Praise seems very appropriate in these places.  

 Emo cow (also known as a highland cow)

 Loch Ness

"IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!"

 Found Nessie... you can stop looking now.

We drove all the way to Loch Ness, stopping at another loch, the name of which has escaped me, where Amelia had a whiskey tasting. At Loch Ness we had a boat cruise for an hour, which was amazing! Surrounded by Scottish countryside (keeping an eye out for Nessie) and on a boat... doesn't get much better than that! Needless to say we had no sightings of the monster but we got an eyeful of beautiful mountains and a castle! It was phenomenal!

The drive back to Glasgow from Loch Ness was only interrupted by one stop to stretch our legs and get some refreshments. Back in Glasgow we went to a Scottish pub for dinner where Amelia decided to try some haggis.  For those of you who don't know what haggis is (and after you hear what it is you might wish you had stayed that way) it is "Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock," (Wikipedia).  After she had taken the first taste I then tasted some myself.  It wasn't too bad at all, just tasted like really rich meat pie filling. 

That day was the first we hadn't walked massive distances and it was wonderful to have that break. Little did we know that the next day would have enough stress and bother to cover a week.

The next day was the day that we would fly out to Dublin.  We decided to have a lazy morning just relaxing as we did not need to get to our plane until 12:30.  Finally we packed up and walked into Glasgow with our packs on our back.  We manage to find the bus stop we needed and caught the bus with just enough money (down to our last pence!). About 10mins into the bus trip we see a sign: Glasgow Airport. Then we saw a sign pointing in the opposite direction to where we were heading reading: Glasgow Prestwick Airport. With sinking heart we then realized that we were headed to the wrong airport.  Turns out that Glasgow Prestwick Airport isn't actually in Glasgow.  Crazy Scots. We then look up where we were supposed to be and it is 40 minutes away from the where we currently were and we were about 10 minutes away from Glasgow Airport.  We knew that we would miss the flight due to the fact that we would miss the chance to check in luggage.  So we called up Ryanair on a pay phone (6 pound later) where they tell us to head to the other airport and they would sort us out with another flight.  So we literally turn around and catch the exact same bus we had just hopped off back into Glasgow.  From there we caught the train out to Glasgow Prestwick (took us 40 minutes).  At the airport we walk up to the desk to ask what our options were.  We were then told that the next flight to Dublin was tomorrow at 1:30pm. We had no idea what to do. We asked what our other option were and were told that there was a flight leaving that night for Dublin from Edinburgh and we might be able to make it.  We decide to go for the flight and pay for it.  We then hopped on the exact same train we had just caught back into Glasgow. On the train we booked a Megabus to Edinburgh for that afternoon.  In God's mercy we made our flight and we landed in Dublin safely!

In Dublin we caught a taxi to our accommodation and I have never experienced a scarier drive in my life.  The driver was cranky due to not earning much money that day and this was manifested in driving in no particular lane and really fast.  I think we almost died multiple times, but the Lord obviously wasn't done with us yet.  We arrived and we actually had lovely accommodation with a lovely Irish woman who told us of things to do in Dublin and surrounding areas.  And there dear friends I will leave you, but with this thought.

After such an awful day both Amelia and I were struggling to feel happy (obviously).  There may have been tears and the sinking feeling that comes to you when you realize what has happened is truly awful.  That night however when we were waiting for our flight I flipped open my Bible to this verse: "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad." (Psalm 118:24) This was hard to grasp. After such an awful day, where we ended up in 3 different cities, and spent a lot of time and money we were supposed to rejoice? I realized that yes, today had been awful, but God's mercies and his provision was so much greater, that even if I said that the day was terrible, I could still rejoice in that God gave me an opportunity to serve Him in every situation.  I rarely grow at all in moments of comfort and when everything is going well, when I'm tested it forces me to grow in trust and faith that God will ALWAYS pull through, even if I can't seem to see it. So with that little reminder here is two last photos.

Bonnie Scotland...

Scotland. The land where their national flower is the thistle and their national animal is the unicorn.  This is a very good summary of Scotland... as it is the land where bins are non existent and toilets hard to find, but haggis is sold in a sweet shops and men wear kilts.  

Our journey to Edinburgh was long (9hrs) but both Amelia and I managed to get some sleep on the bus.  Despite our sleep deprived brains we managed to find our way to the address of our accommodation, lugging our huge backpacks up cobbled streets.  The address was easy enough to find but as our first AirBnb experience was in an apartment block, the trick was to find the right apartment.  Harder than you might think.  After wondering around for about 15 minutes looking at all the numbers on the houses we finally found the right block and the right buzzer.  Sure enough we are let up to our room where we were met at the door by a lady. That doesn't sound very traumatic does it? This little detail might make is sound more so: she wasn't wearing any trousers. (Just as a note I have learned to say trousers as opposed to pants as in the UK pants mean underwear.) Without a hello or a 'how are you doing' she told us to leave our bags in the hall.  We dropped them and ran.  Or rather attempted not to giggle all the way down the stairs.  So that was our introduction to Edinburgh.  Crazy Scots.

Oh how I love those crazy Scots, for they built one of the most beautiful cities I've had the privilege of visiting yet.  We had booked a free walking tour from Sandmans (highly recommend this) and our tour guide was a Scottish man called Billy.  Billy took us around the city and with much hilarity and with jazz hands he showed us a snippet of what is Edinburgh.  We learned about equine statues (and the way you can tell how the rider died), heard fun stories about how tartan became legal again due to Sir Walter Scott and saw the cafe that J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book.  It was so great and we were able to see corners of the city that we would never have known about.  After the tour was finished we found lunch and then headed off to Edinburgh castle.  By this time our feet were sore and the lack of sleep was catching up with us but we persisted and walked up to the castle.  The views from the castle were incredible and the knowledge of the history behind it frankly blew my mind. 

It was truly spectacular but by this time we were tired, it was cold (someone broke summer in Edinburgh), and we had plans to go to church that night.  So we settled down in Edinburgh's beautiful garden which is just below the castle (or rather the rock the castle is on).  We purchased our obligatory ice-cream and I may or may not have slept for a little bit. 

That night Amelia had found a baptist church down a little lane called Rose Lane. Walking down the street on both sides are cafes and pubs until we arrive at a entrance for Charlotte Chapel Baptist Church. There were two angels of men who were handing out hot drinks.  We eagerly accepted them and nervously stepped into the church.  

So. Good. 

Like seriously so so good.  The message was the gospel message about 2 Peter 3, and it was challenging and it applicable. So so so good.  After the service had finished we chatted to a couple for a while.  I then found out that the husband had actually been to L'abri when he was younger, so that was a fun connection to make.  After we left the church we headed down Rose Lane to where we had seen Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant.  However we were politely informed that they were booked out for the next 2 hours.  So we decided to go to a pub and have a pub meal.  We had dinner and walked back to our accommodation with some nervousness.  Turns out we had a right to be nervous, again we had our host show us to our rooms with no trousers on.  The room was comfortable however and she left us alone for the rest of our stay so it was in all not a terrible stay.  

The next day we dropped our bags off at the bus station into lockers and headed down the other end of the Royal Mile (one end is Edinburgh castle, the other is parliament and the Queen's residence when she is in town). We decided we had enough time to hike up Arthur's Seat.  So off we set... and what a walk it was.

It was a steep walk and I know that I turned around and "admired the view" many times in order to rest my poor legs. But the view was worth every step.  360 degree view of Edinburgh on a perfect day made the experience one of my favorite yet this trip.  It was truly incredible.  We then walked all the way down and to the bus station where we set off for Glasgow.  But Glasgow will have to wait for another day I think.

Something a little more personal...

So I thought I might post this even though it's a little more serious and personal than I have posted previously. I was looking back over things that I wrote while at L'abri (withdrawal symptoms) and I found this which captures what a lot of my struggles came down to at L'abri. 

Shame

Shame, why do you taunt me so? You call my name at every corner, every aspect of my personality, you cast shadows over my mind. You force my eyes downward to hide the glory of Grace, you encourage my heart to wither. In your presence all sense of worth vanishes, courage and hope become phantoms in my head, whispers of things now gone, doubts that they were ever there. You are a plague that infects every member of me. My hands behave so strangely, my mind is clouded and foggy, my spirit trembles and cowers. Shame, you tell me of your victory in the war still raging on, you tell me that surrender can be my only option. 

But you are wrong. 

There is a stronger power, a grace whose name is love, a victor in this war torn heart, a shelter in the storm. Shame have you not met him, this warrior of peace? You tried so hard to master him but he has the victory. For yes you won the battle but the war has already been won, on a tree where great and awesome power met true humility. Naked, bleeding, dying, displayed for all to see. Love wore my shame so that I, could finally be free. 

Walking 500 miles... and then walking some more

 So I have a new task master *cough* Amelia, who is "encouraging" me to keep up with my blog a lot more regularly. To be honest I really just want to skip to the pictures of Scotland but I will finish up with London. 

So London.... where was I? I think we just inadvertently visited the Tower of London.  So for the rest of that day of which we were extremely tired and (maybe) a little cranky we walked around finding the streets from Monopoly.  We got to King's Cross station (and saw Platform 9 & 3/4 which I may not have known about until we watched the first Harry Potter movie on our way to Edinburgh) before we decided to call it a day.  When we got back to Leah and Andre's place they asked us where we walked, jokingly asking: "Did you walk all the way into the city?" Yes. Yes we did. And then some.  Blisters and pressure sores were our friends for the many days after this... in fact my blister is now hardening into a callus.  

So after a good nights sleep and a free breakfast we headed off again, deciding we would take it a little more leisurely.  We started at Paddington Station and visited the Paddington Bear shop! We then walked down to Hyde Park.  Let me stop there for a second. Hyde Park.... like... what.... um.... wow? Just strolling through Hyde Park it was hard to remember that we were in inner city London.  The beautiful grounds stretch out for ages and the beauty is hard to describe.  Amelia got her wish and chased some squirrels while I photographed her doing so!

We then strolled down to the lake where we indulged in ice cream.  They had deck chairs there, but being typical London you had to pay, so as an act of defiance we sat down on the ground directly next to one.  No one however was on hand to see our act of defiance however so I feel a little cheated in my rebellious moment. After Hyde Park we walked down Park Lane still pursuing our Monopoly challenge.  I think it was here however that we realized we were just enjoying exploring London.  So we abandoned our challenge and kept walking.  Buckingham Palace was next and then Parliament House and Westminster and then the Big Ben! 

After these iconic sights we may have just chilled on a boat on a river cruise on the Thames.  We sailed down to Greenwich and back seeing some beautiful and historic buildings and experiencing the wonderful English humor.  My favorite was: "While there are some very monumental bridges across the Thames, this is not one of them." Another being: "And over there we have the studios of the Network which brought us the rubbish TV such as Britain's Got Talent, which this year was won by a Romanian group and the year before, by a dog, therefore proving that Britain does not have talent." So good. 

After we returned to Westminster we headed off to West End where we were meeting Leah and Andre for dinner and also seeing Wicked! We arrived in West End and went to the Apollo Theater only to find out that we were seeing Wicked! in the the Apollo Victoria Theater which wasn't in West End at all but rather Victoria. Our bus was just across the road so we sprinted across (almost getting hit by a cyclist) and jumped on.  We did arrive to the pub in time and we enjoyed a very traditional meal of bangers and mash! Then onto Wicked! 

Loved. 

It. 

So. 

Much. 

I know not else what to say apart from that... It was phenomenal, the set, the singing, the acting, it was all so amazing! We then stumbled home to our welcoming bed and promptly fell asleep. 

The next day and our final day in London it was a typical rainy day.  Not so typical for me however who had been in the UK for a month already with only a few drizzles.  We started the day off with a wonderful talk to my long neglected family which was amazing! Unfortunately I didn't realize how much I missed them until I talked to them. So after pressing on through my depression, we headed off to see St Paul's Cathedral. 

Such a stunning building! We took a while to walk around it and admire it from all sides before we headed over the Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theater where we had yard tickets for 'The Last Days of Troy' by William Shakespeare. If I could recommend anything to do in London that is cheap, it is going to the Globe Theater. For 5 pound we got to stand (albeit in rain) at the front of the stage and watch one of the best performances of Shakespeare in an iconic place.  It was worth the pain of standing and every raindrop.  The passion, the excitement, the drama all catches you up to another world of Trojans and Greeks and gods in their petty arguments.  Amazing. 

After that it was back to Leah and Andre's to get our bags to head to Victoria Coach Station where we were catching a bus to Edinburgh.  But Scotland is for another day... 

I will write again soon as I am dying to post pictures of Scotland.  We leave for Ireland tomorrow, but hopefully I'll write again soon! 

Ciao!

London bridge didn't fall down... and other stories

During an a stroll through the English countryside. 

I'm actually posting on my blog! We are currently staying in Edinburgh which is ridiculously cold for being winter! We got down to 14 degrees Celsius which is shocking. To be honest, someone should come fix Scotland. Before I get to our shenanigans in Edinburgh however I believe that London should be covered, as that was an adventure all in itself! 

But before London, I should say a little something about L'abri. *Sniff sniff* 

My experience at L'abri was hard to describe. It was amazing, challenging, fun, painful and so many other emotions that seem to conflict, but, as I found out, you can actually experience simultaneously.  So what was the big thing that I learned while at the Manor House. I have been taught by God that loneliness and solitude are different things.  That even if something is resolved from your childhood that there are still consequences that need to be examined.  I learned the Norwegian card game, which I will take back to my homeland and spread through the colonies! I learned that time isn't always necessary for intimate friendships to be established, and I learned that living in community is hard. 

On a lighter note; my last night at the Manor House was wonderfully fun! We had a game of rugby (State of Origin rematch: Queensland won...) in which I accidentally bit a small child (sorry Ned), a lecture about Cheese and Epistemology, a night out at the Greatham pub, a not quite PG rated story from Daniel, and potentially some shenanigans on the Manor House roof.  In summary, a pretty good send off.  

I am so loved...

But onto the story of London! So I headed off to London Waterloo where I was to meet Amelia and her friend who we were staying with.  So with sad heart but still excited about seeing Amelia I arrived at Waterloo where I eagerly waited in the proposed meeting spot, sending messages about how I was there.  12:30 came around and still no Amelia when the thought hit me like a ton of bricks... Amelia flew out on the 25th of June, and arrived on the 26th of June in London.  Today was the 25th of June, I had arrived a day early.  I had no where to stay, I didn't have Amelia's friends number to call, I was stuck.  I sat down a corner of the airport my mind becoming very dramatic. Would I have to sleep in the train station? What if they kick me out of the station and I have to sleep on the street? What if while sleeping on the street someone steals my stuff or worse... what if they kill me? After getting to the point of death in my mind I then calmed down and thought.  In God's wonderful provision I had met some wonderful ladies at L'abri a couple of weeks before.  Nicola and Amy stayed at L'abri for four days but I had got Nicola's contact details.  At that time she gave me a phone number which I thought was funny considering that I would never use it.... wrong.  With her number in hand I marched out to a phone booth where I inserted the last pound coin I had in my wallet into the phone.  When Nicola answered I felt my heart leap and when she said that I could stay with them I was floating with relief.  She had just finished giving me her address when the phone went dead, I was out of coins.  So armed with an address I marched back into London Waterloo and bought a ticket to a suburb not knowing where I was going.  I got to the suburb fine and dropped my bags off in the front yard behind a hedge.  I was walking down the road towards town when I thought that I should probably check the number of the house again.  Sure enough I had got 55 rather than 50. Yay Erin! Way to go! So then I lugged my bags down the street in the plain sight of a car which circled around twice to see what I was doing and dumped them in the front yard, praying that it wouldn't rain.  After that it was pretty smooth sailing, it didn't rain, I bummed around town until the girls got home from work, I was treated like a queen at there place and I met Amelia the next day at the right time in the right place. 

But London... oh my London! The history of it is almost too much to be believed and the beauty of some of the structures is hard to comprehend.  On the day of Amelia's arrival we walked for about 4 hours around London getting pictures of Monopoly streets.  We walked across London Tower Bridge and wondered what the really old building at the end of it was, taking pictures as we went.  Got to the middle of the bridge when alarms start going off! The bridge was opening to allow a ship to go through.  We dashed to the other side and kept going.  Turns out that really old building I was talking about was the Tower of London.  Yeah, we're pretty intelligent I know... try not to let it intimidate you. 

London-1 Australians-0.

"I wonder what that building is?" 

As we walk across 'Tower Bridge'

 "I think it's the Tower of London!"

Random food pic...

Anyways, I'll have to leave you hanging for a while about the rest of London and Edinburgh. 

Love to you all! xoxo

L'abri... more like L'wow

Hi friends and people!

I am currently writing from the Manor House in Greatham, England where it is really quiet due to a world cup game happening at the pub! So I have some internet time and thought I probably should update my blog, at least once while I'm here! 

L'abri. It's a really hard place to explain. For those of you who I haven't talked to about it L'abri is place set up by Francis Schafer as a place for people to gather together in a safe environment and talk about truth, life and then to live truth and life by living in a community.  Every day consists of have breakfast together, a period of work and a period of study, a discussion lunch and then dinner together. Scattered within this is two tea breaks with more tea than I ever thought existed, volleyball games, Norwegian card games, walks to the pub for free wifi, church, silent lunch, book clubs, and one on one meeting with a mentor! L'abri is a very international place where I have met people from everywhere: America, South Africa, Norway, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Brazil, England, Korea, Australia (represent!) and other places that I have suddenly forgot. Games become hilarious when your definitions for "pip" range from the sound that birds make to a seed that lives in fruit. 

One of my favorite things about L'abri is morning times where Daniel (our Viking) tells the kids a story. These stories include talking trees, giant pigs, explanations why there are no fat Norwegians (they all became skinny by crushing nuts), and a duck that married an ugly snake. 

To get serious for a second *cue dimmed lighting and soft music*, the things I have been learning about God and about myself have been challenging, frightening and encouraging in a huge ball of emotion and thought. This place is such a boiling pot for change and reflection about life (at the risk of sounding monastic). I have been challenged again and again about where my value lies; whether it be in man's opinion or God's. This seems like such a no brainer but when you boil down your interactions and your motivations it is shocking to see the root. I would love to portray L'abri as a wonderful perfect peaceful place where I feel joy all the time and display all the fruits of the spirit like a good Christian girl, however this is something I am unable to do. It has been hard, lonely at times, and painful as I see the sinful self that I've been so effective at hiding. 

However England has been showing off to me, with beautiful weather every single day I have been here! And I've had the wonderful experience of seeing Brighton (which pales compares to Australian beaches), and literally roaming the English countryside for hours. The sun doesn't set until 10pm here which means the days are long and full! We can head out to the pub in broad daylight at 9pm! 

I am sure that there is tons more that I could share, but time runs short! I'll hopefully post again soon. 

I'm here, and I'm hungry...

So I got here alive! Erin-1 England-0

It is a curious thing travelling miles and miles away from home. It shows you exactly what you put your trust and dependance in. For me it was in my family, and being totally alone in a massive city throws you into a state of dependance onto God. I am heading out to Greatham today where I will have limited access to internet and therefore limited communication with both them and my closest friends. Another test of trust.

To date the funniest things that have happened to me:

Falling asleep for 15 mins on my flight to Taipei and waking up to find that I have lost my inflatable travel pillow. Look around in the darkness and see a shadow in the isle 5 rows down. Yup there it is! Sneakily pick it up on my way to the bathroom and no one any the wiser! Such. A. Ninja. 

All my love and blessings!