The Honeymoon Part I: Scotland
Long overdue.. as in months overdue.. but here it is- better late than never, right?
Our first stop was Edinburgh, Scotland. We got there and were pleasantly surprised to see the sun shining, even if it was cold cold cold. We stayed in a nice little hotel that was once a house, about 20 minutes walking time from New Town. This is what the locals call the part of the city that was built on the drained Nor Loch in the 18th century. The Old Town includes Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, and Holyrood Palace, and is where Tyler and I spent most of our time.
Our first real day there we made a point of checking out the old Castle, a huge piece of architecture overlooking the city- you really can’t miss it no matter where you are! As is par for the course with castles, the structure was added onto bit by bit over the centuries. Tyler and I love history and spend lots of time inside wandering the many mini museums and were lucky enough to see the shooting of the One O’Clock Gun, a tradition that started at the Castle in 1861. After getting our fill of the Castle, we proceeded down the Royal Mile.
It’s cold and drizzly but we’re excited to be there!
After exploring the Royal Mile, and buying a much needed set of wool gloves for my numbed fingers, we made our way to Holyrood Palace. I was very interested in this place as I had read about it in my favorite book series, Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Holyrood (meaning Holy Cross) is a very elegant palace that the Queen still uses today when she visits Scotland. We spoke with the very helpful staff who answered many of our questions, and showed us the menu the Queen used when she was there last, only a couple weeks before. We also learned the significance of the Unicorn and Lion on the British crest- the unicorn represents Scotland, and always wears chains to represent the taming of such a wild (physically and socially) country. When you are in Scotland, the unicorn will always be on the left. In England, the unicorn is on the right. Holyrood is also home to the jawdropping ruins of an ancient abbey, and the photographer in me squealed in joy when we found it.
Holyrood Palace, as seen through my oh-so-fun fisheye
The beautiful Holyrood Abbey Ruins
Also worth mentioning regarding our wanderings of Edinburgh are the Whiskey Tour (Awesome and a MUST SEE even if you don’t like straight whiskey), the Elephant Room (where JK Rowling started Harry Potter- squee!), and the Real Mary King’s Close (a tour of the city underneath the city, haunted by souls long gone -insert ghost noise here-).
Sometime during our few days in Edinburgh we took a half day trip to Melrose and Roslin. We were part of a group tour with a fantastic tour guide who was extremely personable and full of fun facts. Our first stop, Melrose, is home to more ruins. The ruins were the former abbey of the Cistercian monks, and was quite obviously a very lavish place back in it’s days of glory. Even in ruins, the scale of the abbey was breathtaking. Tyler and I took an audio tour around the abbey, climbing up the narrow staircases and even checking out the ceiling before making our way to lunch and getting back on the bus.
The amazing countryside on our day trip
Tyler and Melrose Abbey
The next stop on our day trip was Roslin. I’m not going to lie, one of the main reasons we wanted to see the chapel is because of the mystery surrounding it in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code (Spoiler alert, if you haven’t read it.. or watched the movie… Roslin Chapel is where the bloodlines of Christ were stored and Mary Magdalene buried). In its own right though, the Chapel is truly beautiful, made out of many different colors of stone. Apparently it was falling into a state of disrepair before Dan Brown’s book, and now attracts the same number of tourists in one month that it used to see in a year! Unfortunately they do not allow photography or videos inside, so I do not have evidence of our visit. The intricate carvings and mysterious stories (for instance they “won’t” excavate beneath the Chapel, even though X Rays show something down there) made it a neat stop.
Roslin Chapel from the outside
After our stay in Edinburgh, we took an 8 hour train ride (read: caught up on sleep) to Inverness. Inverness is located way up north in the Highlands, which is a breathtakingly wild looking place with beautiful snow capped mountains and rushing rivers. It’s a very cute little city with lots of charm. Tyler and I felt a bit foolish when we first arrived, looking like tourists wandering about with our huge suitcases. We got out of the train station, took a right and walked for 5 minutes before realizing the street numbers weren’t going the right way! When we finally reached the train station again we saw that the hotel was actually in the same building as the station *slaps forehead*. Our hotel was our favorite of the trip- here’s why:
Inside our Inverness Hotel
Inverness is also where Loch Ness, and the Battlefield of Culloden, are located. The first morning after we arrived we went on a cruise on the Loch Ness, which took us the Urquhart Castle and then back again. The Loch was really beautiful, but we had to suffer through frigid temps and wind in order for me to snap photos. Tyler and I really enjoyed touring the Castle (once the largest in Western Europe), so much so that we almost didn’t make it back to the boat!
The Loch Ness
Hanging out at Urquhart Castle
The next morning we got up bright and early and attempted to make our way to Culloden. It being Sunday, I had forgotten that public transportation was at a minimum. We spent at least 20 minutes chasing after buses i the rain and attempting to divine the complex bus schedules before finally catching one that looked to be heading to Culloden. The bus took us out into the country, and dropped us at a nondescript spot on the edge of a neighborhood, with the advice to head “thataway”. So we did, walking along the edges of fields in a mist that was turning into rain, and praying we would see a sign, or something, that would tell us we were headed the right way. Well, after floundering about for 40 minutes, and getting increasingly worried that we were 1) stranded in the Scottish countryside and 2) that we wouldn’t make it back to Inverness to catch the only train out of town or 3) both, we finally caught up with a biker who told us the battlefield was a mere 1.5 mile walk from there.
When we finally did reach it, we had a quick bite to eat in the Museum cafe and then went out to explore the infamous field itself. Culloden is the site of the defeat of the Jacobite Army by the English in 1746. The battle was a blood bath, and afterwards Scots were prohibited from wearing tartan or speaking Gaelic, and banned from many historic traditions. I am particularly interested in Culloden because of my obsession with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, which centers around the battle.
Tyler and I in front of the Cairn dedicated to those fallen at the site
Me with the memorial stone for the Frasers, a family written about in Outlander
Closeup of the Cairn, with wreaths placed at the anniversary of the battle, which we just missed
After exploring and taking lots of photos, we caught a cab back to Inverness and were luckily able to catch our train to York. Onto England!
Kentucky Gentleman- the horse, the whiskey, and why I need them both
This is Foster, who also goes by the alias of Kentucky Gentleman when we dare to compete. Foster is a 6 year old “Oldenburg X Appendix” gelding that puts up with my antics of playing dressage and eventing.
I love Foster a lot, he’s super sweet and cuddly and is always excited to see me.
But lately, Foster has been driving me to drink his namesake whiskey.
It all started last fall, when it become obvious that something was not quite right- haunches right became our normal mode of travel and jumping became something unpleasant at best. After dilly dallying between days of perfection and happiness to days where I could not figure out what was wrong with my poor boy, we finally got a vet out. One scary SI injection later and poof! Foster is magicked back into consistent perfection. You want to jump that 3’3″ fence? No problem! Lengthenings? I got this! Shoulder In? You betcha! But alas, it was not meant to last.
Fast forward through the horrific wet winter we had, where arenas were constantly closed and trails were dark by the time I got off work. Riding was at a minimum, and both Foster and I were sad. (Just kidding, he probably loved being hairy and dirty and lazy). And once the weather looked to be improving, I became distracted by the non-horsey aspects of my life. Namely, buying a house and getting married. My limited rides during this time took me back to the days prior to our injection, adding to the mix a lack of forward energy that was very unlike him. Luckily my best buddy Ali offered to try to get him in shape for me and do all those boring stretching exercises at nice, slow paces to help him develop muscle over his topline.
Now that the days are longer, the wedding is over, and the house is starting to really resemble a house, I can focus again on my four-legged love. We’ve had several vet visits now and he is finally starting to get better and better. The forwardness is starting to return, we’re getting a little straighter, and we jumped a short round that could make a hunter jealous. Conditioning is now the name of the game to get him back into top form, and my Kentucky Gentleman is well worth the effort.
Fingers crossed!
A quick recap on a few -minor- events
On the wagon, off the wagon. You’d think I was on diet talking like this [I am, but let’s talk about that later maybe], but it’s the blog I really want to discuss. My bad. I’ll try and keep things current- goodness knows there’s enough to discuss!
So let’s recap. Tyler and I got married- we had a beautiful evening filled with family, friends, and LOTS of dancing- just the way we wanted it 🙂
(photo copyright by Robyn Van Dyke Photography)
Then we went on an amazing action-packed honeymoon to Scotland and England. Here’s a photo of us in front of St. Michael’s in Aldershot. St. Michael’s has significance to my family because it’s where my great-grandparents and grandparents were married, and where practically everyone (including myself) was christened as a baby. Will write a blog post dedicated to the honeymoon soon!
Immediately upon arriving home, we found ourselves locked out of the house for over an hour and a half (thanks Nikki for saving us in the end!), but shortly thereafter things started looking up. We’ve cleaned up a part of the house and have finally been able to start making plans for the future now that all of the craziness of the wedding is out of the way! While I am truly sad it’s over (I loved being able to plan all the details of such a big event!) it is nice to be able to focus on other things.
Our next big event will be Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, though an American holiday, has become a huge event for my family. We always bring Sue over from England, pop the crackers (once a year at Christmas is not enough), and I daresay make more food than even the normal American family! So not only will my family be coming (that’s 6 people, in case you’re wondering), I was just notified that Tyler’s family will also be invited (another 6 people at least) to my first real hosting event. I was hoping to cook my first turkey- can it really be that different from a chicken?- and try making Yorkshire pudding, plus ALL the fixings- with one oven no less! Anyways, several months to plan for this and all of the landscaping improvements I want implemented before having people over- an adventure in itself!
Until next time…
A dream doesn’t…
A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
-Colin PowellIt all started with a thought.
One evening, a few months ago, Tyler and I thought it might be a good time to hunt for a house. We both have good jobs, interest rates are really good, and we kept hearing that the Raleigh house market was expecting to bounce back soon. So we figured we’d start looking.
We looked at properties all over town- Apex, Fuquay, Holly Springs, Durham, and Raleigh. Every place we went to, there was something wrong with it- backyard too small or a mudhole, no garage, on the highway, house too small, weird layouts, bad neighborhoods. We must have seen almost 20 houses. Only two stood out to us.
The first was an adorable house in Apex, very convenient to the highway but sans the noise and located in a mature, impeccably maintained neighborhood. The drawback- it was on a pond. While the survey said the plot was a third of an acre, in reality it was about half that- thanks to the inclusion of the pond. Not very helpful when half your land is water! However, the layout worked, we loved the neighborhood, and we kept thinking about it.
The other was a foreclosure. Sure, there were holes in the walls, a jungle in the backyard, and carpets that even the bravest soul dare not walk barefoot upon, but again it was located in a fantastic neighborhood, had the best layout we’d seen, and all .4 acres were dry! After much soul searching, and discussing whether or not a project was right for us, this is the house we put in an offer on.
The great thing about a foreclosure is that you can get a good deal. The downside is that you buy the house ‘as-is’. We could inspect all we want, but we couldn’t turn on the water or gas, and HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development- US government) wasn’t going to help us to discover the history of the house.
The other downside to this whole process is that we had 15 days to inspect the house and back out if we could. You might be thinking “2 weeks? Sounds long enough!”, but unfortunately, those 15 days included Christmas eve, Christmas day, New Year’s Eve, and 2 weekends- a tough time to schedule inspections, tests, and any other thing for that matter!
Nonetheless, we did it all, and came within hours of the 15 day notice and committed to the house. The house on the hill would be ours.
Red on the Right 