Easter Hols Day 10 – April 7th 2010.

Today I write from Edinburgh.

You know how you get feelings from cities? Like, when I go to Cocoa Beach in Florida, I feel a lot different than I do in Kingston, which is a lot different than I feel in Toronto, which also differs from the way I feel in Ottawa. Well, Edinburgh gives me a nice feeling. And, perhaps it’s strange to say, a much better feeling than Aberdeen gives me. Yes, definitely.

Maybe it’s because its still a very new and exciting city for me, or maybe because I’m relaxed and on holidays and with my dearest Alex…but whatever the reason, I like it here already. My plane landed around 8:25 in Edinburgh after about an hour flight from Exeter, and Alex was there to greet me (very happily, might I add, after our long separation) with her dad, and we made it back to her place. The whole way back to her place, and the whole time since then, I’ve just had this wonderful feeling. I don’t know what it is—well, that’s perhaps a lie…I’m realllllly excited for tomorrow…

OKAY REWIND.

Sorry, I got a tad ahead of myself. Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. (Julie Andrews? Sound of Music? Anyone?)
I woke up this morning in a bittersweet mood, knowing I’d have to leave the warmness of the Robins household today. We slept in until around 11am and then woke up slowly, had breakfast and tea, sauntered around the house for a while. There was a kind of cloud over our heads, it seemed. Around 3:30 we eventually made it out the door, Heidi, Anna, Jenny and I, and were on our way to Exeter. 

We decided to do a little tour of the city’s underground passages, which ended up being really neat! They were basically built in the medieval times for water pipes throughout the city, but were also used for refuge during the civil war, and other purposes. Some areas were so narrow that I had to walk a bit sideways, and although most of the passages were only about 5’5’’ high, jusssst enough for me to walk under them, some were even shorter and I had to duck. It was funny for them to say “this passage is right between Next and Boots, and try to imagine stores like Next and Boots during the civil war, or during the cholera outbreak, or at a time when clean water was hard to get.

I also went to see the castle in Exeter, which was beautiful in the nice weather! Here's some pics:

Anyway, after our little tour, which ended at about 5:15, we went for a mini tour of a part of Exeter, to the cathedral, where I snapped a few photos:
Figures, the weather is finally nice and sunny and blue skied, and I have to leave!  But Jenny said it well when she said “If you like it when it’s overcast and cloudy, you’ll love it when its sunny!” Just another reason why I’ll have to return to Devon soon.

By the time we took those photos, we had to literally race back to the car, and then speed through rush hour traffic so that we made it to the airport on time.
All 4 of us met in there, said a few sad farewells, and I was off.
 It was sad leaving Devon, watching the rolling hills get smaller and smaller until they looked like little moguls in the earth. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better week and a half, or better hosts. Every member of the family made me feel just SO welcome, and I still cant get over how well I clicked with Anna and Heidi. I am soooooo glad that I came to visit them, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that I will return one day in the not-so-distant future.

Here's some pics from the plane!:

I got a window seaaaat! WOO!....right beside the propellor...ermmm

Goodbye, Devon...

The England coastline

And Hello Edinburgh!

But onwards I go! I landed in Edinburgh, and Alex met me excitedly at the airport with her dad, and we got my luggage just fine, and then headed back to her house – which is SO nice!! High ceilings, artistically decorated, and just very, very welcoming! Alex had made a chicken soup, which was amazing, and so the 3 of us had that as well as a oven pizza. Then Alex and I printed out our boarding passes for tomorrow and checked in online (what a hassle! I should have thought to print it out before, but I didn’t…and I forgot to consider that Alex may not have a printer! Alex hadn’t printed hers out yet, either, so it was kind of a last minute rush to make sure we could get on that plane tomorrow! So we ended up sending it to a friend of hers to print out, and it ended up working out fine. Phewwww!). Then Alex and I went to a pub near her house and met a few of her friends who are in town. I knew 2 of them from before, who I’ve met in Aberdeen, so it was nice to see some familiar faces; but definitely nice to meet some new people as well! After we came home from that, we packed our shared suitcase (to avoid ridiculous costs of checking a bag), showered, and now its bed time!
I can’t wait for tomorrow…it still hasn’t hit that we’re actually going to Ireland! I’ve wanted to go for sooo long, and I’ve only heard good things about it! The best part about this entire Easter holiday is that I’m getting to spend it with families in all of these amazing places…you get such a different; such a more REAL experience; by spending time with locals in a family environment. I can’t wait! I think the plan is to stay in Dublin for 2 days and then get a train over to the west coast, where we’ll stay for a while before heading back to Dublin to catch our flight back. So excited!! I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight!! 

 

Until Next Time,

Beckers

xxx