Everyone's a critic. To my grandmother and the five other people that read this blog I am so sorry to have disappointed you. Hopefully, these pictures ALL THE WAY from Edinburgh will begin our journey to reconciliation.
At the end of November I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday in Paris. As Richard's February birthday approached plans were made for a similiar birthday trip. The Netherlands, Finland and multiple places were discussed. However, in mid January inspiration struck Richard and his birthday planning. One evening over dinner I was told of a plan. I will say that this plan was preceeded by the line "You can say no". That line always instills a bit of fear. No fear was necessary as it was a superb plan. Rather than travel out of the country the birthday celebrant wanted to explore the land of Scotland a bit more. He wanted to do this by renting a car and a cottage for a total weekend escape. When hearing the cottage would have a fireplace I was convinced.
The car was scheduled to be picked up Thursday morning and we would make our way slowly to the cottage to check in late afternoon. The drive to the cottage was absolutely breath taking, the snow capped hills, ice covered water and the ever-present rich coloring of the countryside made for jaw dropping views. While not driving I tend to forget that while driving it is necessary to focus one's attention on the road. Pointing out sheep in the bottom of a ravine or an icy waterfall far from and to the left of the road isn't extremely helpful to someone driving. Fortunately, there were many places to pull to the side of the road so that both the driver and passenger could enjoy the views and take a photo or two.
After one of these photo stops tragedy struck in the most beautiful of places. According to Richard the tire on the car we were driving was extremely flat. Now, the story of the flat tire is really two tales. One from my point of the view (Clearly, the right and correct story) and one from Richard's point of view (which obviously makes valid points but is not entirely right and correct). The story of the tire can be summed up by saying it parallels our different spellings of the word "tire" (Tire for us Americans, Tyres for the South Africans/British). They both begin the same way: we had a car with four tires. As well as end the same way, we had a car with four tires. But, it is in the middle that you will find all the differences. While the story may be told very differently from the two travellers we can both agree upon the fact that there were no accidents, no tire changing, no fighting and the Gas stations of Scotland should invest in air pumps. By the way, did you know that in South Africa you can fill up your tires with air for free! Yes, yet another difference encountered. I, of course, was expecting to pay for air where my travelmate was absolutely horrified, truly horrified, that payment for air was necessary because well you can "breathe air, for free!"
As the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, the photo stops became fewer and fewer as we rushed to get to the cottage. While he may be the end of a few jokes and quite a bit of mocking on this blog, I have nothing but full faith and trust in Richard. And, it is for this reason that I had no qualms in letting him pick out the cottage and the cottage's location entirely on his own (it was his birthday afterall!). Nearing the location of the cottage my faith and trust were briefly tested. Coming off a one-track road we made our way up a very bumpy, wet, hole filled semblance of a road. The road was surrounded by sawed off tree trunks, mulch and dirt covered sheep. Needless to say, I was slightly worried. As we wound our way back deeper into this off-the-beaten track property all my worries were washed away upon first glimpse of the cottage we would be staying.
After dragging groceries and baggage into the cottage, running around a few times proclaiming how amazing the cottage was and wandering through the pastures, it was time to settle down and build a fire. Fire building is, however, a bit more challenging than either of us expected. Fortunately, Richard channeled his inner Bear Grylls and four hours later we had a fire up and running. As the days progressed so did the fire builder's prowess. By the last day, he was getting a fire in full blaze in under 20 minutes.
After an absolutely freezing night (figuring out the heating in the cottage presented itself as a challenge) we hit the road to take in the sites. The day was spent driving and stopping at small towns and scenic points. It was so much fun to slowly weave our way along the country roads without any real pressure of "must see" sights. The landscape again proved to be mind-blowingly gorgeous and it was a much needed escape from the city.
The weekend absolutely flew by and Sunday came far too quickly. To work up our appetites, we had to eat the "breakfast to end all breakfasts" to rid the kitchen of any leftover food, we took a walk through the pastures of the cottage's property. After our country walk it was time to pack up the car and head home to Glasgow. The cottage weekend was certainly a success and I am more than happy I didn't say "no" to the idea.
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