Oh Happy Day That Is To Come

Oh Happy Day That Is To Come

So I’m just a quaking bundle of excitement in expectation of my upcoming trip. I truly can’t wait to board that airplane and head off for adventure! First it’s off to England: London, Yorkshire, Durham, Newcastle Upon Tyne… All that lovely England just waiting for my family and me to explore.
That is all going to be neat. My mom’s family all comes from that area, at least Her Grammy does. She grew up pretty much being raised by her Grammy and she can’t wait to hear the local accents. She believes, probably rightly, that hearing the local North Eastern English accent will bring back fond memories. We’re all looking forward to that. 
Ray, little brother of mine, has about a week off work and so that puts the boundary on their part of the voyage. Mom is flying back with him because she doesn’t want to fly all that way on her own; can’t say that I blame her. He is planning on defining his portion of the trip to England so as to pretty much see and do all of those things. Mom, however, desires more packed into her trip and remains convinced she can squeeze a day or so of Scotland in there. I told her to talk to Ray. I am not getting involved with that part of their deliberations… “My name is Paul and that’s between y’all.”
I shall be staying longer though! I’m going to be over there for just over two more weeks. I’m definitely leaving England and heading into Scotland where I will explore wherever my fancy takes me. 
I don’t have any set itenary. I’m starting out in Edinburgh and then planning to just go on walkabout, as the Aussies would put it. I only have a few places firmly in mind at this point. I know I want to go to Loch Lomand and Glencoe… but other than that I’m going to fly on fancy. I wish I knew anyone in Scotland so I had someone preexisting to show me a few things or have dinner with or something. I’d like a recommendation on Haggis for example by someone how I could trust to want me to like the dish and not try to get a laugh out of the foreign lass by having her eat some that might be a little more gamy or not that good… For example here in Texas our queso is a very different Mexican cheese dip than elsewhere in the country, and I could see recommending a tourist try some. Now there is much better examples of this than others I assure you. It’s not that there are some so bad that I would steer you there because it’s awful… okay maybe I could… but there are some that are more chili that what I think of when I think of what I know I’ve heard other people who have lived here and then moved away reference as good examples of our queso that they have missed. (This is a weird analogy but one I am sure works.) Since Haggis almost has legend status as an inedible food I have No Idea if it’s almost a dare/joke level thing to some Scottish people, similar to Vegitime/Marmite to the Aussies and English respectively. I don’t want to try it on a dare however, I’m really interested in Scottish food. I’ve heard so much about it from the Scottish YouTubers I watch that I want to try a lot of the local dishes, Haggis included, and would rather get a decent shot at in so I can fairly judge. Oh well, I’ll just have to do the best I can.
I’m practically dancing with glee over the trip though. Last fall I had planned to go but it just didn’t work out that way. Life intervened. That was all for the best anyway because it meaned that I stayed overhere and ended up doing the think where I got off Xanax around the end of the year and now am all bright again and will definitely be more present and enjoyable with this whole journey. So it all works out for the best in the long run! It’s just great that even though my trip got scuttled I didn’t lose out like I have on so many things in the past, which I was almost sure I had done. Chances actually came round again! That’s a rarefied and lovely thing indeed.
Much wonder has the world where a voyage dreamed and feared to seek just glides toward your door. Ray is the one who planned and pushed for this trip after all...

I am quite looking forward to telling you all about it, perhaps filling you in as I go about the preparations and even as I roam. I'd like to even send you a few postcards! (Even though I'm quite the terrible pen pal so far I know...) Here's wishing me luck with that!

Ever yours dear reader, ever yours...