Girls just wanna have fun...and we did!

Our trip…

Hi all, below are a few photos from our trip up to Scotland…first things first…music! We went into the local Woolies to get a few CD’s to help the trip. In no particular order

1. Popular Musical selections
2. Disney classics
3. Best of Bon Jovi
4. Michael ‘Bubes’ Buble

With that in order, we were off! First stop Bath.

Bath – We arrived at Bath and it was cold. We went to see the Roman Baths and then the Costume Museum, which was showing clothes from Jane Austin’s classic movies (Rach was very pumped for that and I got great ideas for my next wedding dress)! We enjoyed walking around the beautiful buildings and getting a taste for the night life!



Then we headed north to Chester; what a place that was! We stayed in a B&B which left a lot to be desired! Take a look at the shops outside the house…shivers! Apart from the annoying man snoring at 5000 decibels and the creeky floor above us, Chester had fantastic Tudor buildings and is a beautiful walled city!







The next day was a short drive north to the Lakes District. We were looking forward to this place, in particular the Beatrix Potter house, but had know idea it was going to be so beautiful. Picture lakes with rolling green hills and baby lambs playing in the meadows. Hill Top Farm (Beatrix Potter’s house) was so lovely, as was our river cruise and train ride through the country side. I think the train driver won’t forget us as Rachael’s shoe slipped off her foot as she tried to get on and then she proceeded to say quite loudly ‘Oh no, my shoe, quick Jodi get someone to help me!” As I ran (having no idea were to go), laughing hysterically, I didn’t actually help the situation. Rach managed to attract the attention of the railway man by waving her bare foot in the air and saying she needed to get her shoe before they drove off. I think we made his day a little brighter. Definitely a place we would love to go back to see again!









After a few days there, we headed further north to Scotland! Yippee! Our first taste of Scotland was Jedburgh. We were very lucky to have arrived on that particular day, as when we were at the Abbey the local men told us about the evening we were in for (we also visited Mary Queen of Scots house – it was great, fascinating history of her life). They were naming their Callant for the year. The Callant is the nominated young man that leads the procession of horse riders along the Scottish Borders (this was a tradition when they were guarding the land from the English). So it was ladies night and the whole town was together for the festivities afterwards. The pubs were packed! He (the new Callent) wasn’t that bad looking either. Rach didn’t get a good photo of him so I can’t show you, just trust me on that one!





The next morning we headed off to Stirling. On the way we stopped into Melrose Abbey, a ruined church from about the 11th century. This was my favourite one, I really got into the audio commentary of the history, although Rach’s ear thing didn’t work well. It was awesome, check out the pics.





Stirling – What a great place. The Castle was beautiful, they had not long restored the Great Hall, which took them 35yrs. The castle had also received sponsorship and were making some replica’s of the tapestry work (the originals are in America). Beautiful place. We had a very interesting evening that night which Ben mentioned on an earlier blog entry, there are lots more details than what he wrote, but its easier if we fill you in in person - too much to type! It was a very fun night! Its funny the people you meet in places!





On our way out of Stirling (headed for Edinburgh), we visited the Wallace Monument. We arrived earlier than it opened and we waited around for a bit, so we rang Ben and filled him in on our extremely funny night. So they finally opened and we paid our money to go up to see the monument. It was quite a hike up the hill which Rach wasn’t too pumped for (as you had the chance of taking the free bus up), but I said it will be worth the walk, besides we haven’t done much exercise (but lots of eating), and boy were we needing it! As we approached the top, after numerous stops (Rachael says only 3!) for Rachael to catch her breath (I didn’t mind them, I have to admit) we reached the ever popular, ever-huge monument for the ever-prestigious William Wallace. Not only did we climb a huge hill to see it, but then proceeded to climb 246 stairs to reach the top of it (so we definitely deserved our cake and tea that day). As you can see by the photos its was well worth it – I have to admit, this trip is really opening my eyes up to what I never paid any attention to at school, therefore making me the dummy that I am. I am loving all of this history!




So off to Edinburgh, which was not what I thought it would be, but great as the Castle made up for the crappy city. So dirty and crowded – you know how much I love crowds – not! We had a bite to eat at a Café which were playing one of ‘The Panel’ CD’s then Shannon Noll (Most of them were Aussies that worked there). Then off to the Castle, it was great, we met up with Rach’s Dad and he ventured with us on this one. They had a great gun presentation then fencing challenge. Its cool, the view back down to the city was awesome. We then tried to find a place to stay but because we had the car it would have cost us a fortune so we decided to head on down to York instead. We wanted to stay at Melrose on the way down but they were full so we contacted a YHA (Youth Hostel) that we saw in a brochure. After speaking to the fellow there we got what we thought were reasonable directions and headed there, however it wasn’t as easy as we thought. After an hour of trying to find this place and ending up in peoples front yards and up boggy roads, we finally found it and it was a dump, the place was horrific! So ,we jumped back into the car and headed off for a B&B. We didn’t care how much that cost by then, we just couldn’t stay in that dump. We found a lovely B&B and grabbed some Fish and Chips for dinner and had a great night in, watched tele and had a cuppa! It was such a lovely place, worth the money. Then off to York the next morning after a great breakky!




We had a similar situation with York re the car so we only hung around for a bite to eat and then went into the York Minster. It was lovely, you could take photos in there, so that was cool. We decided we would go back to London (as I mentioned it was hard to get a place that had parking available that didn’t cost us a fortune), so we decided to head off home as we were keen to just stop and rest - we really hadn’t stopped the whole trip!





So you can imagine, we now know all the lyrics to Michael Bubles album which is quite a good one at that, and had some great flash back memories from good ole Jon Bon. We were singing up a storm! Rach’s singing has improved lots, it was fun, she still sang the bloke parts – especially to the Disney classics! I had such a great time, I will never forget it. Rach was great to travel with, she definitely kept a smile on my face all week, what a funny girl. I don’t think I have laughed as much without my brother. I think my favourite place was Stirling, for lots of reasons, not just the Castle but the people I met and Rach’s was the Lakes District – of course Peter Rabbit!

I hope you have enjoyed our trip as much as us, I am sure the photos help you get a glimpse at what we have experienced and the stories which are yet to be told.

Love to you all,

Jodi and Rach xxx