Midterm Trip Cont`d

So I left off at my drunken debacle right? The next day was Tuesday October 21. The day was a "choose your own stuff" day. So basically you were supposed to sign up a few weeks before for something you wanted to do, which I forgot to do, so I followed along to the National Scottish Museum with Kari, Katie and Cameron. We looked at a bunch of old scottish stuff. Katie and I got shown how a train works, I also got to see a really old harpish thing that was really cool. Basically it was a bunch of really cool history stuff. So my language is a bit on the preteeny side today, I just got back from a 7 hour shopping day in Brighton, which you will have to wait to hear about for when I am done all this mid term stuff. Also I should mention the four of us stopped for a deep fried marsbar. Apparently it was very interesting, but they all had to share one as it was so intense. I didnt have any and now looking back on it I am glad I didnt. You shall understand if you cantinue.

Anywho, next was my debacle of looking for my tartan. I was told by my history teacher to look at the Mill exhibition/museum, because they made tartan. So Katie went to look at music and Kari and Cameron came along with me. It was intersting, the place had far more of a selection than most places and it also had the origional tartan being sold, but again no Erskin. One lady told me to talk to the information section person(?) and they would be able to find an example of the tartan and either order it or at least show me an example. I had an interesting converstation with the girl who was there and she was able to show me some stuff and give me contacts to order stuff online or by phone. It is surprisingly less expensive than I thought it would be, but we`ll see. We will also see if I can find the brochure. Again explainable later on in the tale (I had some issues with my purse). I got a princess Diana Tartan hat because it was pretty and because part of the money apparently goes to some cause, which you know is marketers just feeding into the shopping addiction as you can just say "but it was going to a cause mommy". Doesnt matter because it is this pretty blue colour and its one of those scottishy hats.

Next we went to look for Katie and could not seem to find her anywhere so we decided to stop for a visit in the fudge store. Its the kind where if you go in at the right time they are making it right in front of you and its all old fashioned and cool. We werent lucky enough to see them making it but we did get to buy some and me being used to the fudge at the cottage decided I could hande getting two chunks. I could then have some on the bus the next day and share with other ppl and stuff...or maybe be a greedy piggy and make it last and be my sweet source for the rest of the month (beleive it was rich enough to last me the month).We then decided to go back to the hotel and wait for the group of people we were going to climb the mountainy thing with. Its like a mountain but not quite, but at the same time it is...if you know what I mean.

So the next paragraph is going to be a bit of an overshare, so you if you are uniterested in getting to know Libby a little better then skip the next two paragraphs. It has nothing to do with sexual stuff for you dirty minded people out there, just to let you know. So basically we sit in the hotel sitting area and decide to try our fudge. Now the fudge from Oliphant/Sauble is relatively tame, it is not too rich, it is just right. THis fudge had something else going on. It was like this intense sweetness and creamyness. I had something vanilla/caramel with chocolate swirlled into it and I had bought another tab of tophy. Well me being used to fudge at the cottage ate about half the slab we had been given, which I can honest to god say did not look like that much. And oh my god was it good. But once Igot through half I started to feel really full. Now I hadnt really eaten anything since breakfast and it was 3pm. I had figured I would save myself for a delicious dinner out, which is another guilty pleasure of mine I must say. Anywho I went back to my room to put some stuff away and drink some water and basically role around on the floor whining to Emma that I had eaten too much fudge. I kinda laughed it off and meandered back downstairs where we all headed off in the general direction of the not so mountainish mountain. As we walk I start to feel sick but again I laugh it off, because hey, I`m on vacation, I`m invinsible, itll just go away. We get to the mountain and I decide to distract myself by talking photography with Katie, which I had been meaing to anyway but hadnt gotten the opportunity. She has the same camera as me, so we were talking shop, so to speak. She has an awsome lens and it was really nice to talk photography again. As we start ascending the mountain I start lagging behind more than usual, I figure I just need fruit and Katie is nice enough to offer me her apple from her bag. I love how after eating horribly for a couple days one peice of fruit just makes you feel so refreshed and clean. Its an awsome feeling, that in this case only really lasted 3 or 4 minutes. Let me tell you the stomack ache hit fast and it hit hard. boo. I think most of you can see where this is going. We got a little further up and Katie was lagging behind with me, we both continued taking pictures, but when the slope started to get steeper I told Katie to keep going and I would catch up, I just needed to rest.

So I basically sat by this one rock in denial with my current prediciment. Should I go down and find a washroom or keep going and hope I make it to the top and back down eventually. I do not know what I was thinking but for some reason my logic dictated me to keep going. And this is why you stay away from dictators, because even though I wasnt that high up it was still fairly steep, especially considering all my body wanted was a toilet. After about 5 or 7 minutes of climbing it hit me, this isnt going to work. Its at least an hour and a half climb up and back down, if not more. I am not going to last this long. So I take a few mintues to gather myself and then start descending the mountain. I got about 5 steps and realised, this isnt going to work. So you know what I did? I took one look at the traffic below us and one look up at the top of the mountain and the ant like people climbing it. I then looked to the rather scrangly looking bushes next to me, I had no where else to go, literally. So what did I do? I plunged myself right into the thorny, yes you read that right, thorny, bushes and squated. Dont worry I made sure I was hidden from view, only once did two men walk by, but they luckily took no notice of me. Unfortunately it is not easy to squat on the side of a Scotish mountain in a mangle of thorns, so my business was, lets just say, not complete. This does not mean I felt a whole lot better, in fact all it really did was improve my capablity of walking. So I continued down the steep muddy, rocky mountain denying my body its usually natural function. I shall not detail my second stop at the bottom of the hill as it was quite unsuccessful to the fact that I the thorns were no longer in bush form but in grass form, if you get what I mean. Be happy if you dont get what I mean. So I get to the bottom and start my search for a washroom. At this point my movements can only be described as a stiff stumbling zombie out for the kill. After a few minute walk I found I had a choice, which I needed to make quickly. On one side of the street was what I beleive was a parliament building at the visitor`s entrence. On the other was what looked like a souvinere shop and cafe for a musuem. I decided it would be less conspicuous to cross the street to the museum so I go over and see there is a sign pointing to TOILETS! Now all I can do is pray they are still open. I get even better luck, there is no one in there and it isnt one of those crummy half ass bathrooms. It had some serious shit going on...I totally just reread that and did not intend for it to come out like that...but I have to leave it in...hee. It was pretty fancy and dainty and comfy. Basically what happened was this; I turned the corner after entering the initial bathroom door and at the end of, what seemed like, this long tunnel was the most beautiful private wheelchair accessible bathroom stall I have everseen. With my arms outstretched and the words "toilet" escaping my mouth I stumble to the door with rational thought no longer capable of being formed. I think everyone reading this blog has experienced at least once in their lives my following minutes, so I will leave that where it is.

I left the washroom honestly expecting trumpets and horns and a big parade of somesort accompanying me as I made my triumphant exit. I decided I loved this museum so much for being exactly where it was when I needed it most in life I would take a look in the gift shop. I honestly at this point was willing to marry this museum, so sad I dont know its name eh? I promise I will figure it out and recomend it to all of you out there and anyone in future going to Edinburgh. Anywho I decide there isnt any shop near by that sells gloves so I should just get them there. I had also decided to reclimb the mountain or at least go back and look for my friends, but it had started raining and warm hands would be a smart idea. So I pick up some pretty red gloves and what does the frugal student do? She buys a pair of £20 cashmere gloves in celebration/dreams of warmth. I promise you these gloves are my pride and joy and I have only ever almost lost them twice, but they are safe and will honestly go with me to the grave, one as a reminder to listen to my body and two to never spend £20 pounds on cashmere gloves again, unless I am stinking rich, but even then I think these gloves mean so much more, if you know what I mean. That was the best run-on sentance ever! I cannot edit that fols as it is work of freaking art! I then went into a nearby gift shop and bought a sweater as I was cold and hadnt bought anything other than food in Edinburgh yet ... and my gloves. Its the most comfy sweater I have ever worn and I have yet to fully take it off...if you know what I mean. So lesson of the story is folks, listen to your body. Now that I look back on it I realise that my body had been trying to warn me for hours and I had KNOWN what was coming for hours, I had just ignored it. I do understand my body, but the next key thing is to listen to it when it tells warns you the next four hours are party time...if you know what I mean.

So after that I decided I should go and see if they are waiting for me as this has taken at least 2 hours, but no one is there. I then decide, hey, I should climb up further to see if they are looking for me. You must realise at this point it is somewhere between 5:30 and 6pm. The sun (if we could see it) will be setting soon if it isnt already. And if you may have guessed, its not just grey cloudy, its raining, not drizzling, but raining. "Its not that far though" I say to myself. No Libby, bad bad bad idea. But of course I only realise this when I get to where I had left off before, where you may recall it was mostly grass, rock and mud...in the rain. Luckily this time I thought about it and decided it was a bad idea to continue, and it would have been better in the first place to go back to the hotel and see if they had gone back. This is after I contemplated climbing to the top alone, as I really wanted to get to the top. Later stories told me my good logic kicked in because some of the guys were actually having to hold Kari and Katie down the wind was so strong. I am thinking later at night when it is already windy closer to the ground, this could have been potentially bad. I did make lemonade though, It was very actually a very refreshing experience walking up and back down at that point. I mean I had gloves on, I hade two sweaters and a jacket on, plus my scarf, I was coolish instead of freezing, it was beautifully gloomy and the rain was honestly refreshing. I actually sang both on the way up and down, because there was no one around, it was just me, the rain and random songs I remembered the lyrics to.

I made it back up to the hotel just as it got dark and met Kari and Katie in their room, explaining with no detail why I had turned around. It was only then, when my hands were in warm air, that I looked down at them and saw all the little prick marks and started feeling their sting...not just on my hands either. I am going to leave it there, I have decided it was just another reminder NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN. We chatted and later Karicia came in. Neither of us wanted to really go out that night but we did want food, so we decided to go looking for some cheap food, maybe some fruit? We head up the Royal Mile looking for somewhere to stop, and then we see this pizza restaraunt. A nice one too. And pizza has sauce, which is made out of tomatos, which are vegetables, the next best thing to fruit. I also decide I have nothing left in my system anyway so I may as well indulge, as long as it has nothing to do with sugar and is not some cheap greasy pizza I was good. It turned out to be really nice. Karicia and I chatted and had some really nice converstations. I had the most amazing pizza of the trip thus far I think I will say. It was a personal pizza kind of place where you had to cut your own piza yourself and some people eat it with their cutlery. This ended up working better in the long run as the crust was fairly thin. We then decided to have dessert, as long as it had nothing to do with fudge. I had this moose cake thing that was really good and fancy. Karicia and I finished up and went back to the hotel. You may recall me saying Emma was my overshare buddy, this is because she was the only one at the time I told the truth/story of the mountain to, because I really needed to, it was just too funny. The rest of the night before bed included the two of us telling our overshare stories that other people might be grossed out by.

Wow I was going to do day four here too, but I guess that will have to wait until tomorow as I dont want your brains to implode with Libbyness and this blog was meant to be read as a short story genre, not a novella. Check in later then!