Scotland

John and I have had a very interesting few days. We decided to visit some of John's friends from college. We left on Wednesday to visit his friend Hillary in Worcester, the home of Worcestershire sauce. On the way there we stopped in the town of Warwick to see Warwick Castle. Warwick castle was amazing! It was a beautiful castle and very interesting to visit. When we first went into the castle we had a picnic overlooking a pretty river and the castle's trebuchet. We then went on a tour of the castle's dungeons. This was very neat! They hired actors to play different roles throughout the castle including the roles of dungeon workers. It was a little scary since the dungeons were dark and creepy. Each room had a different purpose and there was an actor in there to show you just what that purpose was, such as torture room, autopsy room, execution room, prisoners quarters, and court. Not only were the actors involved but they also involved the members of the tour. The first room we went into I was chosen to participate...this was the autopsy room! There was a doctor there who was performing an autopsy on a man who died of the plague. He ripped out his organs and squirted the crowd with them...since I was in the first row I had organ juice dripping down my face and hair! He then pointed at me and said that he needed me to go sit in a chair. He pulled a curtain around me and turned on a spotlight so the crowd could see my shadow. Next he pretended to pound me in the head with a hammer and then he took a hook and took bits out of my brain to examine to learn more about the plague. It was fun and I actually learned a lot about the times of the castle. After the dungeon tour we toured the rest of the castle. In one part of the castle we traveled back in time to the early 1900's where we attended a weekend party where an actor tried to seduce me to go to bed with him. We walked up and down the towers and visited the parts where they would prepare for war.

After the castle there was still about an hour left of the England vs Slovenia game, so we walked into town and went into the first pub we found. The pub was all decorated in England flags and it was so crowded John and I had to stand in the doorway to see the TV. It was a real neat experience to see an English pub during a world cup match.

When the game was over we drove on down to Worcester and went to dinner with Hillary and her fiance David. It was fun to meet them and hear about their college days. The next morning John and I drove up to Scotland to visit his friend Ally in Glasgow. This is where John went to college so he had fun showing me around the school and town. We went out to dinner and then to different pubs and even a night club! One of the pubs was in an old church! It was really cool inside. It was really neat because it was graduation night so there were several men out in their full kilt garb!

The next morning John, Ally, and I drove to Edinburgh. We visited the Edinburgh Castle, which is still a working castle, and we walked down the royal mile. The countryside up around there and northern England was beautiful! It is called the lake district and there are just miles of rolling hills and farmland. We left Scotland later that evening to head back home to England. Most of you know that John is a magnet for cops in America. Getting pulled over is a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence for him. Well I was pleased to find out that things are no different for him in Great Britain. On the way home John decided to call his parents to let them know what time to expect us. John forgot that it is illegal to talk on your cell while driving in Great Britain. Well, while John was on the phone, one out of the two cops that patrol all of the motorways in Britain happened to pass our car and see John on his cellular phone. They pulled us over immediately! John had to get out of the car and get into the back of the police car. I was terrified because in America that only happens when you are arrested. John handed the cop his Georgia license instead of his English license and explained that he has lived in America for years now and simply was in the habit of talking on the phone in the car. The cop told him he could arrest him or let him go, but since it was such a hassle to arrest him they decided to let him off with a warning. I was pleased because not only did I not want John to go to jail, but I also didn't like the thought of being stuck in the middle of Scotland by myself with a manual car, which I can't drive.

Once John escaped with his freedom we headed the rest of the way home. I was really excited to take a picture with the "welcome to England" sign when we crossed the border. I had a picture with the Scotland sign on the way up and wanted one with England as well. Well as we approached the sign we were sad to see a police car sitting on the side of the road directly across from the sign. Although we weren't sure if it was illegal or not to take pictures on the side of the interstate, after our brush with the law earlier we decided not to chance it and pull over. John just told me to stick my camera out the window and take one as we passed by. In the hustle to get out my camera, turn it on and take the picture before we passed the sign I somehow broke my camera! I was all upset because we are headed to Italy in a few days and I really wanted to have pictures. John assured me that we could borrow his sisters camera, but I was still upset. We arrived home around midnight and went straight to bed. This morning I woke up and found that John had gone into town and bought me a new pink camera, camera case, and memory card as an early birthday gift! I'm so lucky to have such a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend! Well, tonight we are going to eat Chinese and relax. I will write again soon!