TragedyShadows

AMAZING! my mothers entire family is scottish and after my uncle traced our geneology back to the 1500s, we decided we had to go to get in touch with our roots.

How I did it: lots of planning, plane travel, and staying at adorable hole in the wall bed and breakfasts where we were sometimes the only people there! also, since we were going there to primarily see where my mothers ancestors lived and worked, we had to investigate my uncles research and pinpoint planes where our ancestors had actually been- we even found a castle called calaverock where an ancient ancestor of mine tutored a princess. for several days we even got to stay with some directly related living scottish relatives of ours.

Lessons & tips: people in scotland DO speak english, but they speak it with such a thick accent in some areas (like out in the countryside where we were) that you have to pay attention and listen very carefully to them, repeat what you think they said if you have to just to be sure. keep an open mind about their culture and food- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EAT HAGGIS WHEN YOU ARE THERE, DONT WORRY! haggis is more of a joke they play on tourists rather than something they would eat on a regular basis. and besides awesome “tourist” attractions like william wallaces (bravehearts) castle and loch ness (as in the loch ness monster), the cows in scotland are fuzzy and brown and the baby ones look like teddy bears! AWW!

it was really amazing, totally different culture, language, food, everything! we stayed out in the countryside outside of the dirt and chaos of london and we really enjoyed ourselves (me and my parents).

How I did it: my parents had to spend a long time planning the trip day by day, booking our flights, booking our stays at the bed and breakfasts we stayed at in the country, and making sure we got to see as many things as possible (both touristy and off the beaten path).

Lessons & tips: DONT OVERSCHEDULE YOURSELF! we had so much to do, i dont remember a lot of it because i was so wiped out! oh, and beware of the stinky cheese- my mom found out the hard way. oh, and if you ride the underground (the subway) in london, when you blow your nose at the end of the day your mucus will be black- so prepare yourself.