From USA to UK: Bertie Hits the U.K.

It's funny. When I first found out that my mom, Bertie, was coming to Scotland, I was very happy. Excited and nervous, but happy.

I went to Edinburgh and planned on spending the day in the city before picking her up at the airport. However, walking up the ramp out of Waverley Station, a cold gust of wind and rain quickly ushered me to the Airlink stop across the street. Never fear though! Yes, I was in the airport all day, but it gave me time to write and I can't complain about that.

I had all day to prepare for Mom's arrival. Heck, I've had months to prepare. But all the emotions hit me when I was standing at the gate, waiting for her to walk through those glass doors. My eyes stung and I felt a bit silly getting so emotional.

But she is one of my best friends, I hadn't seen her in months, and I just missed her.

When she came through the gates I made sure to be one of the first faces she saw. We hugged, and cried, and other people noticed and said "awe." Yes, I'm very happy that my mom came to Scotland to spend the holidays with me.

Our initial plans were to travel around and sight-see. One thing we were not anticipating was Boxing Day. What is Boxing Day? I'm still not sure. What I do know is that the blasted rail station was closed on that day—the day following Christmas. No, I'm just kidding, not about the train station but about not knowing the significance of Boxing Day.

Oddly enough, the mall and movie theater were closed on Christmas but not on Boxing Day. Theaters in the States wouldn't dream of closing their doors on Christmas. So instead, I took Mom on a little tour of Stirling. We walked up to the castle and discovered that it too was closed, but the view was amazing.

View of Wallace Monument

Mar's Wark

We've also been to a couple of restaurants in Stirling. Typically, I don't eat out because I prefer my cooking, but Mom and I decided that we didn't want to cook. We went to a "New York Italian" place called Frankie and Benny's. Sorry, I've eaten in Italian restaurants in both in New York and Italy, but not once have I ever been given naan when I ordered garlic bread. Ugh.

We also went to a nearby pub that I've talked about in a past post, Morrison's Cold Beer Co. I stuck with a dish that I knew I would like, but I have tried their fried haggis in the past. I'm proud to report that Mom ate some fish and chips with her bourbon and Coke.

But on Christmas, we needed to have a good meal. So, we roasted a chicken, mashed some potatoes, and served it with some buttered corn. Very yummy and satisfying.

Boxing Day was the day we had tried that "Italian" restaurant, but afterward we went to Thistles and had bought some things for our trip to London. I finally got some wellies! Wellies, rain boots, galoshes, whatever you want to call them. (What do you call them?) A lot of sales happening on Boxing Day. I had bought some jeans, but because of the massive amount of shoppers, the dressing rooms were closed.

(I don't think I like them, not because they don't fit right, but because the button is on the other side. You may think it's not a big deal, but it is, folks, when you really have to go and every nanosecond is crucial.)

After shopping, we checked out The Hobbit. Good stuff! I've seen it before, and as I was seeing it the second time, I thought about how I needed to see the LOTR trilogy again and also re-read The Hobbit. I was also cursing Peter Jackson because I know that bastard is going to make more money off of me, and I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that.

London

When I had first asked my mom what she wanted to do while she was here, she said we could "take a day trip to London." This is just not possible. It's six hours by train and nine by bus. Because I'm too tired to discuss every second of London, here are the main points and a video:

—Westminster, Big Ben and Parliament

We got there right on time to hear it chime.

Outside Parliament in Westminster...

...and the Supreme Court.

—Double-decker vs. Underground

She wanted so badly to ride a double-decker, so that's
what we did. See, I get my awesome dweebiness from her.

—Buckingham and the Horse Guards

So amazing that we got to witness this.
The guards change post at eleven in the morning.

Yeah, she did that, and I love her for it.

Hey, Alicia, "It looks like he's... leaning."

—Tower of London and the Crown Jewels.

They wouldn't allow us to take pictures, so Mom and I rode the little conveyor belt twice to see them again.

Charles Dickens giving a reading of A Christmas Carol.

Below is a dramatic reading of Oliver Twist.

I got so used to seeing red telephone boxes that
when I saw a black one, I needed a picture with it.

Hook 'em!

— Miscellaneous fun

On the way to Hyde Park, we walked under the Wellington Arch.
The picture does not do it justice.

Shopping center in Bloomsbury.

Mom fully embracing the U.K. "cheers!"
I tried telling her our cheers and theirs means different things.

Had a delicious meal with Mom in an Italian restaurant called Strada.
The treatment we got from the Italian staff reminded me of Italy.
If they were going for authentic, well done.

Tried black pudding despite knowing what it's made of.
Never again.

We did all of these things in two days, people. Two days! I'm currently sitting on a train, trying to block out the rowdy rugby group behind me. Mom? She's sitting at the table a row ahead of me, playing a dice game with the people she just met. But she's like that—she can make friends anywhere.

Added bonus:

Today in St. James's Park there was some major drama in the pond. Two geese totally threw down, and one of them got owned.