That month was a crazy intense whirlwind of planning and researching!! I quickly realized I'd always wanted to go to these places.. but.. funnily enough, besides all the fun Harry Potter stuff in London..there wasn't really anything in particular I was actually dyeing to visit!! I just REALLY wanted to see London, and Paris!! And with Brandon still working in Scotland I didn't really plan anything to see there because we usually just go with the doTERRA flow. Luckily. All of the crazy scrambling MORE then payed off and it was by far the most incredible trip the two of us have ever been on. Just AMAZING!!
So the trip for me, really started off meeting them in Scotland. I landed in Edinburgh first and met up with the nicest guy who was hired as a tour-guide for doTERRA and while we waited he filled me in on all the must-sees and awesome things we were in store for. He was such an awesome guy. Totally what I pictured a Scotsman like! Super friendly, kilt and all! Another really amazing thing was that I was able to read up on some of my family history on the flight over. My ancestry is from Scotland and the particular journal entry I was reading was from my great-great grandpa Peter Baird, and he was saying that HIS great-grandfather worked on the Old Pasley Bridge in Scotland, and in our conversation I brought that up and he said he drove over that bridge weekly! It was absolutely INCREDIBLE thinking about my ancestry still being alive and tangible there! It really made me feel an instant closeness and connection to that amazingly gorgeous country.
After the doTERRA group landed we were off instantly to the Stirling Castle! It is SSSOOOO much fun being with Brandon abroad. I love it SO much!! Even though he was having to film the whole time we still had so much fun exploring the amazing castle together and reading its history that dated back all the way to 400 AD!! Seriously though! WHAT!? It was so intense going into the dungeons and kitchens and realizing how incredibly dark it would be!! They had obviously added electrical in the last thousand years so there was some artificial light down there, but you could just tell the darkness would've been so thick and constant down there!! Especially for prisoners who weren't able to have a fire in their cell. It would've been so cold and dark. I can't even imagine.
In Edinburgh we stayed in the Waldorf Astoria! How fancy is that! The view from our room was amazing! We could see the Edinburgh Castle from both windows! That, with the mountains and bustling street right below it was for sure another world. Our room also had this stinking cute little nook which I could only imagine would be used to snuggle up in with some hot chocolate and either watch the sunrise or set. It was so cozy and so beautiful!
The craziest part of Edinburgh is that EVERYTHING shuts down between 6:30-8. EVERYTHING!! When walking home from our amazing Italian dinner we walked past a McDonalds that was CLOSED! What?? It was like 7:30! We were super excited to go explore this park and that closed at dusk which being tucked in between some huge mountains was definitely no later then 8, and that was in the summer! It was really funny to be kid free but still getting ready for bed before 9. It for sure wasn't a bad thing though because I was totally jet lagged and Brandon was super exhausted so we were super ready for bed anyway.
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| That's Edinburgh Castle on the hill behind us. |
In the morning we went with a group to the Rosslyn Chapel. Okay. Let's just get real for a minute. This place. Was. AMAZING!!! The detail and secrets that must be hidden all around this place! It was absolutely breath-taking and so memorable! A guy in our group was really into the whole history of free-masons and watching him get emotional while telling stories about what he'd learned over the years was so touching being able to be a part of him witnessing it in real life. It was such a neat experience.
After the Rosslyn chapel we went to the Edinburgh Castle that is high up on the hill you could see everywhere in Edinburgh and not to talk bad about the castle we'd seen the day before, but the detail and history and just overall majesty of Edinburgh castle was so awesome. They had records of all the military and royalty that'd passed away, and it was so crazy to see so many Bairds in there. I obviously may not have been related to ALL of them. But I really couldn't help but get chills anytime I came across the name and read a little bit about what they're remembered for. Such a cool experience.
After exploring the castle we went to lunch and got some super yummy fish and chips, and we had a couple hours before the next group activity so Brandon and I hit the streets hoping to find some more Wellness Advocates enjoying the city, which we did and got some fun footage, but it was even more awesome to finally be alone with Brandon seeing the cool sites. It made me WAY excited for what the next few days had in store. We had so much fun! We went to The Elephant House Cafe which is were JK Rowling apparently wrote a lot of her Harry Potter stories. The locals actually are really bothered by this place because the real Red Elephant where she wrote the first chapter was actually bought out, and the relocated to this other place. So even though she did write some other chapters at the new location, it's not 'The Birthplace of Harry Potter' which the cafe so proudly claims. Haha! I didn't mind though. It was still fun to see it, and we got a super delicious pastry which would be the first of VERY many on this week long journey. After walking to the cafe we started back and walked past the school that apparently inspired JK's vision for the Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardy. It's very silly and illogical, but a really big part of me wanted to pick up and move to Scotland so my kids could attend that school!! HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE!?!?! Haha!!!
After our nice jaunt around the streets of Edinburgh we hurried back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group for our glamorous dinner at the Duke's Estate called Winton House. I was was a little nervous because the appetizers were a bit.. scary. The sparkling rose water was delicious, but the haggis balls were TERRIBLE!!! Look up haggis. That just can't be a real food. I swear they were pranking us. Haha! It just can't!! It really made me a little nervous for dinner, but dinner was great. And the estate was even greater. The Duke lives there with his wife and 4 children and it looks like it was taken right from a Pride and Prejudice scene. Just amazing. I really can't imagine anything better in life than waking up in that beautiful garden every morning. Just so surreal and gorgeous. It was truly amazing to be invited over and given that opportunity.
The following morning we had a super early flight out to London, and while trying to hurry out the door I blew a fuse with my blow dryer and the entire side of the hotel was out of power!! Haha!! I was so embarrassed. Couple that with it being super early, so it was still pitch dark outside, we were totally flying blind. It was such a stressful start to our morning. Luckily, doTERRA is amazing, and had unbelievably delicious breakfast boxes waiting for us in the cab, so when we finally made it down we could take a huge sigh of relief and know we'd made it! And our next adventure was ready to begin!
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