June 2, 2010

I can't believe it is already Wednesday!  So, on our way to Edinburgh we stopped in this adorable place known as Wigtown.  Mr. Herring gave us a quick history lesson before we got off the bus and took us to the location where two women were tied to a stake and drowned for their faith. Both named Margaret, but one was 17 and the other 70 years old.  They refused to name the King of England as head of the church and so they were killed in front of hundreds of local Scots standing on the beach just watching the guards persecute those brave martyrs.  It was quite a humbling and emotional experience sitting there on the platform above what is now over grown grass mixed with swamp, just feeling the wind and spirits of those who died for what is still being fought over.  I teared up just picturing the whole scene happening before me and wondered what I would have been doing at that time if I had lived there and seen those women denying the Kings authority over the Church.  All they had to do was say 8 little words and their lives would have been spared. "The king is the head of the church" But they stood their ground even when survival mode kicked in and their lungs were filling with water and the waves began covering their heads... I just take the freedom of Christianity I had growing up for granted.  We all take it for granted and would probably not stand our ground until hard times or even death.  I hope that my faith continues to grow and that when persecution comes, no matter in what shape or form, I will be filled with the Holy Spirit and able to stand the test.
Wigtown also had the most amazing little bookstores filled with first editions and old novels that the locals cared little to none about, well, they did not care for a lot of the same titles as we did so it worked out very nicely!  I could have spent a good couple days just looking around at all the books and after a while, I am not going to lie... they all started to look a lot alike.  I wish I read more because I felt like the honors english kids next to me knew exactly what they were looking for, but I was just kind of skimming and hoping to find an antique treasure- I didn't know what exactly but something good.  I ended up getting a guide to Paris from 1898 that had all sorts of maps and advice about what to do when in Paris and it was so great! It told me when a museum was the most packed and what to see first, and I'm sure a lot has changed (thats the main reason I wanted to get it) but mainly I wanted to see what would still be the same as well.  Basically, I liked the old timey smell.......
So me and my gang were hungry as always and needed to give ourselves a good 2 hours to eat, but we still wanted to look for more books, so we ate at a Cafe/bookshop! PERFECT.  We all got sandwiches, which have been the only things I have eaten this trip because the bread here is just SO good!  And I love it because they always load my sandwiches with cheese and for some reason my pallet demands cheese on all my sandwiches now... hm... always, I got a piece of homemade "special" bread that ended up having the craziest things in it such as nuts and green onions (but was amazing! ) and cheese aalllllll over it.  They had put some sort of spread on to make the cheese stick and I kept going on and on about how good this "special sauce" on my "special" bread was and then later found out that it was just butter.... we all had a good laugh at that.  I am laughing just remembering something else that happened at that cafe in Wigtown.  As I was talking to the girls, I looked over towards where Dannah was sitting and my eyes caught this motionless figure sitting at the table directly behind her, leaning against the counter with big dark glasses on.  I immediately was overcome with hysteria because in my mind, I registered that figure as a corpse by the way she was absolutely still and leaning against the stone hard countertop as if someone had propped her there for a minute until they returned to take her to another location.  The huge, forgive me all female elderly, but grandma glasses that she was wearing to disguise her slumber was not helping her case, but only made it a funnier site.  Now that I type it out I sound like the spawn of satan because I am making fun of an old person who probably just needed a power nap, but I am sorry it was FUNNY.  there could have been something in that "special" sauce, I don't know, but if you were there you would have probably laughed too. haha and don't worry, I have a picture... if you need evidence.
After Lizzy ordered the whole menu and needed Kelsey to pay for it because there wasn't a card machine, we headed back out and I found two old volumes of the complete works of Shakespeare for only 6.50 pounds!  The lady acted so weird when I got excited about the price and would have probably given them to me if I had asked.  We headed back to the bus after that and rode towards our next stop, Edinburgh.
As soon as we got to the hotel, the four of us took a sturdy nap and went to meet the boys at a Mexican restaurant by the name of Viva Mexico.  We looked like such pathetic losers because we reserved seats for about 10 and since the boy's climbed Arthur's Seat, they were late and everytime the waiter would come by we kept assuring him, "These boys are coming to meet us we promise!" (add nerdy snort & giggle)  The food was probably the best Mexican food I have ever eaten and yes, I did eat the fajita meal for two all by myself... However, we did not realize it was so darn expensive and ended up paying money we needed for a good couple more days and therefore decided to fast the next couple meals... haha but really...