Sunday I woke up with thoughts of being very productive. Gym it for a bit, shower, SHAVE (I didn't shave for about a week, I was turning into a woolly mammoth), get my haircut, do some homework etc etc... well... I shaved. Next thing I know I am on a bus with Marc, Jordan, Amy and Paige to a small town called Ratho about 45 minutes outside of Edinburgh. Where am I going you ask? Nowhere other then the world's biggest rock climbing place?! Yes. But of course, in the spirit of adventure, we set out only knowing that it is around this Ratho place. Which is why when the bus got to the last stop and we had no idea where to go, it was no big deal. I asked some lady, whom is likely the only resident of Ratho, where this mystery rock climbing place was (we figured if it was the biggest in the world we would have seen it... but all we saw were little houses and trees). She pointed us in the right direction, which was also backed up by the rock climbing place when Paige called them. More specifically, the directions were, follow the river with the water to your left. Now I don't know about in Scotland, but in the rest of the world, you can go two directions with the water on your left. Regardless, we set off in the direction we thought it was. Let me give you some more details of what we were doing, we are walking on a hmm, 2 person wide dirt pathway with a rock wall on the right, and a river on the left. There is nothing but trees up ahead, nothing. We stuck to this path for a good 15-20 minutes, getting more and more skeptical until there was an orange sign on the right. And what do you know... there is actually a rock climbing place out here in the middle of nowhere!!! We hike on up and in we go.
Now this rock climbing place was no joke. I have a rock climbing wall at my gym in San Diego, it is a pretty nice one, and I consider myself a pretty good climber. But we have clip ons for the harnesses, as well as the belay. At this place you have to tie your own knots. Meaning, they literally are trying to kill me. Anyway, Marc knew how to do this, so of course I checked off that I knew what I was doing on the sign up form. Cmon... I'm a quick learner. We rent some equipment and then off to the rocks we go. This place is MASSIVE, I'd estimate probably 100 yards by 100 yards. Tons of walls, some actually make you go backwards, as if the monkey bars weren't out of style. Anyway, we start off on some easy wall (more because I didn't want to trust the knot juuuust yet)... by the time I got to the top, my fingers were no longer with me. It had to be 10 degrees in that place. I felt like someone changed out my hands for blocks of ice when I wasn't looking. And you can imagine how good that goes when you are climbing... nonetheless made it up, made it down. Next wall! Now this wall had a little overhang, a part where it makes you go backwards for a wee bit. I got up to it, and just could not reach the next rock. I held myself there for a good 30 seconds, draining every bit of energy I could have possibly had. Down I go, on the bright side, the knot worked! We do a few other walls then I go back to this overhang wall, but attempt another route. This time I told myself I was going to fly up it, no stopping! That is just what I did, a good 200+ feet up in the air... (which a great picture would aid this description... *cough* AMY! *cough*). We climbed a few more walls. Then back to the devil wall that defeated me. I had no doubt in my mind I would conquer it this time. Up I go, same spot... stuck... my hands feel like ice and now my forearms feel like stone. Defeated and a little frustrated I give it another go. I get to the same spot, leap for the next rock a total of seven times. I'd say about three of those I actually got my hand on the rock I needed to grab... but there was nothing to grab. It was like jumping up and trying to palm half a baseball with good enough grip to support my whole body weight. It just wasn't going to happen. So I slinked to level ground, staring the rock wall down the whole time. He knows I wasn't happy about our encounter. Next time, you're mine!
So, we leave the rock climbing place around 7pm, it is pitch black outside. Even better, we need to walk 15 minutes back on a little path next to a frozen over river!! Who's idea was this again?! We literally cannot see as we get down to the path. Luckily, Amy pulled out her cell phone which had a little flash light on it. We all walk swiftly as if we were bugs attracted to the light, following its every move. We make it back to Ratho safely and away we go.
On Monday I had school at 3pm, didn't do much before then. I learned about a couple theories of how we produce words and language. Pretty interesting stuff. Especially since it is still unknown for certain. After I got back from class the same rock climbing group decided to go see a movie - Sherlock Holmes! Great movie! I really enjoyed it. So much that we decided to do the unthinkable and jump into another movie. The Edge of Darkness, Mel Gibson, eh, not so much on this one. I would save it for HBO. We headed back home, and apparently in a movie watching frenzy, I started the movie Moon. Also a great movie, this one is interesting, it had me thinking a ton of stuff. I can't go into detail or I'd give away some of the movie, and that just isn't okay. After I meet back up with everyone at Jordan/Marc's flat, and do what? Watch another movie! Haha, sorry eyeballs. This one was called Frostbite, it was 3 pounds and no one has ever heard of it... after watching half of it we all knew why. What a terrible movie. It was entertaining though, but only because it was so bad.
Tuesday, Tuesday I didn't do too much moving around. Only because I was planning my moving around for spring break. From the moment I woke up to right before I went to bed I was cross-searching airlines and flight plans, countries I wanted to visit and people I wanted to go with. As my Dad put it, "the life of a travel agent"... no kidding... after countless skypes and phone calls, my masterpiece is finally complete. Edinburgh --> Stockholm (4 days) --> Berlin (3 days) --> Istanbul (7 days) --> Athens (3 days) --> Rome (3 days)... What a spring break! I would take this over Cancun and Cabo anyday. I especially like that most of the places I will be going to are in Eastern Europe, as well as a few countries home to the earliest of civilizations. What is even cooler is that I'll be with my friends for Stockholm/Berlin and possibly some of Turkey, and my brother from Istanbul on! I have never traveled this much in such a short period in my life, let alone with any of the people I am going to be traveling with. I am much looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead! What an exciting and promising Tuesday. . .
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