Days 179, 180, 181. London. Its been real. Well. My London adventure is coming to a close. I sit here in Heathrow Terminal One waiting for my gate to show up on the board trying not to get overwhelmed thinking that this is the end. For the most part, I think I am taking a little break from school and will be back to class on Monday. I will probably go into shock when instead of seeing Maine, Essex, Vermont, California, HongKong1, Hong Kong 2, Indonesia, Poland tomorrow I will be riding rides with five of the cutest kids on earth. Its over. London. You will always have a piece of my heart. Yes it was memorable, fun, frustrating, courageous, exciting, annoying, cool, fantastic, treturous, unimaginable, hard, and wonderful. Its been real. Real life. Dreams coming true. Now on to bigger and better.
Day 179. Monday. We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. After that we attempted to go to the beach, but 1. it was raining 2. it was extremely windy and 3. it was a very rocky edge with no direct access to the beach. We took a picture and moved on. We ventured around Girvan, driving the streets. I loved the little houses that lined the road. We found Chestnut Drive. I got out to take a picture. Dad was good with a shot from the car. On the way to Ayr, we stopped by Trump Turnberry Hotel and Golf Course. Google Maps had us going in the Employee Access, but we never actually found the real entrance to the hotel. It was perched up on a little hill overlooking the golf course and ocean. Even with the rain and wind there were golfers out playing. CrAzY. But if you have a tee time at Turnberry I suppose you better take it. We drove around some more. Then headed to the Gilardi's....
My cousin Lynette and her husband had served a mission in Scotland a few years back. The Gilardi's were some of their favorites. Awhile back Lynette called my mom and asked her why I had never gotten back to her. My mom called me and I had no idea what she was talking about. I had not spoken to Lynette. Apparently, she wanted to see if I would want her to contact the Gilardi's about a job as they own several bakeries in western Scotland. Before I had given my mom and answer, Lynette had written the Gilardi's and asked them if they would hire me. 'Of Course.' Was the reponse given to Lynette. Lynette forwarded me on the message, and told us to contact each other. It was over a month in the works to get it to happen, but today was the day I would meet a potential employer. As we pulled into the neighborhood, dad said he would wait in the car as I went in to talk to them. Um no. You're coming with me. I rang the bell, a nice blonde lady opened the door, and invited us in. We walked into the kitchen where her husband and brother were eating lunch. "So why are you here?" the lady asked coldly. Say WhAt? I tried to remain calm and I was shocked by the question, she knows why I am here. I gave the above tale, and they were satisfied. Her husband in a very thick Scottish accent said that he would take me to the factories to see how everything works/runs. He said something about an apron, but I could not understand it, as we briskly got into the bakery van. We talked about the business as we drove to the cake bakery. It was in an old warehouse like facility, and it would not pass cleanliness standards I had at school. The husband introduced me to four people, one being the baking manager. He handed me the apron, and said the girls will show you what to do, I will be in the office and I'll be back in a bit. #awkward. The two bakers were really nice and chatty as I helped them. I made empire biscuits. Never heard of them before that moment. Shortbread cookies filled with raspberry jam, topped with another cookie, a disk of fondant like substance, and a cherry on top. I was making balls of fondant, and putting them on top of the cookies. Mine did not look as nice as the others, but they didn't seem to mind. Dad stood there and watched. About 45 minutes later the husband came back, talked to the baker, turned to me and said 'alright lets go.' And off we went to the bread warehouse. The smell was good. The men were busy working, wrapping up for the day it seemed, and so there was no work for me to do. We wandered around awhile as the husband took care of a few things. I don't think it is a good fit for me. Dad described it as a working man's bakery and I need something with an accent I can understant :}. We talked the drive. When we got out at the house the husband said, 'can I help you bring in your things?' Um, we had a B&B booked. 'Oh no, we had rooms ready for you. You must come for dinner at least.' After the warm greeting earlier, I was hesitant to accept. But we did. We went to the B&B and checked in. Then we went to the registry office in Ayr to see if they had any records for Ellen and Betty. Their records started in 1855, and we needed 1844. The lady told dad to check the local parrish offices, but not knowing which one to go to is challenging. Dinner was good. Conversation was over two hours. The lady kept trying to Skype Lynette, but no success. We thanked them for their time and hospitality, and off we went.
Day 180. Tuesday. The B&B we stayed at had a very chatty owner. The breakfast was good. Typical british fair, eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, toast for me, sausage w/it for dad. We walked the beach for a bit, collected some shells, I love the beach. I want to live in a beachhouse. We drove in town looking for the husband and wife bakery, and picked up a few things to try. We also went to a bakery the B&B lady recommended for lemon merengue pie. As we left the other bakery, dad pointed to something and asked the lady, 'What is that?" "Dooouuuughnut." Was the response. Ha! We drove to Robert Burns Birthplace Museum (yep Mindy we saw the statue and now I saw his birthplace) because 'when in Ayr' you do it. We did not go in the museum, but enjoyed the giftshop. Took a picture of the cottage, and were on our way.
In some of dad's Sunday night research he discovered that we are the ancestors of Rowallan Castle. It was in the area, so we took a drive out to it. When we pulled in, some of the land is a golf course, and some is being turned into housing developments. Weird. We drove by the castle, all the entrances were blocked off, we kept driving looking for a place to park. We found another castle with a parking lot. We were not there 20 seconds when a car pulled in, a man got out, and came over to the car "May I help you?" "Yah my dad's ancestor owned Rowallan Castle and we wanted to take a look." "Oh this is the new castle, that is the old castle [pointing] you'll want to go over there. I am the director of the castle and a direct decendant..." and he walked off not really wanting to give us a tour or anything. We took pictures, and drove on.... Google maps was fading by this point, so I figured out how to get to another nearby castle. It was a walk up to it, but we had been sitting for a good chunck of the day. It was a lovely walk with trees, a creek, and of course a castle to walk around. We headed to Glasgow for some last minute items and dinner before heading to the airport.
From the airport, we took a train to get to the tube to get to our feet of walking. The train stuck for 30 minutes. We did not get home tell a bit after midnight. And I still had to pack. I had everything in baggies/organized, it was just a question of getting the weight right in each bag to not go over. It was a jigsaw puzzle at its finest, and a bit after 4am, we were done packing my London life up in 2 big, 2 small, and 4 carryon bags.
Day 181. Got up to say goodbye to my landlady, but she had already left. Washed the towels and sheets. Took all the luggage downstairs by the front door. Took a walk to the post office to mail something to Tamara, and then to the grocery store to buy a big reusable grocery bag to fit all the stuff dad was taking home. Stopped by a cafe for a bite. Came home, put the laundry in the dryer, vacuumed, washed a few dishes, and as I was half way through my blueberry crumble, the doorbell rang, and our cab was there. It was time to go.
Goodbye London. You're every description. You've been good to me. Thanks for everything.
Growing up I always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. It was an amazing piece of architecture I dreamed of seeing. Ten/Twelve years ago I got my chance to see the Eiffel Tower. When I saw it I thought to myself, "I need to dream bigger." That has been a slogan for me in life. I need to have big dreams and make them happen. Culinary school. A dream I made happen. May we all have hopes and dreams that become our reality. Thanks London. It's been real.
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