First visitors!

Six months on the nose from the very day I arrived in Scotland I found myself back in Glasgow International Airport for the first time since. For this occasion however, I was on the other side of the glass doors and customs, waiting anxiously for their arrival. It had been over six months since I last saw them both; in fact I could trace back to the very date I last saw them (23 August 2013). The minute I saw Leah and Alex come down the escalator and frantically almost forget to pick up their luggage, I started to tremble with excitement. Honest to goodness, it felt like that scene in the airport in Love, Actually where people are meeting up with each other and grinning stupidly and jumping up and down and hugging.

That's exactly what had happened.

For the first time since I moved here, I got to play host to two of my very best friends and former (but really though, you'll always be) flatmates in the country I get to call home for the moment. It was one of the most exciting, exhausting, tiring, and adventurous weeks I've had since I've been here, and I know for my sleep-deprived, jet-lagged companions that first day that it was all that plus more. I cannot describe to you how awesome it feels to confidently show someone around the country you live in, up and down the streets you walk every day, and how amazing it is to watch their faces when they experience something for the first time. Considering I experienced most of these things on my own when I got here, it was extremely rewarding and I even had a few firsts myself.

I could give you a detailed day-to-day schedule of what we did complete with anecdotes and long-winded descriptions of every moment, but for the sake of your attention span (whoever you may be reading this) I'll break it down into important moments each day that Alex and Leah were here in Scotland.

Sunday: arrival, the biggest and most gratifying hug I've ever had, witnessing their faces showing them around the more beautiful parts of campus and as we passed by people talking on the streets, taking them to their first pub (Waxy O'Connors in City Centre) and treating them to their first pint

Monday: their first train ride in Scotland, introducing them to the wonders of Scottish scenery as we hiked from the Arrochar & Tarbet train station into Arrochar and along Loch Long, going partway up the Cobbler and sitting in the dirt, watching the brilliant sun play on the mountainside, Loch Lomond at night

Tuesday: letting them loose for the first time and getting to hear what they got up to while I was in class, taking them across to the Clyde River for a sunset, and also taking them to Islay Inn for dinner and a pint (or dram) and getting treated by a kind older gentleman to a dram of whisky on the basis of it's "what we should be drinking"

Wednesday: taking them to their first Scottish castle - Stirling Castle, and wandering around Stirling before taking them to a lecture on Underwater archaeology and then the pub to meet new friends

Thursday: letting them loose again, witnessing the wonders of Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis, and taking them to a surprise showing of a play that made us all laugh so hard we cried

Friday: leaving in the morning to take them to Edinburgh, where we stuck primarily to Old Town and ate at The Conan Doyle pub where a woman next to us was celebrating her 80th birthday and shared some of her cake with us, Leah's first night in a hostel!

Saturday: getting to show them more of Edinburgh and the National Museum, seeing their faces at the top of the windy Arthur's Seat

Sunday: seeing them experience the highlands for the first time on an amazing highlands tour that couldn't have been more perfect

Sending them off yesterday morning was sad, but I know they were glad to be going back home in a way. I know that Alex will miss the cold, wet Scottish air and Leah will miss the abundance of readily available Irn-Bru and kinder eggs and we'll all miss each other, but I'm glad I got to share Scotland with them. I'm glad we finally got to have the kind of conversations we used to have at Servo or in our flat in Hazlett. 

But, all good things must come to an end. I hope you enjoyed your time in Scotland, friends!

For now, I'll continue on with my schoolwork (and procrastination) and my urge to keep travelling. The ride back through the highlands had me thinking again about just how many things I haven't seen that I want to see, and places I want to go or live and things I want to do. I've got at the very least six months left to do it!