UK Part Two

My week started out in the city of Glasgow in Scotland where I met Richard. He is a student at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he studies the trombone. Funny when you think about it because I played the trombone when I was in fourth grade because my brother played the trombone and I wanted to be like him. Can’t say I was ever even close to as good as Richard, but it was cool that we had something in common. He is actually from England and moved to Scotland to study, which is also where he met his girlfriend Urtė, who is from Lithuania, studying the piano at the Conservatoire. It’s crazy because every time I go to a new place, I seem to make more friends from other countries than the one I am in. But to be honest, I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Richard and I bonded right from the start, talking about sports and music and when we got back to his apartment I met an Italian couch surfer, Max, who was staying at his place as well. I also met his Scottish roommate Joe who is also a trombone player, so you could say I was surrounded by a lot of musical talent. Later that day Richard took me to the college to give me a little tour. I would have gotten lost walking through all the hallways but Richard took me from top to bottom and into some of the small auditoriums where I got the chance to play a Grand Steinway Piano. WOW!!!! What an incredible instrument. After the tour I went shopping for food, which I cooked later that evening for everyone in the apartment while they watched their first American football game. Haha, they didn’t really know what was going on but it was still fun for them. 

It had been quite a long time since I had the opportunity to play my favorite sports game, FIFA. However, it didn’t take long to find out that both Richard and Max are huge FIFA players and we spent long, long hours the next few nights playing against each other. The only downside to playing so much is that now I am desperately eager to get back to the US so I can play against my main opponent and best competition, Douchbadfresh haha<< he knows who he is.

Richard took me around the city and I did a bit of exploring on my own before leaving Wednesday for the Highlands. I took the bus and arrived in Inverness where I met my new hosts, Maris and his girlfriend Ieva, both from Latvia. Maris had to go back to work, but Ieva took me around the city on the bike and showed me all of the quiet places along the river. After we finished cycling, I went off on my own and explored Inverness. It’s a rather small city, but it is really beautiful and has a really awesome Castle in the city centre that sits atop a hill. The following morning I took the bike to Loch Ness. No I didn’t see any monsters in the water, but it was pretty awesome to see the lake and the mountains that surround it. The three days I was in the Highlands the weather wasn’t the greatest when it comes to taking pictures, but I was still able to see some amazing things while I was there.

Later that night I cooked Maris and Ieva a proper meal and we chatted about sports and life in general. The next morning I took the bike in the opposite direction, riding through the mist and trees until I came upon an amazing bridge. It looks very similar to the bridge from Harry Potter in Fort William. I also stopped at the Clava Cairn, which is an old burial/burning ground. But the monuments were built in a very interesting circular pattern with an opening facing the sunset during the winter solstice.  That night I fixed Maris a proper American Bacon Cheeseburger and then we went to his friend’s house to play NHL on the PS3- guess you could say I got my video game fix while in Scotland. I left the next day and arrived back in Glasgow to stay at Richard’s place for a few more days.

I wanted to stay in Glasgow again because last Sunday I stopped in at a local church and wanted to stay for another service. The service was really great and further helped me to understand my place as a Christian and after the service they had a church lunch where I met and made a few new friends: Colin, Ruth, Stuart and his wife Gill. They were all extremely welcoming and I was able to share my story and why I was traveling, as well as hear their stories and learn a bit more about them and Scotland as a whole. It was totally worth coming back to 

Glasgow! Later that evening, I went out to a park with, Richard, Joe, Max and Urtė. Knowing that I was a basketball coach, we all decided to play a little ball and I was able to show them what a real sport is, haha. It was a lot of fun though spending time with them and being able to get a basketball back in my hands after such a long time.

This has been such a busy and crazy trip and it continues to get crazier and busier. But I absolutely love it. God has truly blessed me along the way. Tomorrow morning I leave for England where I’ll hit some of the major cities before I go back to London on Wednesday for the CHELSEA GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!