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My Dad is not the most affectionate person. He has a reserved form of sentimentality which sits at a different end of the spectrum as me, as I am quite forthcoming with my feelings. So to receive this text was as good as it gets from my Dad, whose enthusiasm I have seen ebb and flow quite a bit throughout this process, I think partially due to having some anxiety about the whole thing. To hear this from him meant a lot to me.
Thursday night we had another planning session, and my brother was actually down from Fresno to work out some issues regarding his license to ensure he can get his passport in time. I feel like his chances of going are improving – maybe around 85% at this point.
We booked four bits of lodging; Edinburgh, London, Paris, and Switzerland. Two things became very apparent regarding our expectations and desires for the trip. First, we are all far more excited to see Scotland than we are London. Only my younger brothers have any real concrete desire to see and do anything in London, and both agreed that we could shorten our time there. We extended Scotland by one day, and decided to drive to Ben Nevis and back in the same day to do that hike, meaning the AirBNB we’re staying in could remain our homebase and we could potentially travel to Glasgow too the following day. The other is that we will spend next-to-no time in Zurich, which is actually fine. If you click the link above to see where we are staying in Switzerland, I think the idea of retiring to that place in the mountains away from cities and relaxing on that patio for a couple of evenings with a beer will be quite nice.
I think I mentioned before that I am going to be in London a bit before my Dad and brothers. Originally I had hoped to see my friend Chris, who formerly lived in London (and then Paris) but now resides with his family in Cornwall. We had discussed him coming to London, but with the idea I’d have more time in London on a weekend, but based on my Dad’s schedule and goals, it isn’t going to work out. I had also just completely been unaware of how big the UK is and how far Cornwall is from London. It’s 5+ hours via car. Hanging with Chris, sadly, will not be an option but he is hopeful in coming to Los Angeles in August.
What you may not know is that I am a massive Liverpool FC fan. Chris and I not being able to match up schedule gave me an opportunity to book a train to Liverpool on the way to Scotland to meet my Dad, and to stay over night, and….
….do a tour of Anfield!!!! I am so bloody excited for this it’s hard to contain it. I was brought to tears the other day thinking of how many pictures I will get of myself at Anfield taking in all that history while watching and listening to this. I get to to do this, eat at a local Vegan diner in Liverpool, visit a skateshop, and head to Edinburgh. I cannot wait.
YNWA.