J2A Greece Pilgrimage 2008

Sunday, July 22, 2007

We've Made It!

Written entry by Taylor Page follows images

Our arrival at Edinburgh Airport


Our dinner entertainment in Oban


Pilgrims in Oban



“Whether by walking or by traveling via plane, ship, train, bicycle, or bus, the pilgrim progresses across time as well as space. The ambitiousness of the goal, the intensity of devotion ensure that the sight of new landscapes, the smell of novel foods, the encounter with unusual customs-- all converge to create a new way of experiencing the world. The legendary hospitality and deference afforded pilgrims also contributes to the sense of delight and gratitude for the unfolding adventure.”
-Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

At 4:30 PM on Friday, our pilgrimage officially began. We all gathered in Ellis Hall with various amounts of luggage. “What did you bring?” “I have this big suitcase” “I managed to pack it all into my backpack”, etc. Some of us were proud of our ability to condense, while others decided not to give anything up. Either way, around 5 PM our ragtag crew headed off to the MARTA station. We boarded to train with minimal trouble, although with many surprised looks from our fellow passengers. We reached the airport and, despite some trouble with checking in, we made it past security with time to spare. When the gang reached our gate at T5, a message blared over the loud speaker. “Attention to flight 96 to Edinburgh, your gate has been changed to E2”. We looked at each other with wide eyes, but begrudgingly headed over to the E terminal. We got a little snack and then boarded our airplane. It took a bit of time to actually take off, owing to a sick pilot and other small delays. We did, though, eventually take to the skies. The flight was, fortunately, fairly uneventful. Everyone got various amounts of sleep and the food was pretty good. We landed in the Edinburgh airport at 9 AM, Scotland time. After zipping through customs, we nabbed a shuttle to the Edinburgh train station. The drive to the train station was a wonderful glimpse at the city. I had no idea that there were so many beautiful old buildings in Edinburgh. The Old Town was particularly lovely. We grabbed some lunch, took up all the room in the little shop, and boarded the train to Glasgow. Scotland is such a beautiful country. We passed rocky mountains, fields home to sheep, and large lakes. In Glasgow, we changed to a train to Oban. That ride took us through more amazing landscape. We finally reached Oban, tired and bedraggled, but happy to have arrived. We walked through town to our home in town, the Balmoral Inn. We met the innkeeper, a man named Constantine, and hauled our luggage up 2 flights of steep spiral stairs to our rooms. Some of us took showers and napped, while others went out to explore the town. At 7ish, we gathered again and went to McTavish's for dinner and a Scottish show. At McTavish's, some of our group got to try that infamous Scottish dish, haggis, and generally found it to be quite delicious. Others had a soup called cock-a-leekie (chicken, leeks, and rice). The Scottish show consisted of music, singing, and dancing. The music was played by a fiddle, an accordion, and, of course, bagpipes. The little Scottish dancer was great and a man sang traditional Scottish tunes. While we were all tired (with a few falling asleep at the table!), we had a great time getting a little bit of Scottish culture. After dinner, we walked down to a pier in the Oban harbor and had a meeting and Compline while the sun set- at about 10:30 PM. We took a little stroll, then headed back to the inn for some much needed beauty sleep. A good start to our journey!

Taylor Page

3 Comments:

At 9:59 AM, Blogger Lynn Wright said...

So glad to hear from you all! It all sounds wonderful! Sending love and prayers to all of you.
-Lynn

 
At 12:24 PM, Blogger Timothy and Beth said...

Dear Tim & Beth,
Your travels sound exciting. Paul is going great. Eating well & sleeping well. We're having lots of fun with him. He loves watching the videos of himself! No questions. We all send you are love & prayers. Dad & Mom

 
At 7:21 PM, Blogger grace ruska said...

Dear Pilgrims,

Sounds like you are having a great time. We wish you all peace, harmony and mutual respect on your journey. Grace and Tom

 

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