Jon & Marieke : Trip start date December 15 2019

It took until 2am to finish negotiating what we absolutely needed for our trip and what could be left behind. We had to pack for December cold in Toronto, February cold in Montreal, a Christmas wedding in Scotland, stopovers in Amsterdam and Vienna and appropriate clothing for 7 weeks of travel through Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. On top of that, we had to pack camping supplies including sleeping bags a tent and camper mats. Steph, who we would be meeting up with once in Ethiopia, had warned us that bug spray and sunscreen were incredibly expensive in Africa so we had a two month supply of all of that too.  Once this overwhelming task was complete, we set our alarm for a 3am wake up call.

Flying to Europe from Newfoundland is never uncomplicated, especially during the winter when there are no direct flights. First, we had to fly to Toronto, a painful 3.5-4 hour flight in the opposite direction from where we want to go. The upside to this is that we get to use these detours as an opportunity to visit friends and family in the city. We got to visit with my cousin Val and our friend’s Adam and Sarah (they run/own Aunt Sarah’s Chocolate and Sweet Rock Ice Cream in Trinity during the summer but are originally from Toronto) We even had a chance run-in with my highschool friend Claire who lives outside of Toronto these days and coincidentally ended up at the same breakfast spot as us.

After Toronto, we had two more flights before getting to Edinburgh, which we would explore before heading to Glasgow for the wedding of our friends Martha and Gavin.

Despite being completely sleep deprived when we arrived, we took public transit and then walked 20 minutes to find our accommodation just on the edge of Holyrood Park and Castle.  We had booked on booking.com and were surprised to find out that what we had rented was a room in someone’s apartment and that someone was living there. It was fine though since the room assigned to us was large and clean and breakfast was set out for us each morning. Our host Louis was nice and very lax about check-out time. To avoid going to sleep at 6pm, we found the energy to go out for dinner that night. Louis recommended a place called Fisher’s and we ate the best fish and chips of our lives, which is saying a lot coming from a Newfoundlander.

By 10pm we were back in bed and fast asleep. I was shocked when Jon woke me up and told me it was almost 1pm the next day. I could have kept sleeping. Having lost a fair amount of exploring time we headed straight to Edinburgh Castle, which was pricy at $35 Canadian each, but worth the visit, followed by a culinary sampling at the Christmas Market. We sipped on mulled wine and a local milk chocolate stout, followed by Frankfurters, curry, tikka masala wraps and waffles. We finished up with a hot chocolate and ventured away from the market to a local pub we had passed the evening prior called Bar on Thistle and chatted with the locals while two girls casually performed music in the corner. 

The next morning we set out early for a sunrise hike up Arthur’s Seat for a spectacular view of the city. Our apartment was conveniently located next to the start of the trail so we did not have to get up too early. The ground was frozen and slippery, but we made it to the top in time for sunrise with a handful of other people. After our descent, we headed to Glasgow by bus just one day prior to the start of Martha and Gavin’s wedding festivities.