A Nontraditional Thanksgiving

Although I was away from family this thanksgiving I was still able to get a sense of home with my mom coming to visit. She has never been outside of the United States so instead of spending her full week around London, we also planned part of her week in Scotland. The first few days I showed her around Richmond, Piccadilly Circus and all of the normal tourist spots such as Westminster, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. The Friday after thanksgiving we got onto a train and left for Edinburgh, Scotland. Even though I have been in the United Kingdom for about three months I still have not been able to see the country side. I was so excited about seeing different scenery that I spent most of our four hour train ride with my nose pressed up against the window looking at the pretty landscapes of lush green farms and ocean views. Once we got into Edinburgh, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and started to explore. Down the street from where we were staying was a mini winter carnival that had rides, games, and a beautiful ferris wheel. From the mini carnival we were able to get an amazing view of the Edinburgh Castle that sat at the top of the mountain. Wanting to get a closer look, we trekked up the steep cobble stone roads to the entrance of the castle. Once we got inside the castle we got to see an amazing panoramic view of the city and other mountains that were close by. By the time we were done touring the castle it was dark out and we decided to make our way back down the mountain. On our way back we took a different route and found a small German flee market. It was packed with people eating food, listening to music and having a great time. We were having so much fun that we forgot about our traditional Thanksgiving plans and had fun enjoying our own special nontraditional Thanksgiving. I would recommend a trip to Scotland to anyone traveling in the U.K.