Tuesday, October 21, 2014

I found my ancestry

This week me mum decided to come and visit me from London and I really hope that she had as much fun as I did because this was an unbelievable week! (Eventhough everyweek abroad is unbelievable)

As you guys know I have failed to blog each and everyday so these pictures and events are just the highlights of the week. On Monday me mum and I came back from London to Glasgow by train. It was about a four hour train ride on the high speed trains but the signals got messed up so it took five hours. No complaints because both me mum and I fell asleep the whole way. When we arrived in Glasgow we were both pretty tired and so we called it an early night. The next day we were contemplating going to Edinburgh but the weather wasn't really favorable and we rather spent the day browsing the grounds of my Uni and showing my mum the local area such as Byres Road, the City Center and some of the local shops. 

This was an Australian restaurant called WalkAbout and what you are looking at is kangaroo steak. It reminded me of OutbackSteakhouse however it was a lot better. I also showed me mum The National Piping Center and had some sticky toffee pudding with her. If you ever come to the UK, have some STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING 

Wednesday and Thursday was a complete packed day for myself because they are the only two days which I have class. That didn't stop my mother from exploring...She ended up taking a bus tour to the Highlands, GlenCoe, Loch Ness and another Loch that I am not familiar with. She had an absolute blast. After all my classes I had a social with the GUT (Glasgow University Tennis). A pub quiz in the famous Viper. Okay Viper isn't famous, it's a dive bar/club kinda the same as The Border in Denver. I honestly can say that I never have a dull moment with this team because they are all so friendly and genuine that most of the time when we aren't bashing eachother for fun we are coming up with ways to hang around eachother because the atmosphere between us are just awesome. 

Friday came along quickly and Diego, Jarod and Nic came to visit for the weekend. If you don't know who Diego is by now then you don't really know me. Throughout the weekend we went to some local areas such as ASHTON LANE which has a bunch of different restaurants such as Tomboys which just opened. They had a deal of 241 burritos and student discounts. Before we ended up at Tomboys, we went to Lebowski's. Yes you heard correct, the Big Lebowski. This restaurant was on Argyle street and had some of the best burger and chips combination I have had, not to mention the creamy liquor or "White Russians" as they call them. Afterwards we went to a brewery where we tried four different beers just to say that we are diverse. 


Saturday was our big day. This is the story of how I found my ancestry. Okay first of all let's just start by talking about what I did. My mum, Diego, Jarod, Nic, Emily Barney, and Calvin decided to come with me to Edinburgh for the day. I had already been but the last time I didn't go into the castle because it is 16 quid and I wanted to go in with family. Diego, Jarod and Nic didn't end up going in but the rest of us did. We explored the war rooms, the upper viewing deck and some of the inside rooms of the actual Edinburgh Castle. 

This was a cemetery for the dogs of all the fallen warriors. How adorable is that??

This is the main quad where the war memorial was and the crown jewels, the key to Edinburgh and other things such as the birthplace of the kings. The memorial was also the place where I saw my ancestry. So when my father decides to tell me something normally I have to tendency to dose off but still somehow listen. This time I was really happy that I listened. My father told me that we have some ancestry from either Ireland or Whales. Well turns out that he was incorrect because it turns out that we are from Scottish heritage. While I was looking through the names of the war veterans during the commonwealth era me mum pointed out a name. Now it was in the South African/Scottish list of people who fought. The name we came across was J.M. Paddock. My father told me about his great grandfather who was paddock. If you put the puzzle pieces together I was looking at my own flesh and blood, here in Edinburgh. This gave me goosbumps and I am so incredibly happy to have shared this with me mum. 


This truly made my day in Edinburgh, but it was even better than I expected because I had some of my best friends with me and a family member. 









Cheesin as usual. Emily, Calvin and I. 

On sunday Diego and Jarod went to a Distillery up in the Highlands, while Nic and I went to the Art Museum by Kelvingrove Park right next to campus. We saw some interesting art displays and some awesome views of my campus. 








Overall I have been so fortunate to have had me mum with me and it made me miss the rest of my family a ton! I can't wait to get back to the states and see them again. Sunday morning before she left we had some crepes and I can truly say that I loved every moment of this week. Dankie Baie mamma lief jou en die res van die familie!