I met Prince William!!!

And we're getting married in the morning!!! See?! Disney movies can be like real life!!!
HA! I wish.
But we did see Prince Charles, and I shall tell you the tell... (pictures still to come since we haven't gotten to a place where we can upload them from my memory card)
We left Dublin Thursday morning and flew to Edinburgh, Scotland/UK. After getting our cool car, whom I named Karl (he was a VW Golf, way great car), we drove to Stirling. I love Stirling. We first drove up to the Castle rock and went through the castle. It was a pretty cool castle that overlooked amazing views in the valley. I think the best part about Stirling, however, was the William Wallace monument. Dad had told me there was one there and it was pretty great, but I had no idea how great it was. And since William Wallace is pretty much my hero (Braveheart is my favorite movie) you can imagine how excited I was as I looked out over the valley and saw this huge tall tower on this huge rock-like hill. I asked dad what it was and his reply, "That's the William Wallace monument." WHAT?!?! I got really excited. So we drove to our B&B, which was this really cute little house run by a lady named Joan, and checked in, rested up a bit since we were still recovering from jet lag, and then drove to the William Wallace monument. P.s. you could see the monument out of our room window. Best thing ever. Anyways, we got to the monument and climbed the hill. The tower at the top was huge! We climbed the two hundred and sixty-something stairs to the top, stopping along the way to read about Wallace's life and details of the battle of Stirling. And I saw William Wallace's sword! 5 and 1/2 feet tall! So so cool. I definitely took lots of pictures of it. And when we climbed to the top of the tower and overlooked where Wallace defeated the English at Stirling, I definitely yelled "FREEDOM!!!" at the top of my lungs. After apologizing to those giving me weird looks, we climbed back down the stairs. That night we got an excellent night's rest and drove to Bannockburn the next day where Robert the Bruce defeated the English in 1314 winning the Scots their freedom. We went into the visitor's center where a man dressed as a medieval army commander gave a somewhat gruesome demonstration of the weaponry that was used at the battle. But it kind of gave you an idea about what it was like at the battle. And I love seeing history recreated. Maybe not so gruesomely... but anyway. After Stirling we made a quick stop at Deep Sea World for my bosses because they told me too and it was pretty cool, and then drove to Edinburgh. We dropped our bags off at the guest house we'd be staying at and rode the bus to the Royal Mile. We walked up to the castle and went on a tour there. I think this is one of my favorite castles I've been to. And we saw the royal jewels of Scotland. Cool. Then we walked back down the Royal Mile, grabbed some dinner, and then picked up our Gathering passports for the events the next day. And now for the Gathering:
One of THE coolest things of my life! Complete with the Heavy-weight world champion Highland Games, LOTS of kilted men, a visit by HRH Prince Charles himself, and pipe bands pipe bands pipe bands!!! I loved every minute of it. And so did dad. The first day of festivities, we found some seats in the Highland Games arena and watched the stone putting events (these huge men throw huge stones) and I couldn't help think of Braveheart: "You dropped your rock." Anyway, a huge pipe band then came marching into the arena and an old british woman next to us says "Well it looks like their getting ready for Charles to come." Fricka-WHA?!?! is what went through my mind. We turned to her, "Prince Charles? THE Prince Charles? As in the next King of England?!" And she nodded yes. Dad made a lifetime friend with this 85 year old woman named Dorothy Whalton p.s.. So he comes marching in wearing a kilt, gave a speech opening the gathering, and then left shaking hands as he went. We were like twenty feet away. Oh and his wife Camilla was there. But after that we wandered around and listened to the different bands and groups performing. We got some lunch, and then headed back to our inn to get ready for the parade. After getting all dressed up in our tartan Kilt and Skirt, we headed back to the gathering to eat some dinner. And a bird pooped on dad's shirt. Ha ha! Very funny. We laughed for a while about that. But then we met up with the Forbes clan to march in the parade. And it was funny, because we all looked alike, even though we were from all over the place. Ha! We were placed behind the Lonach Highlanders and pipe band. They are one of the very few highlander armies left and we later found out that most of them were from the Forbes clan because the head of our clan is always their patron. So we marched past Holyrood Palace, through the gates, and on up the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh castle. We were quite surprised as we came through the gates to see the mass of people that were jam-packed on both sides of the street to see the parade. We felt like royalty, and I even did the beauty-queen wave once or twice. As we marched up behind the pipe band people cheered and waved and some even yelled "Yeah Forbes Clan! Way to go Forbes!" And we got "Heathens!" once. Pretty sure I'll be looking in the geneology history to see what that was about... But we later learned that there were over 50,000 people watching and participating in the parade. It was madness. But cool madness. So up and up we marched, past old medieval buildings, shops and cafes, and chapels and cathedrals that stretched to the sky. It was one of those moments you have while traveling that you just can't really describe to anyone it's greatness. I'll remember that forever. The parade ended in the castle esplanade where we took our seats for the pageant. It was cool that we were right at the gates of the castle. The show was pretty fabulous. Oh and right before the show, we met Malcolm Forbes from our clan. He was standing in his father's place as head of the Forbes clan because he was too old to make it to the Gathering. So his father is Lord Forbes, head of the Forbes clan and he lives in Forbes castle in Aberdeen! Awesome right?! So that was a fabulous night.
The next day we went to church and then to the Rosslyn Chapel. Da Vinci code anyone? It was a beautiful chapel with amazing architecture and carvings inside. It was mostly covered though on the outside because it's undergoing a huge restoration project. But we both loved that. Then we went back to the gathering where we watched more Highland games and pipe bands. Then we climbed this huge hill overlooking Edinburgh. It was so gorgeous up there! You could see the whole city. Dad was kind of freaking out though because it was so high and there were dead-drop cliffs at the top. But it was amazing. And very windy. But amazing. So then today we flew back to Dublin, drove through the Wicklow Mtns (where they filmed P.S. I Love You), and then on to Kilkenny, where we are now. The Irish countryside is beautiful and I am loving every minute. I can't wait to experience more of this beautiful place. Dad and I make a great driving team. He's the great driver, and I'm the great navigator. We got here without the GPS that was taking us the wrong way at first. We got skills. Anyway, we're havin' fun, lovin' every minute, and we'll post pictures asap. May the luck o' the Irish be wit you all! :)