We arrived in Scotland last Saturday and it already seems like we’ve been here for a couple of weeks. We have covered so much land already. Mind you it’s not like crossing Canada from East to West where it would probably take 5 days to cross.

First i’ll start off by explaining the objective to this tour. Essentially the theme words are family and roots. My brother Jay and I decided to book a trip to Scotland after my Mom passed away on March 8th, 2014. International women’s day (of course she chose that day) She was that much of a powerhouse and certainly raised 2 independent strong children. Prior to that my Grandma also passed and they are both from Scotland. They both brought us to Scotland 30 yrs ago and we travelled with my second cousin Lynn and her Mom. We are bringing them back home and plan on doing a ceremony in the highlands.

I’ll start you off at the beginning to update you on our journey. We left Canada Sat. May 27th at an early start of 3:30 a.m. and arriving the next day at 8 a.m. in Glasgow. In between there was a long enough layover to catch up on reading, writing and I even got a chance to do yoga nidra in the airport. Yes I did receive some looks however it didn’t stop me from feeling wonderful and recharging my nervous system. They need more yoga studios in airports but i am thinking it would be used as savasana and/or napping which would be totally fine with me.

As I sat next to my Mom and Grandma's remains it brought up different emotions and contemplations about life and existence. Do you ever wonder why it takes people their whole lives to really fully live. People have often wondered and it is quoted “Is there life after death?, when really the more important question is, “Is there life before death”. Since my Mom passed I have taken life so precious however I have always lived with a full adventure in mind as though every day were my last. Fear is what paralyzes people, we all let it redirect our lives or cease us from chasing our dreams because of the unknown. We tend to hang onto our deep wounds and allow it to map out our future as we navigate through the cob webs of memories and patterns lived over and over. Until we decide to change our stories and live our life more freely, motivated by love, passion and values.

Back to the tour…

When we arrived in Glasgow, we had a nice surprise at the airport, one of my brothers friends, Mark, greeted us when we got out of the gates. Jay was so happy to see him as it had been awhile and also nice to have a familiar face.

We arrived at my cousin Linda’s in Scotland and so happy to see her as it has been 30 yrs. I was excited to also lay horizontal, plane rides, especially the red eye are not the most comfortable. I also made the mistake of watching 2 movies back to back on the plane rather than catching up on sleep. We received a warm welcome from Linda and her husband John, such a lovely couple. We had a wee chat and I went to nap because I was wrecked from the time difference and the long travel.

The next day after a nice long sleep we got picked up by our other cousins and went over for a visit with our great Aunt Chrissy. It was so lovely seeing her again and she reminded me exactly of my Grandma. It was a very emotional day as we brought up memories and stories as well as photos from when we were last there. That had stemmed some buried memories and flashbacks of places we went to and activities we did. I was only 11 years old last time we were with them, it’s amazing what you remember after all that time.

The next day Linda, my cousin, took us around downtown Glasgow. It was the perfect day for it as the sun was shining. The streets were packed with people on their day off, buskers in the streets and busy patios with people laughing, eating and of course drinking. Drinking seems to be a theme here.

Before my brother and I head up to Isle of Sky to do a ceremony we thought we would check out Ireland because it is so close. Speaking of drinking the Irish love their beer! I have never been in so many places that have a selection like the pubs in Ireland. So we decided on renting a car so we could really take in the view of the land. At first I was a little nervous because it’s the other side of the road but Jay has done really well and with a stick shift too, I have to say I am impressed and also grateful that we have siri to get us through the way. I can only imagine what my Mom had to go through with screaming kids in the backseat and a paper map. I even had a chance to drive on the way back from the ferry to Glasgow (partially a forced situation because Jay had a few too many ferry pops!)

About an hour into our trip we stopped at a quaint little village with ancient brick stained buildings and churches. We spotted a bakery and a washroom it was the perfect pit stop before continuing on. The people were so friendly and I guess we just exude tourist whether it was our stumbling upon looking too hard at the pence to see if we were paying right, our accents or the constant camera happy moments. None the less the people embraced us and greeted us with a smile.

I am just in awe with the history and architecture in this country. Of course there are no earthquakes and not much damage because natural disasters don’t really come through this land. The buildings are still standing and they have to be over 500 years old.

The more and more we tour through the land little bits of memory would pop up. I remember visiting the Robbie burns cottage because my Gran loved books, literature, history and knowledge makes sense she ended up opening her own library in a town in Sturgis Saskatchewan where she settled after the war. What an adventure that must have been for my Grandma to take her little 2 year old daughter (my Mom) across on the boat after the war to a new country with new people and friends. What a brave women my Grandma was.

Which reminds me I haven’t yet explained the full family history yet but that will come when we do our ceremony through Isle of Sky.

Back to the memories…

The double decker buses used to scare me as a child. When they would drive by it would be loud and monstrous. I have a theory behind that my Mom informed me maybe why loud sounds affected me. When I was in her belly she got into a huge accident. She was 8-9 months pregnant with me and was driving a VW bug. The beetle went right under a big rig and the sound was so loud I think it now plays a big roll in me getting startled when hearing loud sounds. I love them now though! I actually rode one in Dublin. It’s a great way to take photos because you are up high. I had to take a taxi back though because I ended up going the wrong way and I knew the taxi would get me back safe. I ended up showing the bus driver the photos I took along the way there, he actually took the time to look and informed me that those buildings were not on the street I was currently going down. So I hopped off and spotted a taxi.

I am doing my best to stay in Chronological order but i get side tracked with a story..my writing has ADHD!!!

Ok back to the beginning of the Ireland trip. We crossed the ferry to head up to Derry where Jay had friends from there and wanted to say hello. They were so incredibly kind that she gave up her house to let us stay there and she went to her Mom’s. The people here are so nice and hospitable. We had dinner and went out to a pub to have a pint because that’s what they do, it’s like a leisure walk in the park. Wow is it ever beautiful! I am so glad we decided to come. I have always seen pictures and it is quite popular for movies as well that I wanted to one day check it out. We just spent the morning at the Cliffs of Moher which is a must see. It was so nice to get out and walk the edges of the cliff and capture some of the beauty after being in a car and those windy roads made my belly a little off but i believe it’s a combo of the ferry ride and the roads. I actually felt like the ground was moving under my feet. After a full morning at the Cliffs we got back into the car and travelled to Dublin. Dublin is the coolest city!!! The long long streets covered with locals, students and tourists. Stone walls and churches, pubs and restaurants. You could never get bored in this city. It is so clean and once again friendly. I left my brother talking to an old Irish man at a pub and I decided to go find the Trinity library to check out the book of Kells which was one of my cousin Erin’s recommendations. I ended up getting to the door and it was closed. We are only spending one night in Dublin because we are going up north to see the Giant’s Causeway. Then back to Scotland on the ferry to spend the rest of the trip with family and having a ceremony for my Mom and Grandma.

To be continued….

Thanks for reading our adventures of Ireland and Scotland. If you want to follow more stories and photos please go to my IG account alypaws or theyogahome As well as on FB Aly Paws or The Yoga Home. As well as snapchat alypaws7

Cheers!! xo