spoony driftwood: Goin' on an Adventure: The Royal Yacht "Britannia"

Today was as perfect a day as can be, however, I’m tired and will only post the first part of my day. I woke up, read some of my current book Three Cups of Tea, got ready, and then went with a buddy from IFSA-Butler (the program that I’m here in Scotland with). We went to the Free Trade Fair, which wasn’t terribly exciting because it was basically a bunch of companies giving us free coupons, entering hapless victims into raffles, and getting us to sign up for things we didn’t need. I got a free bag, a handful of vitamins, and lots of coupons.

Later, I went on a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. I met with several other Butler people who were going to go on the tour of the yacht. We waited a few minutes for our tour guides to show up, but then we were on our way (with free tickets and free bus passes, whoo!). A very warm bus ride and 40 minutes later, we stepped off the bus to a shopping center near the ocean. I didn’t really take note of what it was, other than it was a large building, until we got inside.

It was a mall, complete with a Boots pharmacy, Vodafone outlets, and a Gap. The floors were shiny and of some imitation marble, and the center of it was open and airy, just like newer malls back home in America (and coincidentally similar to Spain). What were we doing here? We went up two escalators to the third level of the mall, and the entrance to the Britannia was there, inside a mall. Yes, inside a mall. Once the group got past the postmodern consumerism, we were able to enjoy the fruits of monarchy and capitalism unhindered. Social commentary aside, the yacht was very pretty. I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be bigger and grander, but after realizing that it was the Royal Family’s real home away from home and a place where she could escape from the pressure and publicity of monarchical life, I understood why it was so sparsely decorated. I use “sparsely” as a loose term, here. The state rooms, such as the dining room and the living room, were quite lovely and impressive, even to an American bumpkin like myself.

Bridge of the Britannia

The weather here is also impulsive. It was cold and a little windy, but clear as any day in the Southwest of American, with bright blue skies. Then all of a sudden, just as Za Gaga and I were about to go out on one of the desk, a whipping rain came out of nowhere and pelted us. We scurried back to the safety of shelter and waited for the storm to end. We took a set of stairs to another part of the tour, and in the minute and a half it took us to climb the stairs, the rain had stopped. It was still pretty chilly, but at least it wasn’t raining.

Crazy Scottish weather.

Note: the deck is slick with water.

On the yacht, they make a specialty fudge. They had a free taster on the counter, and I tried the “triple-decker” flavor. As soon as I popped the candy in my mouth, I realized that one of the fudge layers was the same color as the whiskey-flavored fudge. Whether it was me or my imagination, I tasted something sweet and biting – and it was rather tasty. Lord, please forgive me if I have sinned by tasting something vaguely alcoholic – it was out of ignorance, and if I remember correctly the J. Golden Kimball stories my Dad tells me, it can be okay if "the Lord heard me say water." Not that that is at all a rationale for drinking alcohol if you are a Mormon. Please disregard this paragraph.