Location: Perth, Scotland

Sav: This morning I wasn’t needed at the lists since we just had some longsword duels happening, so I decided to go explore Perth for a few hours instead. (Side note Steve and Aurora did really well in their fights!)

I started off into town, with no real clue of where I was headed. Let’s be real for a second though: even if I had known where I wanted to go, it wouldn’t have made any real difference in my ability to get there in a timely fashion. Like seriously how do people travel without their phone maps? I’d be hopelessly lost all the time- even more so than now.

I really had no idea Perth was going to be so beautiful- every building is stone or wood and has intricate detailing. Every street corner has bright rose bushes or tulips growing on it. Huge cherry blossom trees hang above the sidewalks and there are cafés everywhere that let off a sweet coffee smell. (Though that could be the barista in me focusing super hard on that detail.)

I wandered for a few hours and ended up having breakfast and espresso at Reid’s, strolling through the North Inch Park towards the Black Watch Castle, trough Rodney Gardens, and down to the shopping street. Turns out that Europe has a lot of cute baby stuff which is a problem since I love buying gifts for my 4 month old niece Ayla…

Side note 2! My friend Sky and I have been swapping baby photos here because his son Talus is around the same age as Ayla, and we’re both missing the baby cuddles. Awwwww.

We know. We’re weenies.

Land picked me up after my downtown adventures (I only got lost twice!) and we picked up a couple other people on the way, Jess and Sebastian. Sebastian is a Swedish fighter who says “you only have to play this sport for 3 years to be called a veteran because it’s a miracle you haven’t been injured and quit yet.”

Oh good.

We drove to Scone Palace to watch the beginning of the 5 vs 5 fights and prep our team. Once everyone was suited up I went and watched Quebec vs Sweden and it was probably the craziest minute long game I’ve ever seen. At one point you can see a fighters two-handed axe get lodged into an opponents arm plate, while another guy gets his back bent over the list and almost falls out. The crowd was losing its collective shit.

The atmosphere was amazing! This crowd mentality leading up to Canada’s games was awesome since the cheering really gets your teammates going. We won against both Luxembourg and China, to advance into Sunday’s rounds.

About 15 of us all went to The Tavern downtown to get some Scottish food, hear live music and drink a few beers. After 3 hours of laughs and cheers and Tom-foolery we decided to call it a night.

On the way home Land, Sky and I stopped to get some ice- cream at a place that sold something called ‘Freakshakes’ which are like super intricate 10 ingredient milkshakes and sundaes. Uhhh good thing they don’t sell these at home. I would have a problem. Land definitely won most intense ice-cream with the Bubblegum-Unicorn-something-or-other-glitter-bomb. Look at this thing???

All in all a great day.

S (&M)

P.S THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN. MEAGHAN AND I WILL BE SEEING EACH OTHER IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.

#YXYGirlsgohereandthere