NTWF Meetup 2019: Netwuffers in Bonnie Scotland
Mar 2, 2019 17:34:42 GMT -5
Crystal, ♥ Azzie, and 6 more like this
Post by Celestial on Mar 2, 2019 17:34:42 GMT -5
For a few days in February, from the 20th to the wee hours of the 24th, Thorn , Thundy and Liou came up to the wild land of Scotland to meet me in my natural habitat. Gather round to hear me tell of their adventures in this strange and mysterious country, and then stick around as they perhaps tell their own takes. I'm only going first because we agreed that I should make the meetup thread. Which makes sense because I was the host.
Without further ado, let us dive into the thrilling adventures of NTWFers in Scotland.
Day 1: Get everyone and their stuff together
After several days of frantically cleaning the house, getting everything ready and warning my family of the people from the internet who will be invading our space for a few days, I woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning and set off for Edinburgh. Everyone was arriving in different locations but thankfully not too close together so there was time to meet everyone. That was, assuming everyone arrived on time. Thundy was first, and because British trains can suck, I was worried he would be late but no, he arrived a few minutes early, which is almost unheard of.
With him in tow, we jumped on the bus to go get Liou from the airport. In another bit of amazing timing, we arrived just as their flight landed and did not have to wait long before the third member of the party joined us. Since we still had a few hours to kill before Thorn arrived, we decided to get back into Edinburgh town to get some lunch.
There was only one place to take brave souls from the NTWF: to face our greatest nemesis. The Err Bear.
Yes, this is a real cafe. Ever since I walked past it once on the way to the Botanic Gardens with my grandma, I knew if there was ever an NTWF meetup in Edinburgh, I will take everyone there. Now it was time.
Despite the err bear looming over us, it was a nice place. They had a good selection of vegan options too. I had some chai tea and a bagel with falafel, Liou had porridge with blueberries (there were a lot of blueberries in the menu) and Thundy had a breakfast burrito and a Bloody Mary. He also showed us terrifying pictures of Bloody Mary cocktails being topped with whole pizzas, burgers and even another Bloody Mary. It was...eye-opening.
While we were there, we found out that Thorn was arriving in the other station in Edinburgh: Haymarket. We were unclear about that before and assumed it was Waverley because that's the main one. So we trekked out to Haymarket and waited in a nearby pub for Thorn. Liou took the opportunity to curl up on my coat, because they are secretly a cat.
Finally, the time had come to grab Thorn and then, much to her annoyance, immediately jump onto the train because the next train to get to where I lived (or the station closest to that) departed in five minutes. We did manage to make it, though I had to stand because the train was packed. However, we finally managed to make it to Leuchars and catch a bus to St Andrews, where I lived. As soon as we got in, I started cooking wild mushroom risotto with the remainder of our wild mushrooms from last year while everyone else got settled.
It was at this point my mum arrived with Dormouse. Mum had met Thundy ten years ago in York but not met anybody else. She, however, quite liked everyone, which I expected but was still good. Dormouse proceeded to try to make friends with the NTWFers, including chatting to them, showing off her toys and then immediately abandoning them in the kitchen. She was also presented with gifts from Thundy (a horsea, which she insisted was a seahorse. It has since been named Bubbles) and Liou, who brought a lot of tasty French snacks, including heart-shaped candies Dormouse kept sneaking until we put them away. Dormouse liked these strange new people. She particularly took a shine to Liou, including giving them gentle headbutts during dinner in the way a kitty would. It was quite wholesome and adorable, except for Dormouse wanting to hog all attention to herself during dinner (again, much like a cat. Small children are cats)
Risotto turned out very good (though I did blister my thumb from stirring it too much). Thorn also gave us little gifts for ourselves, including a goblin figurine, some chocolate and dice for each of our characters. Afterwards, Liou was tired so we let them go to sleep while Thundy and Thorn hung out in my room. I took the opportunity to show them my book Art and Arcana book about the history of DnD, because heck yes, I am proud of it and I want to show it off. In general, we just chilled until we all decided it was also time for us to go sleep.
Day 2: The Saint's Town At The Edge of the World
An explanation for the title: according to legend, Saint Rule was instructed to bring the relics of Saint Andrew to the edge of the Western World. He ended up on the shore of Scotland where this town is now located.
Since we had EuroAtlantis in the evening, we figured we should not go anywhere too far so I decided to show Thorn, Liou and Thundy around St Andrews. While parts of this town can be a tourist trap, it's actually rather nice for the most part if you know where to look.
We started off with a nice, leisurely morning. At 11 am, the flyover from the F-15 Tornado which was being retired occured, though we could not see them due to the clouds and the fact that my house is orienteered away from Leuchars, which is where the (former) airbase is. Everyone had their respective breakfasts and drinks (Liou's was eye-opening for me: lemon with hot water. I need to remember this next time I have a cold), Thorn wore the ace flag, Liou wore a short with a bunny in NB colours and I wanted to match so I wore my ace dragon shirt. With everyone coordinated, we set off.
I decided to start by taking the group down the Lade Braes (pronounced "laid-brays") walk, a path along a stream that runs through the town surrounded by trees. It runs right behind my house and to the city centre and thus is a lovely nature walk which takes us right to our destination. It is also very nice for wildlife and I was hoping we'd run into some. We were not disappointed. As well as the usual birds like robins, wood pigeons, blackbirds, tits and the like, we also got to see two dippers. They are little brown birds with white breasts which dive into the stream. I also showed the group a hibernating place for snails and we ran into a couple who claims they saw a kingfisher (though we did not get to see it, alas). We also took the low road along the stream and I got to show everyone the cool fallen tree bridge where we took some photos. I did not take any myself but I am sure the others will provide.
We got into the town centre at last, where our first destination was…a used bookshop. Well, okay, it was a used bookshop I used to volunteer at and thought people would enjoy. Liou and Thorn had plenty of restraint whereas me and Thundy bought some stuff. He bought some Phillip K. Dick and I bought Ancillary Justice (which I sort of blame Liou and Thorn for because they have been raving about that book and I wanted to be part of it.) Afterwards we stopped by Tesco for cash and water, where Thundy bought Irn Bru, the other national drink of Scotland. It’s made with girders, yo.
Shopping continued with us stopping by Paperchase to buy a card for Ginz, since we said we would. Next we swung by my favourite beer shop which I wanted to show Thundy. The best way to describe it was “kid in a candy store”. Liou and Thorn very politely indulged us, bless them.
Afterwards, we headed to look at the ruins of the castle (from the side: you had to pay to get in) and the nice beach that was located next to it. Me and Thundy, due to bad timing, got our feet wet. It was therefore decided that we should probably head to get lunch. I knew of just the place so we headed there, although we took the long way around because I wanted to show everyone ALL THE THINGS. This included my old university, a cursed spot where a martyr was burned during the reformation and will cause anybody who steps on it to fail their degree (my uni is weird) and a sweet shop. So we were quite hungry by the time we arrived to our lunch spot: a waffle café.
I’d been there before, so I figured it was going to be good, and it very much was. We were lucky that it was fairly empty, though it was relatively late in the day that we arrived. Each of us got a waffle, and while we waited for them to arrive, we took turns pretending to be each other on Discord (except we could not pretend to be Liou because they do not have an internet device with them, sadness. Though they pretended to be us plenty). Waffles were nice. I had an apple crumble waffle and therefore it was totally healthy because it had fruit in it.
With full bellies, we wandered down to the ruined Cathedral. The castle and cathedral were all one complex, with the castle belonging to the Bishops, but during the Scottish reformation which begun here, they were looted and left to decay in the elements. Being on the edge of the Scottish coast, the elements wrecked them good. It was still quite impressive and once again, photos were taken. The Cathedral was also used as a graveyard until quite recently, which prompted some sombre, though not unpleasant, recollections.
Heading down from the Cathedral are the cliffs, the harbour and the pier. It’s customary on Sunday for the students to walk on top of the pier to honour a student who once saved three people from drowning in the sea. Like I said, my uni is really weird. We did not do the pier walk but instead posed on the pier making dramatic poses looking out over the sea and admired some of the birbs that were around. Mostly they were fulmars, since they nest on the cliffs around there. They are albatross cousins, though much smaller and stockier than real albatrosses (which Thorn pointed out they had in New Zealand, to my great jealousy. I want to see albatrosses someday)
With time dragging on, we figured we should start moving in the direction of home. We did, however, stop at a local pub quickly for bathroom and drinks. However we did sit outside because it was a little bit hot and smelly inside. It is a nice independent pub but it is also an old man pub. With this complete, we headed home to get dinner and get ready for DnD.
Since DnD and pizza is a long tradition, we ordered two pizzas, enough for all of us plus my mum and Dormouse. With dinner devoured, we went upstairs to my room to get set up. This included getting together dice, chocolate and my laptop to record the session on.
It was a good session. I want to save the highlights for the official recap in order not to steal the thunder so you can check out the thread. But let’s just say fluffs were summoned, wasp poison was drunk, dragonborn were serenaded and umbrellas attempted to be made. I also really enjoyed playing in person: it made the experience a lot more intimate and involved. Though it did mean sometimes we distracted the DM by giggling too much and being immature.
Oh, and during the break we ate a bunch of chocolate. This included Butler’s, which me, Thorn and Liou had in Dublin and by coincidence, I found a week before the meetup, and Whittaker’s, which is Thorn’s favourite chocolate from NZ. That was also really sweet (heh).
With the session done, we just kind of chilled until it was time for us all to go to bed. Tomorrow, we were off to Edinburgh and since we wanted to get in as much done as possible, it was best to get up early.
Day 3: The Sky Cats and Land Owls of Ol’ Reekie
(Ol’ Reekie is a nickname from Edinburgh from the Industrial times, back when it was covered in chimneys which spat out foul-smelling smoke, making it reek. Thus “Ol’ Reekie”)
We woke up bright and early (well, it was not so bright: this was Scotland in February after all) and set off for the bus to Edinburgh. As Thorn was leaving from Edinburgh early the next morning, she was going to be staying in a hostel in town so she had to pack all her stuff together as well. We did leave a bit late and alas, got to the bus station just as the bus was leaving. No fear! As this had happened to me and my grandma before, I knew a way for us to get there without waiting for the next hourly bus, albeit with a change instead of directly.
While we waited, I booked our slots for Maison De Moggy, a cat café in Edinburgh which we all agreed we wanted to go to. There were only four slots left for 3 pm that day, which was perfect. With that out of the way, we got on the bus and either napped or chatted until it was time to get out connection, which went by without a hitch. We ended up arriving in Edinburgh only 20 minutes after the direct bus. \o/
Since Thorn was still lugging her case and the hostel check-in did not open until 2 pm, we decided to chill and have an early lunch. Thundy suggested we go to the whisky pub that me went to with Nat so off to the Albanach it was! On the way we passed Thorn’s hostel, which was mega handy to know where it was.
Lunch was quite fantastic! I was pleasantly surprised that the pub did plenty of good vegetarian and vegan options, which was good for the two in our party who did not eat meat. Me and Thundy ordered whiskies (unsurprisingly) and Liou plucked up the courage to also try an Irn Bru. They are now properly Scottish. While we waited for food to arrive, we wrote Ginz’s card and took photos of our stuffed animals with our drinks. You know, like true adults.
Food finally arrived. I had a burger with haggis, Thundy had a steak pie, Thorn tried the vegan fish and chips and Liou had a falafel burger. Mine was delicious, and for desserts, Thorn had a chocolate fudge cake while me and Liou shared the most Scottish of desserts: cranachan. It’s basically raspberries, oats and whisky topped with cream. We all then had a mini quest of how to split the bill to settle our complicated web of debts (for train tickets and cat café payments). With that sorted, we then went to meet Thorn’s friend, Natalie, who was living in Edinburgh and she wanted to introduce us to.
While we waited outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Thundy took the opportunity to play with the Pokemon Go update which would let you take photos of your Pokemon in real settings. Some cool photos of Prometheus were taken that way. To passers-by, we must have looked like complete dorks but it was a ton of fun. We also discovered which Pokemon are absolute units if they were to exist IRL.
Natalie finally arrived, interrupting the above exercise. I had met her before but she had never met Liou or Thundy. Since it was about time to check in for Thorn at the hostel, we headed that way while talking, and then chatted with Natalie outside while Thorn got settled. Since she was on the top floor, it took a bit of time but eventually, it was all sorted.
Without luggage hindering us, we headed up the hill to the castle. On the way, however, we got beset by sky cats! Or rather, a gentleman holding a Eurasian Eagle Owl. I had seen him before, and had hoped he would be around but did not know if he would be, therefore I did not say anything. I had a pleasant chat, admired the owl and me and Thundy went on our way…
Until we realised we were missing Liou, Thorn and Natalie.
Going back, Thorn was holding the owl and the dude was reaching into Thorn’s pocket for her phone! Apparently Liou had paid for Thorn to hold the owl as a way to treat her and the guy was taking pictures. So Thorn got to hold Hazel and owl and now has amazing pictures as proof. <3
The owl was handed back to her owner and we went on our way to the castle. We passed another owl on the way but decided not to engage. Instead, heading up to the castle, we admired the lovely views and the castle itself. Got quite a few pictures with it and got to show Liou what my inspiration was for Destrier Castle.
With that, it was almost time for our appointment with the cats. We said goodbye to Natalie and headed down to the cat café. We proceeded through the cat airlock (seriously, they had a cat airlock) where the rules were explained to us and we were allowed into the hallowed land of cats.
Most of the cats were asleep when we entered but we could still pet the sleepies. Admittedly quite a few of them did not want to be petted but many were amicable enough when treats were brought out for them by their cat nannies. I did get to stroke one of my favourites, Jacques, who is a white Norwegian Forest Cat. One of the things we did get to witness was Jacques and another cat curling up on our shoes, as well as a yowl-off between two of the cats. We also got some drinks, with Thorn and Liou being adventurous and getting banana hot chocolates with kitty paw prints. In the end, we did get to stroke most of the kitties and I think everyone enjoyed that experience a lot.
With a little bit of time before it got dark and we had to leave, we headed somewhere else. Sadly we could not climb Arthur’s Seat but Edinburgh has more than one hill. We set off for Calton hill, passing a few nifty little shops along the way where Thundy bought a pack of vintage cigarette cards with battleships while we all fawned over children’s books, books about LGBTQ musicians and other cool things.
When we arrived up Calton hill, there were a bunch of people there climbing over the bits of unfinished Pantheon replica that the UK tried to build to commemorate the Napoleonic Wars before they ran out of money. We moved away from the crowds and stared over the Firth of the Forth. We sadly did not get an amazing view as it was a bit cloudy but we could see the hills and the outline of the coast. Liou asked me what stone the buildings were made out and I can finally answer that: local sandstone (I assumed igneous, which was wrong, herp.) hence why all the buildings were a lovely, pretty reddish colour. We also got a visit from a gyarados which attacked Thorn. Thanks, Thundy.
We continued to wander around the hill until it was time for us to start heading to the bus station. There, we found our bus and sadly, had to say goodbye to Thorn as we were leaving her in Edinburgh so she can catch her train. </3 It was all very bittersweet but it was really nice to see her again and have her be our DM for a live EuroAtlantis session.
Me, Thundy and Liou boarded the bus and here I admit I slept through most of the journey until we arrived back in St Andrews. There we got some snacks and I picked up groceries before we wandered back to the house. It was a lovely, starry night, and not too cold either so it was a good walk, even if it was not on the nice path. That path has no lights so it would have been a bit precarious.
When we got back, we were planning to watch What We Do In the Shadows, a New Zealand vampire movie, as requested by Thorn to show to Thundy, since he had not seen it. Both me and Liou watched it in Dublin. The plan was delayed slightly by Dormouse catching wind that we were going to watch a “scary vampire movie” and hiding the remotes. In the end, we managed to distract her when her dad arrived and by bribing her with banana chips and other snacks. With small human out of the way, we settled down to watch the movie. Thundy enjoyed it. I was also happy to rewatch it. It’s a really funny film and you should check it outor one of us will make you watch it.
By the time we were finished, it was once again bedtime, so we all settled down for the night.
Day 4: Coasting Along
Thundy was leaving in the morning but before that there was still something he wanted to do. So we got up not too early but not too late and headed once again down to the city centre. We put away Thundy’s luggage in the bus station and headed down to the florist to grab some flowers. On the way down to the pier, we stopped by the post office and got Ginz’s card sent out by recorded delivery. It should be on its way down to you now.
We went down to the harbour, all the way to the end of the pier and let Thundy do what he needed to do for Madz. There were many hugs afterwards. It was a little solemn for a while but by the time we walked off the pier, it started to get better.
Liou also wanted to get some sand to give to their co-worker who collects it, so we headed down to West Sands. It’s a pretty famous beach that has been used in quite a few films, including most notably Chariots of Fire (yes, that scene. The one you’re thinking of). I thought it was the best place for sand. I wish we could have walked across it a bit more but alas, Thundy had to catch his bus. Me and Liou also had other places I had in mind for walks. We set off for the bus station. Originally we were going to try to cut across the golf course but alas, there was a game going on. This did mean we passed a golf shop which had mannequins very similar to Thundy in terms of style. (Good old dad wear)
With all goodbyes said to Thundy and him safely boarded on his bus, we went to catch our own. The next stop for me and Liou was a small village on the coast called Pittenweem, which had a café called the Cocoa Tree. Thorn, me and Natalie had gone there once to get some amazing chocolate, and that’s what I wanted to treat Liou to.
Once we arrived, we settled on a sofa and hummed and hawed over what to get, since there was so much deliciousness on offer. And quite a bit of it was vegan too, which pleased me greatly. In the end, I settled on a cheese scone, crepes and a white hot chocolate with chilli, while Liou had praline hot chocolate, a brownie and tiffin, which is also a local dessert made of biscuit, golden syrup and cocoa that is set in the fridge. They had two desserts. It was very decadent. They also treated me to my food, which was super sweet of them. <3
They also noticed quite a bit of French text around the café. We did run into the owner as we were paying our bill. Turns out she’s Belgian, which explained that. She was super sweet too and wished us a good day.
Afterwards, with bellies full of chocolate, we set off for a walk along the coast. The weather was once again cloudy but this meant my eyes were not burned horrifically so it was fine. We walked from Pittenweem to the neighbouring village of Anstruther, seeing quite a few nice birbs along the way. A few oystercatchers, redshanks and even an eider. Finding a shell beach, we went down to the sea and Liou gave it a pet. We also had to cross another golf course and were careful not to get golf ganged. When we got to Anstruther, I got to show Liou the shell house (a house with its exterior covered in shells. One of which, they pointed out, has googly eyes) and we kept walking across the harbour, to the adjoining village of Cellardyke. Who, we theorise, is a beautiful lesbian fey who dwells in the basement with the finest wines looking for worthy ladies to seduce.
We continued onwards from the village and along the coastal path. This path is part of a hiking route that stretches all the way around the Fife Coast and is called the Fife Coastal Path, funnily enough. We only took a small part of it, since it is very long (117 miles) and some parts of it are tidal. But this was an easy part of the route, and a nice one too. It was three miles from Anstruther to Crail and plenty of sights to see. More birds, like pochards and cormorants, more redshanks, oystercatchers and eiders as well as a stonechat. We also ran into a few cows that looked suspiciously like oystercatchers but the sign said “livestock in field” so we weren’t going to argue with that. Another thing that was not there before were farmers planting things specially for birdseed, which is awesome.
Further down the route, we came across a sandstone formation called the Caiplie Caves. Because my family are nerds, however, I always know it as Leto Arteidies II, after the Dune character, because it looks like a sandworm with a human face. Just…
.
It was a super cool sandstone formation and, as Liou pointed out, very colourful. Many of the rocks in the area are grey volcanic ones but this is red and yellow.
Another thing Liou introduced me to saying that I will never forget is the “cow airlock”. Because much of the path doubles as grazing land, there are cow gates everywhere which consist of a swing gate only wide enough for a human or two to pass through. They will forever be known as cow airlocks now.
We saw a few cows but mostly, the path was occupied by birds andclouds on legs sheep. Otherwise it was us, a few other hikers and their dogs, the sea (hhnng, walking by a rocky beach as the waves come out. Best sound) and the island of May in the background. The island is a big cliff out in the Firth that dominates the view. It’s a vital puffin colony and supports a ton of other seabirds too, like guillemots and razorbills. Not gannets though: they have their colony on the Bass Rock nearby, which we could also see. That’s their biggest colony in the world. We could not see it too well due to the mist though, at least not very well.
It was a very nice, very long walk full of great sights and lovely conversation. Half of it I could not remember, alas, but it was all very relaxing. Nothing like being out in pretty nature with somebody who like who is excited to be there. Eventually, we did come to Crail, with five minutes to spare for the bus, which was a small miracle! Boarding and setting off from the village, we saw an enormous flock of wood pigeons. Which is normal for me but apparently Liou had never seen such a huge one in their life? It really got me thinking how stuff that is ordinary to me might not be so normal after all.
Eventually, we got back to St Andrews, but our quest was not yet done. We trekked down to a place known as The Supermarket so Liou could buy some mystical haggis plant (veggie version) and bread of small length, now with added coconut. We were going to buy two haggises but Liou hesitated, worrying about luggage space. So we left it behind. The last haggis on the shelf…
Getting home, we got back before family returned from their usual shopping trip. When family arrived, they began to cook dinner while Dormouse flitted between us and the kitchen (Another way she is like cat: jumping and climbing everywhere). I did ask for vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties for us for food tonight, though there was only enough haggis for a few of us…because they took the other veggie haggis from the supermarket. The one we left behind. xD It was still a delicious dinner.
Afterwards, because Liou had to get up early to get to the airport, we bedded down for the night.
Day 5: Early to Rise
I was originally planning to drive Liou to the airport using Dormouse’s dad’s car but he did not trust me so he drove us out instead. Good thing too, since the migraine I had held at bay for a few days finally broke out in all its glory. The street lights while we were driving did not help.
We all got up around 4 am and headed to the airport, arriving there around 5:30 am. Very early but what can you do? I took Liou to the airport and we said all our goodbyes, finally, before they headed off to security. Me and Dormouse’s dad drove back, where I collapsed into bed (yay migraine) and proceeded to regain my spoons.
Overall impressions…yeah, this was a good meetup. I really enjoyed showing out NTWF folks around my neck of the woods and their wonder at things I have seen enough times to find mundane. The Lade Braes for example, I remembered is really gorgeous, even if I’ve walked it a thousand times. Thorn, Thundy and Liou are, without a doubt, lovely people who put up with my nerdery and I loved spoiling them rotten. Despite being around people almost non-stop for a few days, I was not exhausted? I actually felt really refreshed and happy. And the conversations we had, even if I cannot recall half of them, were nice. We talked about funny stuff, sad stuff, Thundy regaled us with video game stories, we shared anecdotes of our lives...it was all good and even if we were silent, it was not awkward silence.
My family also loved our NTWF-folks, especially Dormouse (who gave them all hugs and loved the treats that they brought). My mum also loved my nerd friends, which is unsurprising because she is a nerd herself.
This was a good time. Hopefully we can do it again. The house is always open.
Without further ado, let us dive into the thrilling adventures of NTWFers in Scotland.
Day 1: Get everyone and their stuff together
After several days of frantically cleaning the house, getting everything ready and warning my family of the people from the internet who will be invading our space for a few days, I woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning and set off for Edinburgh. Everyone was arriving in different locations but thankfully not too close together so there was time to meet everyone. That was, assuming everyone arrived on time. Thundy was first, and because British trains can suck, I was worried he would be late but no, he arrived a few minutes early, which is almost unheard of.
With him in tow, we jumped on the bus to go get Liou from the airport. In another bit of amazing timing, we arrived just as their flight landed and did not have to wait long before the third member of the party joined us. Since we still had a few hours to kill before Thorn arrived, we decided to get back into Edinburgh town to get some lunch.
There was only one place to take brave souls from the NTWF: to face our greatest nemesis. The Err Bear.
Yes, this is a real cafe. Ever since I walked past it once on the way to the Botanic Gardens with my grandma, I knew if there was ever an NTWF meetup in Edinburgh, I will take everyone there. Now it was time.
Despite the err bear looming over us, it was a nice place. They had a good selection of vegan options too. I had some chai tea and a bagel with falafel, Liou had porridge with blueberries (there were a lot of blueberries in the menu) and Thundy had a breakfast burrito and a Bloody Mary. He also showed us terrifying pictures of Bloody Mary cocktails being topped with whole pizzas, burgers and even another Bloody Mary. It was...eye-opening.
While we were there, we found out that Thorn was arriving in the other station in Edinburgh: Haymarket. We were unclear about that before and assumed it was Waverley because that's the main one. So we trekked out to Haymarket and waited in a nearby pub for Thorn. Liou took the opportunity to curl up on my coat, because they are secretly a cat.
Finally, the time had come to grab Thorn and then, much to her annoyance, immediately jump onto the train because the next train to get to where I lived (or the station closest to that) departed in five minutes. We did manage to make it, though I had to stand because the train was packed. However, we finally managed to make it to Leuchars and catch a bus to St Andrews, where I lived. As soon as we got in, I started cooking wild mushroom risotto with the remainder of our wild mushrooms from last year while everyone else got settled.
It was at this point my mum arrived with Dormouse. Mum had met Thundy ten years ago in York but not met anybody else. She, however, quite liked everyone, which I expected but was still good. Dormouse proceeded to try to make friends with the NTWFers, including chatting to them, showing off her toys and then immediately abandoning them in the kitchen. She was also presented with gifts from Thundy (a horsea, which she insisted was a seahorse. It has since been named Bubbles) and Liou, who brought a lot of tasty French snacks, including heart-shaped candies Dormouse kept sneaking until we put them away. Dormouse liked these strange new people. She particularly took a shine to Liou, including giving them gentle headbutts during dinner in the way a kitty would. It was quite wholesome and adorable, except for Dormouse wanting to hog all attention to herself during dinner (again, much like a cat. Small children are cats)
Risotto turned out very good (though I did blister my thumb from stirring it too much). Thorn also gave us little gifts for ourselves, including a goblin figurine, some chocolate and dice for each of our characters. Afterwards, Liou was tired so we let them go to sleep while Thundy and Thorn hung out in my room. I took the opportunity to show them my book Art and Arcana book about the history of DnD, because heck yes, I am proud of it and I want to show it off. In general, we just chilled until we all decided it was also time for us to go sleep.
Day 2: The Saint's Town At The Edge of the World
An explanation for the title: according to legend, Saint Rule was instructed to bring the relics of Saint Andrew to the edge of the Western World. He ended up on the shore of Scotland where this town is now located.
Since we had EuroAtlantis in the evening, we figured we should not go anywhere too far so I decided to show Thorn, Liou and Thundy around St Andrews. While parts of this town can be a tourist trap, it's actually rather nice for the most part if you know where to look.
We started off with a nice, leisurely morning. At 11 am, the flyover from the F-15 Tornado which was being retired occured, though we could not see them due to the clouds and the fact that my house is orienteered away from Leuchars, which is where the (former) airbase is. Everyone had their respective breakfasts and drinks (Liou's was eye-opening for me: lemon with hot water. I need to remember this next time I have a cold), Thorn wore the ace flag, Liou wore a short with a bunny in NB colours and I wanted to match so I wore my ace dragon shirt. With everyone coordinated, we set off.
I decided to start by taking the group down the Lade Braes (pronounced "laid-brays") walk, a path along a stream that runs through the town surrounded by trees. It runs right behind my house and to the city centre and thus is a lovely nature walk which takes us right to our destination. It is also very nice for wildlife and I was hoping we'd run into some. We were not disappointed. As well as the usual birds like robins, wood pigeons, blackbirds, tits and the like, we also got to see two dippers. They are little brown birds with white breasts which dive into the stream. I also showed the group a hibernating place for snails and we ran into a couple who claims they saw a kingfisher (though we did not get to see it, alas). We also took the low road along the stream and I got to show everyone the cool fallen tree bridge where we took some photos. I did not take any myself but I am sure the others will provide.
We got into the town centre at last, where our first destination was…a used bookshop. Well, okay, it was a used bookshop I used to volunteer at and thought people would enjoy. Liou and Thorn had plenty of restraint whereas me and Thundy bought some stuff. He bought some Phillip K. Dick and I bought Ancillary Justice (which I sort of blame Liou and Thorn for because they have been raving about that book and I wanted to be part of it.) Afterwards we stopped by Tesco for cash and water, where Thundy bought Irn Bru, the other national drink of Scotland. It’s made with girders, yo.
Shopping continued with us stopping by Paperchase to buy a card for Ginz, since we said we would. Next we swung by my favourite beer shop which I wanted to show Thundy. The best way to describe it was “kid in a candy store”. Liou and Thorn very politely indulged us, bless them.
Afterwards, we headed to look at the ruins of the castle (from the side: you had to pay to get in) and the nice beach that was located next to it. Me and Thundy, due to bad timing, got our feet wet. It was therefore decided that we should probably head to get lunch. I knew of just the place so we headed there, although we took the long way around because I wanted to show everyone ALL THE THINGS. This included my old university, a cursed spot where a martyr was burned during the reformation and will cause anybody who steps on it to fail their degree (my uni is weird) and a sweet shop. So we were quite hungry by the time we arrived to our lunch spot: a waffle café.
I’d been there before, so I figured it was going to be good, and it very much was. We were lucky that it was fairly empty, though it was relatively late in the day that we arrived. Each of us got a waffle, and while we waited for them to arrive, we took turns pretending to be each other on Discord (except we could not pretend to be Liou because they do not have an internet device with them, sadness. Though they pretended to be us plenty). Waffles were nice. I had an apple crumble waffle and therefore it was totally healthy because it had fruit in it.
With full bellies, we wandered down to the ruined Cathedral. The castle and cathedral were all one complex, with the castle belonging to the Bishops, but during the Scottish reformation which begun here, they were looted and left to decay in the elements. Being on the edge of the Scottish coast, the elements wrecked them good. It was still quite impressive and once again, photos were taken. The Cathedral was also used as a graveyard until quite recently, which prompted some sombre, though not unpleasant, recollections.
Heading down from the Cathedral are the cliffs, the harbour and the pier. It’s customary on Sunday for the students to walk on top of the pier to honour a student who once saved three people from drowning in the sea. Like I said, my uni is really weird. We did not do the pier walk but instead posed on the pier making dramatic poses looking out over the sea and admired some of the birbs that were around. Mostly they were fulmars, since they nest on the cliffs around there. They are albatross cousins, though much smaller and stockier than real albatrosses (which Thorn pointed out they had in New Zealand, to my great jealousy. I want to see albatrosses someday)
With time dragging on, we figured we should start moving in the direction of home. We did, however, stop at a local pub quickly for bathroom and drinks. However we did sit outside because it was a little bit hot and smelly inside. It is a nice independent pub but it is also an old man pub. With this complete, we headed home to get dinner and get ready for DnD.
Since DnD and pizza is a long tradition, we ordered two pizzas, enough for all of us plus my mum and Dormouse. With dinner devoured, we went upstairs to my room to get set up. This included getting together dice, chocolate and my laptop to record the session on.
It was a good session. I want to save the highlights for the official recap in order not to steal the thunder so you can check out the thread. But let’s just say fluffs were summoned, wasp poison was drunk, dragonborn were serenaded and umbrellas attempted to be made. I also really enjoyed playing in person: it made the experience a lot more intimate and involved. Though it did mean sometimes we distracted the DM by giggling too much and being immature.
Oh, and during the break we ate a bunch of chocolate. This included Butler’s, which me, Thorn and Liou had in Dublin and by coincidence, I found a week before the meetup, and Whittaker’s, which is Thorn’s favourite chocolate from NZ. That was also really sweet (heh).
With the session done, we just kind of chilled until it was time for us all to go to bed. Tomorrow, we were off to Edinburgh and since we wanted to get in as much done as possible, it was best to get up early.
Day 3: The Sky Cats and Land Owls of Ol’ Reekie
(Ol’ Reekie is a nickname from Edinburgh from the Industrial times, back when it was covered in chimneys which spat out foul-smelling smoke, making it reek. Thus “Ol’ Reekie”)
We woke up bright and early (well, it was not so bright: this was Scotland in February after all) and set off for the bus to Edinburgh. As Thorn was leaving from Edinburgh early the next morning, she was going to be staying in a hostel in town so she had to pack all her stuff together as well. We did leave a bit late and alas, got to the bus station just as the bus was leaving. No fear! As this had happened to me and my grandma before, I knew a way for us to get there without waiting for the next hourly bus, albeit with a change instead of directly.
While we waited, I booked our slots for Maison De Moggy, a cat café in Edinburgh which we all agreed we wanted to go to. There were only four slots left for 3 pm that day, which was perfect. With that out of the way, we got on the bus and either napped or chatted until it was time to get out connection, which went by without a hitch. We ended up arriving in Edinburgh only 20 minutes after the direct bus. \o/
Since Thorn was still lugging her case and the hostel check-in did not open until 2 pm, we decided to chill and have an early lunch. Thundy suggested we go to the whisky pub that me went to with Nat so off to the Albanach it was! On the way we passed Thorn’s hostel, which was mega handy to know where it was.
Lunch was quite fantastic! I was pleasantly surprised that the pub did plenty of good vegetarian and vegan options, which was good for the two in our party who did not eat meat. Me and Thundy ordered whiskies (unsurprisingly) and Liou plucked up the courage to also try an Irn Bru. They are now properly Scottish. While we waited for food to arrive, we wrote Ginz’s card and took photos of our stuffed animals with our drinks. You know, like true adults.
Food finally arrived. I had a burger with haggis, Thundy had a steak pie, Thorn tried the vegan fish and chips and Liou had a falafel burger. Mine was delicious, and for desserts, Thorn had a chocolate fudge cake while me and Liou shared the most Scottish of desserts: cranachan. It’s basically raspberries, oats and whisky topped with cream. We all then had a mini quest of how to split the bill to settle our complicated web of debts (for train tickets and cat café payments). With that sorted, we then went to meet Thorn’s friend, Natalie, who was living in Edinburgh and she wanted to introduce us to.
While we waited outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Thundy took the opportunity to play with the Pokemon Go update which would let you take photos of your Pokemon in real settings. Some cool photos of Prometheus were taken that way. To passers-by, we must have looked like complete dorks but it was a ton of fun. We also discovered which Pokemon are absolute units if they were to exist IRL.
Natalie finally arrived, interrupting the above exercise. I had met her before but she had never met Liou or Thundy. Since it was about time to check in for Thorn at the hostel, we headed that way while talking, and then chatted with Natalie outside while Thorn got settled. Since she was on the top floor, it took a bit of time but eventually, it was all sorted.
Without luggage hindering us, we headed up the hill to the castle. On the way, however, we got beset by sky cats! Or rather, a gentleman holding a Eurasian Eagle Owl. I had seen him before, and had hoped he would be around but did not know if he would be, therefore I did not say anything. I had a pleasant chat, admired the owl and me and Thundy went on our way…
Until we realised we were missing Liou, Thorn and Natalie.
Going back, Thorn was holding the owl and the dude was reaching into Thorn’s pocket for her phone! Apparently Liou had paid for Thorn to hold the owl as a way to treat her and the guy was taking pictures. So Thorn got to hold Hazel and owl and now has amazing pictures as proof. <3
The owl was handed back to her owner and we went on our way to the castle. We passed another owl on the way but decided not to engage. Instead, heading up to the castle, we admired the lovely views and the castle itself. Got quite a few pictures with it and got to show Liou what my inspiration was for Destrier Castle.
With that, it was almost time for our appointment with the cats. We said goodbye to Natalie and headed down to the cat café. We proceeded through the cat airlock (seriously, they had a cat airlock) where the rules were explained to us and we were allowed into the hallowed land of cats.
Most of the cats were asleep when we entered but we could still pet the sleepies. Admittedly quite a few of them did not want to be petted but many were amicable enough when treats were brought out for them by their cat nannies. I did get to stroke one of my favourites, Jacques, who is a white Norwegian Forest Cat. One of the things we did get to witness was Jacques and another cat curling up on our shoes, as well as a yowl-off between two of the cats. We also got some drinks, with Thorn and Liou being adventurous and getting banana hot chocolates with kitty paw prints. In the end, we did get to stroke most of the kitties and I think everyone enjoyed that experience a lot.
With a little bit of time before it got dark and we had to leave, we headed somewhere else. Sadly we could not climb Arthur’s Seat but Edinburgh has more than one hill. We set off for Calton hill, passing a few nifty little shops along the way where Thundy bought a pack of vintage cigarette cards with battleships while we all fawned over children’s books, books about LGBTQ musicians and other cool things.
When we arrived up Calton hill, there were a bunch of people there climbing over the bits of unfinished Pantheon replica that the UK tried to build to commemorate the Napoleonic Wars before they ran out of money. We moved away from the crowds and stared over the Firth of the Forth. We sadly did not get an amazing view as it was a bit cloudy but we could see the hills and the outline of the coast. Liou asked me what stone the buildings were made out and I can finally answer that: local sandstone (I assumed igneous, which was wrong, herp.) hence why all the buildings were a lovely, pretty reddish colour. We also got a visit from a gyarados which attacked Thorn. Thanks, Thundy.
We continued to wander around the hill until it was time for us to start heading to the bus station. There, we found our bus and sadly, had to say goodbye to Thorn as we were leaving her in Edinburgh so she can catch her train. </3 It was all very bittersweet but it was really nice to see her again and have her be our DM for a live EuroAtlantis session.
Me, Thundy and Liou boarded the bus and here I admit I slept through most of the journey until we arrived back in St Andrews. There we got some snacks and I picked up groceries before we wandered back to the house. It was a lovely, starry night, and not too cold either so it was a good walk, even if it was not on the nice path. That path has no lights so it would have been a bit precarious.
When we got back, we were planning to watch What We Do In the Shadows, a New Zealand vampire movie, as requested by Thorn to show to Thundy, since he had not seen it. Both me and Liou watched it in Dublin. The plan was delayed slightly by Dormouse catching wind that we were going to watch a “scary vampire movie” and hiding the remotes. In the end, we managed to distract her when her dad arrived and by bribing her with banana chips and other snacks. With small human out of the way, we settled down to watch the movie. Thundy enjoyed it. I was also happy to rewatch it. It’s a really funny film and you should check it out
By the time we were finished, it was once again bedtime, so we all settled down for the night.
Day 4: Coasting Along
Thundy was leaving in the morning but before that there was still something he wanted to do. So we got up not too early but not too late and headed once again down to the city centre. We put away Thundy’s luggage in the bus station and headed down to the florist to grab some flowers. On the way down to the pier, we stopped by the post office and got Ginz’s card sent out by recorded delivery. It should be on its way down to you now.
We went down to the harbour, all the way to the end of the pier and let Thundy do what he needed to do for Madz. There were many hugs afterwards. It was a little solemn for a while but by the time we walked off the pier, it started to get better.
Liou also wanted to get some sand to give to their co-worker who collects it, so we headed down to West Sands. It’s a pretty famous beach that has been used in quite a few films, including most notably Chariots of Fire (yes, that scene. The one you’re thinking of). I thought it was the best place for sand. I wish we could have walked across it a bit more but alas, Thundy had to catch his bus. Me and Liou also had other places I had in mind for walks. We set off for the bus station. Originally we were going to try to cut across the golf course but alas, there was a game going on. This did mean we passed a golf shop which had mannequins very similar to Thundy in terms of style. (Good old dad wear)
With all goodbyes said to Thundy and him safely boarded on his bus, we went to catch our own. The next stop for me and Liou was a small village on the coast called Pittenweem, which had a café called the Cocoa Tree. Thorn, me and Natalie had gone there once to get some amazing chocolate, and that’s what I wanted to treat Liou to.
Once we arrived, we settled on a sofa and hummed and hawed over what to get, since there was so much deliciousness on offer. And quite a bit of it was vegan too, which pleased me greatly. In the end, I settled on a cheese scone, crepes and a white hot chocolate with chilli, while Liou had praline hot chocolate, a brownie and tiffin, which is also a local dessert made of biscuit, golden syrup and cocoa that is set in the fridge. They had two desserts. It was very decadent. They also treated me to my food, which was super sweet of them. <3
They also noticed quite a bit of French text around the café. We did run into the owner as we were paying our bill. Turns out she’s Belgian, which explained that. She was super sweet too and wished us a good day.
Afterwards, with bellies full of chocolate, we set off for a walk along the coast. The weather was once again cloudy but this meant my eyes were not burned horrifically so it was fine. We walked from Pittenweem to the neighbouring village of Anstruther, seeing quite a few nice birbs along the way. A few oystercatchers, redshanks and even an eider. Finding a shell beach, we went down to the sea and Liou gave it a pet. We also had to cross another golf course and were careful not to get golf ganged. When we got to Anstruther, I got to show Liou the shell house (a house with its exterior covered in shells. One of which, they pointed out, has googly eyes) and we kept walking across the harbour, to the adjoining village of Cellardyke. Who, we theorise, is a beautiful lesbian fey who dwells in the basement with the finest wines looking for worthy ladies to seduce.
We continued onwards from the village and along the coastal path. This path is part of a hiking route that stretches all the way around the Fife Coast and is called the Fife Coastal Path, funnily enough. We only took a small part of it, since it is very long (117 miles) and some parts of it are tidal. But this was an easy part of the route, and a nice one too. It was three miles from Anstruther to Crail and plenty of sights to see. More birds, like pochards and cormorants, more redshanks, oystercatchers and eiders as well as a stonechat. We also ran into a few cows that looked suspiciously like oystercatchers but the sign said “livestock in field” so we weren’t going to argue with that. Another thing that was not there before were farmers planting things specially for birdseed, which is awesome.
Further down the route, we came across a sandstone formation called the Caiplie Caves. Because my family are nerds, however, I always know it as Leto Arteidies II, after the Dune character, because it looks like a sandworm with a human face. Just…
. It was a super cool sandstone formation and, as Liou pointed out, very colourful. Many of the rocks in the area are grey volcanic ones but this is red and yellow.
Another thing Liou introduced me to saying that I will never forget is the “cow airlock”. Because much of the path doubles as grazing land, there are cow gates everywhere which consist of a swing gate only wide enough for a human or two to pass through. They will forever be known as cow airlocks now.
We saw a few cows but mostly, the path was occupied by birds and
It was a very nice, very long walk full of great sights and lovely conversation. Half of it I could not remember, alas, but it was all very relaxing. Nothing like being out in pretty nature with somebody who like who is excited to be there. Eventually, we did come to Crail, with five minutes to spare for the bus, which was a small miracle! Boarding and setting off from the village, we saw an enormous flock of wood pigeons. Which is normal for me but apparently Liou had never seen such a huge one in their life? It really got me thinking how stuff that is ordinary to me might not be so normal after all.
Eventually, we got back to St Andrews, but our quest was not yet done. We trekked down to a place known as The Supermarket so Liou could buy some mystical haggis plant (veggie version) and bread of small length, now with added coconut. We were going to buy two haggises but Liou hesitated, worrying about luggage space. So we left it behind. The last haggis on the shelf…
Getting home, we got back before family returned from their usual shopping trip. When family arrived, they began to cook dinner while Dormouse flitted between us and the kitchen (Another way she is like cat: jumping and climbing everywhere). I did ask for vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties for us for food tonight, though there was only enough haggis for a few of us…because they took the other veggie haggis from the supermarket. The one we left behind. xD It was still a delicious dinner.
Afterwards, because Liou had to get up early to get to the airport, we bedded down for the night.
Day 5: Early to Rise
I was originally planning to drive Liou to the airport using Dormouse’s dad’s car but he did not trust me so he drove us out instead. Good thing too, since the migraine I had held at bay for a few days finally broke out in all its glory. The street lights while we were driving did not help.
We all got up around 4 am and headed to the airport, arriving there around 5:30 am. Very early but what can you do? I took Liou to the airport and we said all our goodbyes, finally, before they headed off to security. Me and Dormouse’s dad drove back, where I collapsed into bed (yay migraine) and proceeded to regain my spoons.
Overall impressions…yeah, this was a good meetup. I really enjoyed showing out NTWF folks around my neck of the woods and their wonder at things I have seen enough times to find mundane. The Lade Braes for example, I remembered is really gorgeous, even if I’ve walked it a thousand times. Thorn, Thundy and Liou are, without a doubt, lovely people who put up with my nerdery and I loved spoiling them rotten. Despite being around people almost non-stop for a few days, I was not exhausted? I actually felt really refreshed and happy. And the conversations we had, even if I cannot recall half of them, were nice. We talked about funny stuff, sad stuff, Thundy regaled us with video game stories, we shared anecdotes of our lives...it was all good and even if we were silent, it was not awkward silence.
My family also loved our NTWF-folks, especially Dormouse (who gave them all hugs and loved the treats that they brought). My mum also loved my nerd friends, which is unsurprising because she is a nerd herself.
This was a good time. Hopefully we can do it again. The house is always open.
