Monday, January 6, 2025
This morning we made plans to meet up with my parents and the Swedes at 11:00 because Thinh and I had one final step to finalize everything for our wedding. Part of the process requires us to present our passports to the registrar’s office so they can verify the information, along with our marriage visitor visas. The office had been closed the first few days we were in Edinburgh, so this was the first (and last) chance we had to go to the office. Usually this step is needed before the wedding itself, but they had been very understanding of the situation and agreed to let us come by the day after our ceremony.
Thinh and I were quickly greeted by a woman working at the registrar’s, who then reviewed our passports and visas. It was a very simple procedure, and they already had copies of these documents on file from the paperwork we had submitted to them back in November. She then returned the bulk of our supporting documents that we had sent to their office, which was surprising (I thought they needed to keep everything on file for their records). We then provided the mailing address for where they would send the formal marriage certificate. Thinh and I both decided to have them send it to my parents’ house in the States since receiving mail in Vietnam is difficult. We decided to pay for a second certificate to be mailed to us in Vietnam, though neither of us had high hopes that it would arrive. (Update: as of early March – two months later – the certificate has not yet arrived in Vietnam, but the one sent to the States was received in late January).
We then returned to the hotel to drop off our documents and then to change into our áo dài. The weather yesterday had prevented us from taking any photos around the city in our áo dài, so we decided to snap some pictures today as we walked around town. It was very cold today – not at all suitable for wearing the thin áo dài – but we pushed through it for the photos!
Everyone was waiting for us at 11:00 at Starbucks and we all set off for Edinburgh Castle. We had planned ahead this time and prebooked our entry tickets. The Royal Mile was very crowded as we walked up to the castle. The wind picked up as well, making the already cold day even worse. When we reached the castle, we were able to walk right in without having to wait in a long queue. Our group broke up into several smaller groups as we toured around the castle, with my parents, Thinh and me wandering around on our own. The included audio guide of the castle was very interesting and helped us navigate our way through the various buildings.
We spent about 90 minutes touring the castle before decided to leave. As we walked towards the exit, we ran into Lotta and Patrik. Together, the six of us stopped to watch a canon atop the castle fire to announce that it was 13:00 – a ceremony conducted on a daily basis. The bang when the canon fired was very loud and, despite knowing that it was coming, it was made us all jump. Py and Harri were already outside of the castle waiting for us, so we then continued down to the exit.
The views from the castle over the rest of the city are very impressive and one of the best features of the castle. We stopped to take some pictures of us in front of the castle in our áo dài, and to also take a group photo of everyone. It was now time to bid farewell to the Swedes as they needed to head out to the airport. I was so grateful that they had flown over for the wedding; having them join us helped make the day even more special. Lotta, Patrik, Py and Harri are such outgoing, friendly, and genuinely wonderful people – I am truly lucky to have them as my friends.
My parents, Thinh and I then walked over to St Giles Cathedral so we could look around inside. During all of my visits to Edinburgh, I had never once been inside the cathedral. The interior was beautiful, with stunning stained-glass windows, and old flags hung from the columns. Our visit there was short, but it was well worth stopping to see inside. My dad remained inside the cathedral, while mom, Thinh and I walked around to take some more photos in our áo dài. We were all freezing cold, but it was well worth the effort and suffering to get some more pictures taken.
When we met back up with dad, I suggested that we all walk over to the new town area to have tea with scones. This was a stereotypical British thing to do and one that I wanted to introduce to Thinh. I found a small café that had good reviews, so we set off to walk across the bridge into new town. When we reached the café, we discovered that is was very tiny with only a few tables for customers (which were all taken). We decided to place an order for food to takeaway. Thinh and I each other scones, complete with jam and cream, while my parents got some pastries. I then led us across the street to Starbucks, where we ordered some hot drinks to warm up with while we ate our goodies from the tea café. The scones were very good and Thinh like it a lot – it was his first time having a proper scone.
Everyone wanted to return to the hotel to get some rest before dinner this evening. Susan and I messaged one another and planned to meet up at my hotel lobby while everyone rested. She and I discussed going out for a drink at a pub, but we ended up just hanging out and chatting in the lobby for a couple of hours. Susan’s granddaughter was turning one later in the week and she had bought several gifts in Edinburgh. Susan showed me all of her purchases, including a toddler’s kilt, which was adorable! Susan lit up every time we talked about her granddaughter, which was great – she has fully embraced the role of grandma. We had a lovely time chatting away – and the time flew by, as usual.
My parents and Thinh joined us later in the evening so we could all go out for dinner – our final meal in Edinburgh! We all decided to eat Italian tonight and had picked out a place on the Royal Mile which had a good menu. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for a private event this evening, so we had to quickly find someone new to eat. Thankfully there is no shortage of Italian restaurants in the area, so we walked to another one nearby. The food was very good – and filling. The five of us chatted and laughed away during dinner. My parents and Thinh and really hit it off with Susan over the past few days. I was glad that we were able to have time together with each of the groups of friends who had come to the wedding. We had the morning with the Swedes, and dinner with Susan (we would soon be spending an evening with Al and Maddy in London). It was a lovely way to wrap up our time in Edinburgh.
Susan walked back to our hotel with us after dinner so we could finish the last few slices of cake that we had saved from the night before. Al had messaged me earlier in the day that everyone at his work loved the cake he brought back with him. Susan then needed to head back to her hotel to get packed up for her flight in the morning. We all said our goodbyes to Susan, and I promised to come visit her in Buffalo the next time Thinh and I are in the States.
Thinh and I then packed up our bags before heading to bed. We would be leaving early in the morning, so we wanted to have everything ready before going to sleep tonight.
This featured blog entry was written by Glichez from the blog World Tour: 2024/2025.
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