"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

This quote is a perfect introduction to my first blog about my break for several reasons.

First, I took ten days in two countries, seven cities, four hostels, and two apartments with four other people resulting in five hundred and fifty-three photos, five videos, and several games of Texas Hold 'Em. While I would love to explain all of that to you, there is too much, so I shall sum up.

Second, this quote is from the 1987 movie The Princess Bride, and is said by Inigo Montoya, a Spaniard. Since we went to Spain, this is perfect.

Finally, you can never go wrong with The Princess Bride.

I've decided to blog about my adventures in three posts, a sort of adventure trilogy. This trilogy might become like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, which is a trilogy in five parts. We'll just have to see what happens. Anyway, this post will sum up Oxford and New Year's, as well as contain some useful how-to-read a blog tips.

So. Let me sum up.

We--my brother Reid, my friends Brett, Madison, and Robyn, and I--left Kansas City on December 29, laden with luggage:

We arrived in Oxford on December 30, although it still felt like December 29 since we had never gone to sleep. The jet lag didn't affect me or Robyn very much this time (we probably had never truly gotten on Kansas City time), but it knocked out Reid and Brett and Madison. Madison made it to a bed before she fell asleep (she's in the top right corner of the photo below), but Reid collapsed on the floor:

We wore all of our clothes to bed because my flat's heat had gone off over Christmas and would not turn back on. However, after a very deep night's sleep, we headed to Edinburgh on December 31. The train ride was about eight hours long, and we all passed the time variously. We slept, we read, we took pictures, and Reid and I played poker. The stakes were high: we played with raisins (which, when you think about it, is funny. It means you say "I see your raisin and raise you one raisin." There's some sort of pun there). Reid won:

Once we got to Edinburgh, we traipsed to our apartment. I think traipsed is the right word to use here, especially if it evokes for you images of slightly giddy people lugging huge backpacks up and down hills and around dales like it does for me (by the way, Skaggs family: thank you so much for those backpacks! They were great). Anyway, December 31 is New Year's Eve, so we went to Edinburgh's party.

Edinburgh's New Year's party is called Hogmanay. There were 100,000 people crammed onto something like ten blocks' worth of street (that's 10,000 people a block!). People weren't very drunk, which was a pleasant surprise (although we did see one guy trying to figure out how to unbuckle his jeans because he'd belted them over his thighs and couldn't walk. If you've ever been in a middle school, you know what this looks like), and there was some good food. The five of us enjoyed ourselves:

Then, it was the countdown! After the countdown were the most amazing fireworks Reid and I had ever seen. They shot them off over Edinburgh Castle for fifteen or twenty minutes, and it was great. I videoed the countdown and the beginning of the fireworks for you. To watch the video, click the play button under the video.

Here is a picture of the fireworks:

And here is the very first picture of Reid taken in 2009:

Then the crowd sang "I Would Walk (500 Miles)." I cannot explain this. It must be a Scottish thing.

The next morning, the five of us went to Edinburgh Castle. It was very cool. Here is the castle from the cemetery we walked through:

Here is a view of Edinburgh from the castle:

And here is me viewing the inside of Mons Meg, a giant cannon in the castle:

Here I am (is this more correct than "here is me?" I feel like it is) with cannonballs that Mons Meg could have shot. They are quite large, and I think they might kill you if you got hit with one:

And this picture is a classic Joy-and-Reid picture, I think:

See, we wanted a photo of the two of us, but we were standing on an incline. I knew that if I were below Reid on the incline, then I would look like Thumbelina next to the Jolly Green Giant, but I was having a hard time making him understand that. We had about three minutes of wrestling before this picture, during which Brett thought we had already taken the picture, which is why he is also in the picture.

This next photo is one of my all-time favorites:

What a good-looking bunch of kids.

Then we left Edinburgh Castle at night:

and went pubbing. The second pub we went to had a very familiar name...

Like Harry Potter! I totally had my Gryffindor scarf on in this pub.

And then the next day, Reid and I left for Spain!

This is already a long post, but I would like to leave some handy how-to tips before I end this.

First, if you want to go to an earlier post, that is on the top right-hand side of the page. Click on the arrow next to the month you want, and click on the title of the post you want to read.

Second, on the right-hand side of the page, there is a list of Labels. If you want to read all the posts where I have labeled that I mention Harry Potter, for instance, click on "Harry Potter," and all the posts will show up.

Third, to comment on these blogs: At the bottom of this post, there is a link that says "0 comments" or "1 comment" or something like that. Click on the link. Under the box that says "Leave Your Comment," type whatever you want. Below that, choose either "Name/URL," or "Anonymous." If you choose "Name/URL," then type your name in the box that comes up when you click it. Then click "Publish Your Comment."

Finally, if you want to contact me any way other than commenting, click on the Label "Contact information," and you'll find posts with my addresses and e-mails.

More to come soon!