Take breathtaking castle ruins on a coastal cliff (in St. Andrews), a double date, some ropes, two helmets, darkness, a chilly night, and one crazy American and what do you get? A story that will live down in the crazy
American's life for the rest...of...her...life.
I will admit that when the guys said we were going AB-SAILING, I was a bit nervous. First of all... I didn't know what the heck that was, and second of all... I DID know that it sounded like something a tad bit out of my comfort zone... and then some. Once I found out that it was rock climbing, I thought "Seize the day!" No biggie... I won't see these guys again, right? If my pants split while I am dangling in mid-air then we'll all have something to laugh about. In my mind I imagined everyone scurrying up the side of a mountain with me following behind in a relaxed and comfortable way. That is definitely not how the night came to pass. (Keep in mind that I have never rock climbed before. :o) That should earn me a few sympathy points, hopefully).
The four-some arrived to the castle ruins a little after 9:00 p.m., which was fine because the sun was still up. It still felt like the middle of the day. We made our way to the base of the castle wall and Robbie instantly let me know that I would be the first to conquer the wall. The adventurous tigress in me thought... bring it!... as he tightened the gear around my mid-section. We walked over to the edge to start climbing and all of the sudden I realized that I had to get MYSELF up the side of the Castle. Yeah right! After a minute of verbal support Steven came over to watch me from below and told me where to put my footing. I scurried my way up and I have to admit that I even enjoyed it. When I looked up I could see the castle, but when I turned my head to the right all I could see was ocean. It was a beautiful, breathtaking moment.
Here's where the "I'm crazy" part kicks in. Once I hit the top and looked down I noticed just how far it was to the bottom. My fear of heights made it a little hard for me to breathe. I sat there looking down at Lisa and Steven on the beach, and wanting so badly to blink my eyes and join them effortlessly down below. Three road blocks presented themselves: 1) a very steep descent; 2) a very scared/stubborn me 3) a very persistent/stubborn instructor. The battle of the wills ensued. Who would win? Robbie? Myself? Humiliation?
After a TWO hour fight that led us into the chilling oceanic winds at the edge of a cliff, I had presented the following lengthy list of reasons why I just couldn't manage to descend:
1) I was so cold that my legs were shaking and they couldn't support me 2) I needed to phone a friend (my mom) to see if it was okay to plunge myself off the side of a mountain in a foreign country with foreign people 3) I needed to watch Lisa first to view "technique" 4) I needed to view ANYONE first to make sure the ancient iron fence would support my body weight on the ropes 5) I wasn't too sure that I could release the clamp with my left hand slow enough 6) I knew I'd get freaked out and would grab the rope above me and let go of the clamp and mess up and fall to my death (you can see I started to make less and less sense) 7) It was dark and I couldn't see over the edge 8) my shoes were slip-
ons 9) The rope around my back felt uncomfortable 10) and when all else fails... cry.
As Robbie
unclamped me so I could walk off the back part of the castle, he told me that I was the first person out of hundreds of beginners who had actually WALKED away (I was a failure, in a sense). I have officially gone down in the memory books as "that person" whose stubbornness was greater than Robbies. In my defense, I do deserve major credit towards the fact that I climbed UP it... so didn't that count for something? I am still sticking to the point that it does! I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of laughs we have had and continue to have over this experience. I do have to say that I made up for my "lack of adventurism" the next day... so stay tuned for that story. I think one reason this trip was such a success was because I pushed myself WAY out of my comfort zones more than once. That deserves at least a pat on the back, right? :o)
Take breathtaking castle ruins on a coastal cliff (in St. Andrews), a double date, some ropes, two helmets, darkness, a chilly night, and one crazy American and what do you get? A story that will live down in the crazy American's life for the rest...of...her...life.
I will admit that when the guys said we were going AB-SAILING, I was a bit nervous. First of all... I didn't know what the heck that was, and second of all... I DID know that it sounded like something a tad bit out of my comfort zone... and then some. Once I found out that it was rock climbing, I thought "Seize the day!" No biggie... I won't see these guys again, right? If my pants split while I am dangling in mid-air then we'll all have something to laugh about. In my mind I imagined everyone scurrying up the side of a mountain with me following behind in a relaxed and comfortable way. That is definitely not how the night came to pass. (Keep in mind that I have never rock climbed before. :o) That should earn me a few sympathy points, hopefully).
The four-some arrived to the castle ruins a little after 9:00 p.m., which was fine because the sun was still up. It still felt like the middle of the day. We made our way to the base of the castle wall and Robbie instantly let me know that I would be the first to conquer the wall. The adventurous tigress in me thought... bring it!... as he tightened the gear around my mid-section. We walked over to the edge to start climbing and all of the sudden I realized that I had to get MYSELF up the side of the Castle. Yeah right! After a minute of verbal support Steven came over to watch me from below and told me where to put my footing. I scurried my way up and I have to admit that I even enjoyed it. When I looked up I could see the castle, but when I turned my head to the right all I could see was ocean. It was a beautiful, breathtaking moment. 