9-11

Memories of 9-11.

It is forever burned into out minds that we can all state exactly when and where we were the first we heard of this tragedy. And then the disbelief, is this really happening? No way, it's got to be a movie. This is how I felt when I first heard about 9-11 in a land far, far away . . .

We were one week into our one month trip to England, Scotland, Wales, & Paris. We were staying in Edinburgh, Scotland on 9-11, having just arrived the day before. We left our B&B early in the morning, excited to tour the Edinburgh Castle. All day we toured the castle grounds with headsets, listening to the castle history and the stories of it's many famous inhabitants. We were oblivious to the world around us, immersed in the fascinating castle and medievel lifestyle. Little did we know that a horrific history was happening as we walked the cobbled castle streets.

We finished our tour and exited the castle to the Royal mile, a main drag of town 1 mile long between the castle and the Royal Queens palace of Holyrood House. We stood on the street discussing our options of where to go next, we decided to take a bus ride for a while to rest our feet. By this time, it was about 4:00 pm Scotland time, 5 hours ahead of 11:00 am EST.

A woman ran up to us at the bus stop and in her southern accent, asked if we were Americans and we said yes. She said, "Have you heard? Kamikaze planes have crashed into the Twin Towers and knocked them down!!!!" What? You are crazy, what pub did you just come out of, was our first thought. But then the look of terror on her face, told us differently. OMG, how did this happen. She boarded the bus with us and we found out she was from South Carolina, had just heard the news herself, and didn't know much more than what she told us. We thanked her, exited the bus and began to look for a newsstand to find out the truth. And there it was, huge, front page photos already printed of the horrendous event. Photos of people jumping out windows, the towers on fire, ash blackened people running for their lives. We bought the newspaper and hurried back to our B&B to watch the news, surely this was a hoax.

As we arrived, our gracious B&B host family, greeted us with a look of sadness. We excused ourselves to our room to find the TV replaying the horror over and over. Tony Blair spoke to his nation, steadfastly offering the US his support and condolences. We spent the rest of the evening in shock, especially being so far from home.

As the days progressed, we continued with our vacation, numb but resigned knowing we couldn't leave with the flying black out over US skies. We decided to carry on and try to enjoy the rest of our trip, all the while watching the BBC news every evening for updated info. As we entered small towns all over the UK, banners, memorials, flowers, and signs were everywhere supporting the US and those who lost their lives so needlessly. It was comforting knowing we were in a safe environment while traveling.

We ended our trip in Paris in early Oct., where tensions were high. National troops with guns patroled the Eiffel Tower and all tourist sights. Rumors of Europe being next on the terrorists lists, had everyone on edge in the bigger cities. By the time we were ready to fly home, the skies had been re-opened and security at the airport was extremely high as it should be. I was a little nervous to fly.

When we arrived home, we saw American flags flying everywhere. Everyone we knew told us their experience of what it was like here during that horrible time. We will never know what it felt like, we had a totally different spin on the news being in a foreign land. Josh saved all the newspapers for us, so I was able go back and reread the coverage. And on the 5th anniversary, one of the TV stations replayed the whole day as if in real time. I just had to watch, if nothing more than to see what it felt like on that day, here in the USA.

It will be a infamous day in our history that no one will ever forget.