Visitors from Abroad

Among the many great gifts we received from our Marshall Adventures Abroad (as this blog was originally titled), the friendships we forged along the way remain preeminent. Last summer, we had the good fortune of meeting up with Ian and Elanor, an American couple who were our neighbours in Scotland and who happened to be visiting family in Maine while we were on holiday in New Brunswick. We spent a couple of days together, picking up where we left off in Scotland, as though no time had passed in the narrative of our friendship.

This summer, another friendship begun in Scotland saw its continuation on this side of the pond. Chris, a former classmate of Brendan’s, along with his girlfriend Alexandra, came to stay with us. Chris is Italian and Alex is Swiss-American. They were vacationing together in Vermont with the American side of her family, and decided to take a short trip up north to visit us. It was great to see Chris again and to meet Alex. Chris remarked when he arrived that people who make friends abroad often say, “You should come visit my home!” but it rarely happens – we were fortunate to fall outside that norm.

Our guests arrived last Saturday afternoon and left for New York City on Monday morning. It was a quick but memorable visit, complete with a tour of downtown Ottawa, good conversation, great meals, and of course, scotch, which Chris had brought from Stirling for Brendan. We parted ways having very much enjoyed our weekend, and hoping to find ourselves again under the same roof somewhere down the road.  

In the Peace Tower, Parliament Hill