Monday June 30, 2008: Edinburgh, Scotland
The last two days have been exciting. Yesterday (Sunday) Charlie and I got up early to pack up our stuff and enjoyed the delicious breakfast there in the hotel.
We walked around Dublin a bit to stretch our legs – I have to say that I’m really going to miss the city. I know its not much there, but it was a nice starting point for our trip. We found an electronic store and waited around for them to open to see if they had a canon rebel battery – no. L By the time we got back to our hotel it was time to check out and our taxi was there to take us to the airport. I love Europe airports, their direct and to the point. AND, once you’re through security its like a shopping mall in the middle of all of the terminals. So, that was fun! Lol I really didn’t buy anything except for a bottle of water – thanks to the nice security lady who confiscated my old one. Our flight was delayed almost an hour so we snacked from the food stands and played card games until we boarded the plane. We flew Aer Lingus to Edinburgh, which was only a 45-minute flight.
I’ve decided that I’m cursed to always sit in front of people who enjoy kicking, punching, pushing, rocking the chair in front of them! Quite uncomfortable, really. This time it was an adorable (at first he was adorable) little British boy who was talking to his father about all of the parts of the plane and what he was seeing out the window. Then about half way through the flight he turned into a tyrant child. His younger brighter was getting more attention I guess so then this slew of 4-letter words came out of his mouth in anger, and his way of getting mom and dad’s attention was to hit the window of the plane and kick my chair constantly. The parents had NO control of him, so I just sat forward in my seat more and tried to ignore the incessant kicking and rocking of my chair.
Scotland is beautiful… no surprise there! I didn’t really think it would be anything but gorgeous. There are a lot more hills here than in Ireland and the plant life is a variety of greens, dark and bright. Its really wonderful. We got dropped off at the address for our lodging here, the taxi left and we walked up to the door and couldn’t get in! Ya, at this point its like 58 degrees, windy and almost 5:30 pm. The sign on the door said that we had to check in at another building about 1 1/2 –2 miles away. There is no way that we could’ve drugged our luggage up there and been there in decent time (they closed at 6). So Charlie stayed with the luggage and I took out my little map, trying to find my way to this random building. Ya, I got lost… really lost. It took me about an hour and 10 minutes to get back… ridiculous. But the street signs are so different here! L Needless to say by the time we got into our place I zonked out. We’re on the 4th floor, and there are no stairs. I woke up on the little couch like 2 hours later and Charlie was watching this talk show – it was bloody awesome! I think I like the television over here much more than at home.
Today (Monday the 30th), we woke up at 5:30 to get ready for our tour. We walked down to the bus stop to wait for our coach, stopping at a little fruit stand to get a banana (that was frozen…random). Our tour coach was really comfortable, but because I didn’t take my Dramamine we sat in the front seat, which also meant that we had an awesome view of everything. We left Edinburgh around 8 (we had a lot of people to pick up around the city). We headed out through little villages on our way towards the highlands.
We stopped in this little resort town called Calendar, where we stopped to get a late breakfast and see a highland bull.
We had delicious Scottish pancakes with raspberry jam, and coffee – we then walked around and fed Hamish.
The rainy weather from Edinburgh disappeared while we were there and it got nice and sunny for a while. I spent most of the trip admiring the countryside. Once we entered the highlands the weather went from sunny to cloudy and drizzly again. The mountains are covered in green grass and all of the stones are mossy. We passed by the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, Sterling Castle (where the battle of Sterling was fought by William Wallace), we saw the Wallace monument from the road as well as Lithgow palace. It’s a beautiful part of the country and it was enhanced by the fact that our Scottish tour guide/bus driver was giving us a full historical background of the things we were seeing as well as the perspective of the Scots. We were able to stop for like 15 minutes and look at all of the beautiful hills while a man with a bagpipe played some Scottish songs for us – it really added to the atmosphere. :)
Before too long we were back on the bus, and only a little bit longer we stopped for lunch, random food I’m telling you. Penne pasta with fries (called “chips”) and carrots - Weird. Haha
Back on the bus I fell asleep until we got to St. Augustus – which is where Loch Ness starts. Charlie and I didn’t feel like paying 25 pounds to take an hour “cruise” out on the loch, it was FREEZING and windy. So we just walked around and enjoyed the area, I loved it there.
Again back on the bus I snoozed all the way to Iverness and back down towards Edinburgh. We got back to our hotel/apartment around 8:30 pm. Now we’re randomly watching One Tree Hill on the tv and waiting for that talk show guy to come back on.
Ps. Jessica – I was watching a British/Scottish comedy improv show and they have to come up with the first line for the (new) Harry Potter book… hilarious.
The last two days have been exciting. Yesterday (Sunday) Charlie and I got up early to pack up our stuff and enjoyed the delicious breakfast there in the hotel.
We walked around Dublin a bit to stretch our legs – I have to say that I’m really going to miss the city. I know its not much there, but it was a nice starting point for our trip. We found an electronic store and waited around for them to open to see if they had a canon rebel battery – no. L By the time we got back to our hotel it was time to check out and our taxi was there to take us to the airport. I love Europe airports, their direct and to the point. AND, once you’re through security its like a shopping mall in the middle of all of the terminals. So, that was fun! Lol I really didn’t buy anything except for a bottle of water – thanks to the nice security lady who confiscated my old one. Our flight was delayed almost an hour so we snacked from the food stands and played card games until we boarded the plane. We flew Aer Lingus to Edinburgh, which was only a 45-minute flight.
I’ve decided that I’m cursed to always sit in front of people who enjoy kicking, punching, pushing, rocking the chair in front of them! Quite uncomfortable, really. This time it was an adorable (at first he was adorable) little British boy who was talking to his father about all of the parts of the plane and what he was seeing out the window. Then about half way through the flight he turned into a tyrant child. His younger brighter was getting more attention I guess so then this slew of 4-letter words came out of his mouth in anger, and his way of getting mom and dad’s attention was to hit the window of the plane and kick my chair constantly. The parents had NO control of him, so I just sat forward in my seat more and tried to ignore the incessant kicking and rocking of my chair.
Scotland is beautiful… no surprise there! I didn’t really think it would be anything but gorgeous. There are a lot more hills here than in Ireland and the plant life is a variety of greens, dark and bright. Its really wonderful. We got dropped off at the address for our lodging here, the taxi left and we walked up to the door and couldn’t get in! Ya, at this point its like 58 degrees, windy and almost 5:30 pm. The sign on the door said that we had to check in at another building about 1 1/2 –2 miles away. There is no way that we could’ve drugged our luggage up there and been there in decent time (they closed at 6). So Charlie stayed with the luggage and I took out my little map, trying to find my way to this random building. Ya, I got lost… really lost. It took me about an hour and 10 minutes to get back… ridiculous. But the street signs are so different here! L Needless to say by the time we got into our place I zonked out. We’re on the 4th floor, and there are no stairs. I woke up on the little couch like 2 hours later and Charlie was watching this talk show – it was bloody awesome! I think I like the television over here much more than at home.
Today (Monday the 30th), we woke up at 5:30 to get ready for our tour. We walked down to the bus stop to wait for our coach, stopping at a little fruit stand to get a banana (that was frozen…random). Our tour coach was really comfortable, but because I didn’t take my Dramamine we sat in the front seat, which also meant that we had an awesome view of everything. We left Edinburgh around 8 (we had a lot of people to pick up around the city). We headed out through little villages on our way towards the highlands.
We stopped in this little resort town called Calendar, where we stopped to get a late breakfast and see a highland bull.
We had delicious Scottish pancakes with raspberry jam, and coffee – we then walked around and fed Hamish.
The rainy weather from Edinburgh disappeared while we were there and it got nice and sunny for a while. I spent most of the trip admiring the countryside. Once we entered the highlands the weather went from sunny to cloudy and drizzly again. The mountains are covered in green grass and all of the stones are mossy. We passed by the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, Sterling Castle (where the battle of Sterling was fought by William Wallace), we saw the Wallace monument from the road as well as Lithgow palace. It’s a beautiful part of the country and it was enhanced by the fact that our Scottish tour guide/bus driver was giving us a full historical background of the things we were seeing as well as the perspective of the Scots. We were able to stop for like 15 minutes and look at all of the beautiful hills while a man with a bagpipe played some Scottish songs for us – it really added to the atmosphere. :)
Before too long we were back on the bus, and only a little bit longer we stopped for lunch, random food I’m telling you. Penne pasta with fries (called “chips”) and carrots - Weird. Haha
Back on the bus I fell asleep until we got to St. Augustus – which is where Loch Ness starts. Charlie and I didn’t feel like paying 25 pounds to take an hour “cruise” out on the loch, it was FREEZING and windy. So we just walked around and enjoyed the area, I loved it there.
Again back on the bus I snoozed all the way to Iverness and back down towards Edinburgh. We got back to our hotel/apartment around 8:30 pm. Now we’re randomly watching One Tree Hill on the tv and waiting for that talk show guy to come back on.
Ps. Jessica – I was watching a British/Scottish comedy improv show and they have to come up with the first line for the (new) Harry Potter book… hilarious.
3 comments:
I am soooo coveting your jacket, where is it from!? It's so cute that I'd even guess that it wasn't from the US, unless it's from H&M maybe? adorableeeeee.
Always happy to live through you and your travels!! ;)
it is soooo pretty there! you look so cute and i'm glad you're enjoying it! i cant wait to see more pictures!
We are really enjoying your blog! Your hair looks great. Your "random" food adventures are hilarious. Be safe and ENJOY.
Love ya....(Your QM buddies)
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