A Scottish Sundown

Hello to all my friends scattered from Florida to NJ! I started this blog so that you all might be able to see what I am up to this summer and the the many adventures (hopefully) I will have! I thought this might be the best way to post pictures and share stories with you all. This first post will be abnormally long just because I am days behind, but I promise to make them shorter after this one. Now lets see if I can remember all the way back to Wednesday when I arrived....

After a dreadfully long and painful red eye flight, packed to the gills, I arrived safe and sound in Scotland! Yeah :-) After being interrogated by customs for a bit (maybe 3 long minutes) I was on my way to pick up my 2 large suitcases and try and wrestle them along with my carry-on suitcase and my laptop to the front gate where my friend Stuart was waiting to pick me up. Thank goodness he was there - I have NO idea how I would have managed to get all my stuff into the city without and extra pair of arms! Thankfully he was in charge of driving so I didn't have to think about which side of the road I have to be on (for future reference its helpful to remember Left is easy and right is hard (this is to be used in conjunction with turning - because that's the hardest time in trying to remember where you are supposed to be) So after numerous round abouts and other odd intersection we made it to my new flat for the next 3 months! Its great! One floor up from the street level with lots windows and high ceilings in my room. Very spacious. I think I should have brought more stuff with me to fill it all up! Quickly after arriving we left again to go grocery shopping, cell phone purchasing and to try and open a bank account for me. Grocery shopping was no problem (aside from the fact I couldn't understand the cashier at all) and the cell phone purchasing was again easy peasy. The bank account situation a bit more tedious. I think there was an alert out not to accept money from me or something - no bank would take it! I thought I would never see that day when a bank would refuse money! After the 3rd try and a bit finagling, an account was opened. Great all the essentials are done! Now on to my first Scottish dinner- salmon and then an early night to bed with my jet lag hanging over me like an albatross.

Thursday my first day of not working and not traveling... What to do with all the time?? A run was in order of course and then into the city center for a bit of looking around and some more general purchases. (I had already managed to blow out one of my adapters trying to plug in my hair straightener) (Yes, Wendi and Lauralin, this is the SAME straightener from 4 years ago that the very same thing happened to - this time it might not get fixed...) After a flit around town it was time for a hike up Blackford Hills to the Observatory. It was a great view of Sir Arthur's Seat and also Edinburgh Castle. It was this day that I realized the sun doesn't set until 11 p.m!!! It's like the land of the midnight sun! It stays out until 11pm and then its up again at 4;30am! For a person who is used to going to bed when it gets dark and then up when the sun gets up - this is a serious adjustment to make, one that hasn't truly been accomplished yet :-)

Friday, I was a bit overzealous. I have been remiss in my running schedule because work has been so tremendously busy, so I haven't been keeping up with it as I should. On Friday I thought, what a perfect day for an 10 mile run down the canal path along the city. It started out great, but pretty soon my body was protesting quite loudly that the abuse was too much to bear. I gave in and stopped at 8.5 miles but was quite happy with that length. Afterwards it was a rainy walk into the city to try and replace my blown adapter and a few other odds and ends that needed picking up. The night ended with a viewing of Johnny Depp's new flick, "Public Enemy". In Scottish cinemas they think it is OK to show a half hour of commercials before the movie - not previews, COMMERCIALS! Every kind of car imaginable, coke, and various other things were advertised to a captive audience. Honestly, though I think I might have enjoyed more commercials than the movie. It was AWFUL. Don't go and see it. It starts out strong but after ten minutes it dies a long and painful death!

Saturday I was awakened (at 4:38am) to a beautiful blue sky and the knowledge that I was going to hike the Pentland Hills. Don't let the term "Hills" fool you - they are MOUNTAINS!! After my run around yesterday I was in no shape to hike the Pentlands today (it didn't help that we had to walk a million miles to get to the start of the path to begin with and then to get home again - thanks Stu :-) but I survived, with a few breathing stops along the way. At the top of the first MOUNTAIN, the view was unbelievable you can see forever. The hike was totally worth it to see Scotland from that high up. I managed to get a bit sunburned while out, but all in all a good trade I believe. For more info and great pictures check out this web-site: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/phrp/index.html

More adventures are soon to follow. Tomorrow I am going to church for the first time while in Scotland and hopefully more adventures will follow after that. Perhaps I'll try haggis for lunch tomorrow. Yum.... I think...

I do have to give a huge shout out to Stuart. He has done so much for me this week to help me get settled and make the transition easy for me. I don't think this summer would have been possible without his help right from the beginning either. He has gone above the call of duty to help me and I am extremely grateful for his help. So thanks Stu :-)