Skype to Skype With no Top Ups, On the Snip

While being in an English speaking country does make life MUCH easier - it also has a few problem areas. The slang in Scotland is completely different from the USA and even every day terms are quite different from the America's. The title of this blog actually refers to texting and buying more minutes for your cell phone (sorry - your MOBILE phone) As if it's not hard enough to understand some people with their Scottish accents, they also throw in words like: thrapple, blootered, ramfoozle, bahookie and dreich! We might speak the same language, but theirs is completely foreign to me sometimes. Who knows, maybe I'll finally be fluent in another language when I return in the fall. I'll be fluent in Scottish!

Now on to my adventures of the past few days. Sunday I got to go to church at Charlotte Chapel Church (http://www.charlottechapel.org/home.php). It was great. It was so neat to sit in such an old church and sing songs to our God with like minded believers when I am so far from home. I am very much looking forward to getting more involved at the church and meeting new people. After church a hike up Carlton Hill was in order - unfortunately for you all, I didn't take my camera because it was raining when I left the flat - of course it was beautiful by the time I got to the top... I'll have to make the trek back up there and take some pictures for you all to see :-) Sunday night i hiked the Salisbury Crags. I had never been up them before and was quite happy to have the chance to do it. The hike is a pretty easy one and when at the top gives great views over the old city and over the Firth of Forth.

Monday I checked out the Queen's residence when she is in town, Holyrood Palace. This is where Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, lived and also where her secretary, David Rittzio was brutally stabbed 56 times by her jealous husband Lord Darnley Some say you can still see the blood stain on the wood floor even though it has been replaced countless times since the 16th century... There is a beautiful old abbey out back that is in ruins, but many many kings of Scotland had worshiped there once upon a time. Even as far back as Robert the Bruce in the 1340's. Pretty old history around here :-)

Next stop: the "new" Scottish Parliament. Scotland finally got their own Parliament back in 1999 (they lost control of their country after Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated in 1745) The building was supposed to reflect the land of Scotland, the trees, hills, upturned boats on the beaches of the fishing villages along the coast. Unfortunately while the idea was a good one, it came out hideously and cost the Scottish people and extra 300 million pounds over the estimated budget.

I hope you all liked my little history lesson along with the slight differences in out culture. Maybe you'll learn something new about Scotland that you never knew before - I know I am :-) See you later! (See the following post for pictures)