Our niece

I don't put pictures of other people's kids online unless they are unrecognizable. So here is an unrecognizable picture of our niece, whom we just met today. :)

Enough already!

I really, really missed storms while we were in the UK. A good thunderstorm. One that you could sit out on your porch and feel the refreshing spray from the rain after a hot summer day, listen to the rapid and rumbling KABOOM! of the thunder, and watch the electrical show in the night sky.

But this is a bit much!

Since we have been home we have had 3 tornado warnings and 3 or 4 (I lost count) severe thunderstorm warnings. We have watches and we have warnings. A watch is just saying that we have to "watch" out because this MIGHT happen. A warning is that this is already happening: there is already a storm going on or a funnel cloud has already been spotted.

Lowell has a siren at the volunteer fire dept for these warnings...just down the road from us.

Last night we were already in bed, but still up talking after midnight when we heard the siren. So we went upstairs to find out what was going on. Then today we were sitting outside as we watched dark clouds hasten up to us. Suddenly a strong wind swept through the area, knocking branches off trees and leaving a lot of debris in its path in just 20 minutes. The temp suddenly dropped about 15 degrees (F).

Last week, my parents (just 30 mins away) experienced a severe storm, pulling whole trees from the ground. One was knocked into their road, blocking it off completely. They were without power for 18 hours. Others for 3 days.

We are so waterlogged right now! I guess we brought the rain with us from Scotland. But this rain is different. It comes down fast and furious.

It's this heat! We have had such hot days. Today was around 95. Then we get a sweep of cold air and it causes to much turbulence.

I just like these pictures

I was trying to sort some of my pictures when I came across these that I have not posted.



We were taking a walk on a lovely spring day. This is the park by Murryfield Stadium, which we passed on our walk down the River Leith. I just thought it was so lovely that the ground was covered in soft pink petals. There were some guys playing cricket so we stopped to watch. Cricket doesn't seem to be a spectator sport as we have never actually seen anyone watching, other than us. We tried to figure out the rules but we couldn't.

popcorn

I prefer popcorn popped over the stove top, but during my last few months in Scotland I enjoyed Orville Redenbacher's honey butter popcorn. Is there anywhere I can get something like this? Or is kettle corn the closest I will come?

Janelle

When I raised money for this year's tuition for Janelle the peso had gotten just a wee bit stronger against the dollar. Therefore I was just a wee bit short in the money I had sent them. Janelle is also in need of a few other supplies.

For those who may not know, Janelle is a little girl in the Philippines, daughter of a friend from my visits over there. I have been raising the funds to provide better schooling for her for the past few years. Many of you have given so generously and I and the family are so greatful for the blessings you have provided.

Of course, this is not just a short-term project. The tuition bill comes every year until Janelle graduates. Right now we are just in the middle of the school year, but if you can think and pray about it, or if you know of anyone who may be interested in supporting a child...

At the moment we just need a small bit. If I recieve any money over the amount needed for the year, I will keep track of it until the next year. If you are interested, please let me know. I can let you know where you can send a cheque or how you can pay by paypal.

Cheers

Another WHAT??

I know I hadn't really been doing too great at keeping up this blog, so why do I think I should start a new one? Beats me.

So I have finally started my new one and after a few days of sitting on it I now feel comfortable enough to announce it. I will keep the current blog as just my everyday bletherings about Josh and Deliverance. The other blog will be sort of geared towards our British friends, but American friends will find it interesting, too. When we moved to Scotland I had a good time pointing out the differences of living in the UK. The new blog will be pointing out the different things in America, from a 'repat' perspective. It is my nature to be rather negative, and I am already finding that the blog is turning out that way. There are many positive things about living here and I will try to remember to point those out, too (like TARGET!).

So here it is, here is the title of my blog. You may say it doesn't really fit in with the theme of my blog. I wanted something in Gaelic. Beannachd Leibh It means "good-bye" or literally "blessings go with you." Ha! As I am typing this out I realise that even my title is negative! Maybe I should have choosen Failte for 'welcome.' Oh, well. And here's the link: http://americanrepat.blogspot.com/ I hope you visit!

Was it just a dream?

It is so very strange, but it just feels I just woke up and Scotland was just a dream. The last week and a half has flown by, but Edinburgh seems so far away. I have not kept the intonation that I picked up from living there 2 years. It is no longer natural to use words like 'car park' or 'to-mah-toe', but I do still use 'wee' and 'rubbish'. I usually enter the car on the proper side, though I did have to peek through the window once yesterday. :) I drive on the 'right' side of the road, though I did find myself on the left side when I turned down and isle in the 'car park'.

Thank you

I want to thank our friends and family on both sides of the pond. You were so kind and generous to us in this time of transition. We really appreciate all that you have done for us.

Going Home

Monday was supposed to be our 'free' day. I really wanted the time to just walk around Edinburgh and enjoy the city before we left. Josh didn't think that was going to happen, but I was confident that if we worked hard enough we could get things done a day early.

Things looked pretty good on Sunday. We had a lot of things packed and we were working on the cleaning. We would leave the flat in good condition, even though we had to do a lot of cleaning when we recieved it. Being Sunday, though, we could not do any of the errands we needed to do. So we made a list. It kept getting longer.

Josh was right. Monday was spent doing a lot of running around and last minute business/packing/cleaning. It was a joy and a nice break to be able to sit down with Sam for one last cuppa.

I had arranged with one of my customers who is a cab driver to pick us up Tuesday morning between 5:00 and 5:15, so we got up at 4:15. We had to throw away our bedding because there was nothing else we could do with it. At least the sheets were the ones I brought with us which we had since we were married nearly 6 years ago. We've only ever had 2 sets of sheets so they were pretty worn.

Anyways, we were ready for Noelle and she packed us up in her cute little cab. The cabs in the UK all look like PT Cruisers (I don't know what kind of car they are) and they are very roomy and clean. Noelle drove us up to Waverly Station. We wanted to be there when they opened to get the first train to Glasgow. Our flight left at 10:45 so we needed to be there at 7:45.

At Waverly, we purchased our tickets, looked at the screen to see which train would be ours, and took our luggage to wait by the train. It seemed odd that just 5 minutes before departure the lights were still not on and there was no boarding. Josh went down to look at the screen again. It had been changed! So we picked up all of our luggage (4 over weight suitcases, computer bag, camera bag, overweight carry-on, and my oversized 'personal' bag), jetted over to the proper train (which WAS boarding) and got settled inside.

Josh had looked online, we looked at maps, and Sam helped us with directions from the train station to the bus stop we would need to take to the airport. It looked pretty simple. We would only have to cross the street once out of the station. This was very good as we did not want to lug our suitcases all through the streets of Glasgow.

We got out to the street and saw that there was construction on the road, closing the road completely. We dragged our luggage uphill to the station, just INCASE the bus still came there. There was a little turn around place in front of the station. There was a sign at the stop telling us that the stop was closed and where the closest stop was. ARGH! So we had to go back down the hill, down about half a block, cross the road and the half-block square, and go down to our station. Not a big deal withough luggage...

When we got to the stop we found that the fare was not the fare quoted online. So we dug through our pockets. Good thing we still had some extra change. We waited for about 20 minutes. In that time there were 2 buses due. This 'airport' bus did not have much extra room for luggage. The bus was already pretty full and we had to pile our luggage on top of others' and in the isle. There were more tourists boarding after us to add to the nice pile in the isle.

So we were at the airport 3 hours early, as Aer Lingus suggests. We waited at the screen that tells you where to check in. Nothing. There were information people going around telling us that Aer Lingus would be opening their desks and such-and-such points in about 20 minutes. The queue currently at those points was for American Airlines and it did not look like it was going to be done any time soon. So we waited. 20 minutes came and went. We ended up waiting about 2 hours before they opened their desks. Fortunately we got in the queue before they opened because we asked the information people again. There was a huge queue already forming and they only opened 2 desks. I thought "there is no way we are taking off in one hour." And they were SO SLOW!!!

We made it through the queue and made our way down to security. Before we even arrived the lady at the desk said, "You're only allowed one carry-on." "But the website said you can have a personal bag..." Shakes her head. "What about a camera..." Shakes her head. So we walk away to try to condense our things. The stress has finally gotten to me and I break down in tears. Our carry-ons (one being our computer) are already stuffed full and I wonder how we will fit my camera and other things into them. Josh works while I blubber and he manages to do it, though we had to throw away some snack items. He takes my camera out of the camera bag and puts it around his neck. "They are GOING to let me carry this camera!" :) We walk up to the lady with our passports and she smiles and says, "Got it sorted?" I don't even attempt so smile or speak with my puffy red face.

We make it through security, though there seems to be something in my bag that they have to test. Since we couldn't bring any water we stop at a cafe to pick up a couple of bottles. The guy is taking too long so we figure it is more important to get water in Dublin since that will be our long flight.

When we approach our gate where people should already be boarding we see the seats filled with travelers and NO PLANE! So I go back to get some water.

We finally take off 50 minutes late. This concerns us as we only had 1.5 hours until our next flight and would have to go through security again. When we get off the plane there is a lady holding a sign "connection to Chicago". We do to her and wait for the others connecting. She FLIES through the airport with about 20 people in tow, some elderly. We lose her at one point and just guess where we are to go. We catch up to her at security. Again, something catches their attention in my bag and they have to test it. I still don't know what it was that was so interesting. We were the last ones through security and the lady is gone! ARGH!!! She never even told us where we would eventually end up. So we had to fly to find a screen to see what gate would leave from. Not on this screen. Ah! Here it is on this screen! Way down at the end of the airport. We zip onto the plane and get settled for a long flight. We were supposed to have the row at the emergency exit but we were put in the row behind it. The row we wanted was empty, so we sat there in hopes that the people weren't showing up.

We end up waiting about 20 minutes for our flight to leave. Probably to get our luggage from one plane to the next. We were concerned about our luggage not making because of the delay of our first plane.

No one comes up to kick us out of our seats, so we are happy. Then there is an announcement about how we have to make sure to take everything, including jackets off the plane in Shannon. We did not even realise we were making a stop in Shannon. So we thought it would just be a quick stop in Shannon, then take off again. No. We take a quick 30 minute flight over to Shannon, EVERYONE has to get off and go through security AGAIN! Then we get back on and head off to Chicago. This would explain why our flight was 10 hours instead of 7. Of course, when we boarded there was someone in the seats that we thought we had for the long-haul flight. :(

We did get to see the famous Cliffs of Mohr as we were departing Ireland. Once we were over the Atlantic we got settled in and had a nice flight. Hardly any turbulence at all. I was afraid with all this taking off and landing that my motion sickness would set in, but it had been a while since I had flown so it was fine.

We got to O'Hare and could feel the heat already, even though we didn't disembark the plane outside. And it didn't help that there must have been 20 other international planes arriving at the same time! The luggage retreaval was so packed full of people. There were not even any luggage trollies available. I waited in the spot they were supposed to be and when an employee came by with abotu 10 trollies it was like vultures swarming to get one. By now it was 11pm our time and we were tired. It takes a while, and we were a bit concerned, but our luggage does show up. We get through the long queue through customs AGAIN and try to find a phone to call Bessie, who was picking us up. We finally see her friendly, familiar face and she loads us up in her (air conditioned) van and takes us to Nathan and Andrea's where we were all going to have dinner together. It was nice to see these friends again (and meet Nathan and Andrea's baby!) especially after such an ordeal.

By the time we had boarded our final flight I was so annoyed with companies who are disorganised and don't keep their websites accurate and up to date. People who know us know how prepared we like to be. It was maddening that we were very prepared for this trip. We had to do so much rushing around and changing of plans. It would be more understandable if it was because of our own lack of preparation. It was maddening because it was on account of someone else who should have been better prepared.

Arrived

Sorry for the long silence. We have been very busy and still have not had high speed internet. Thanks to my parents I can post this picture (sorry for the large size) and a brief update.

Just wanted to let you know that after a very long and frustrating ordeal with Aer Lingus (NEVER TAKE THEM!!), we arrived safely and soudly in Chicago and are now back home in Indiana. And I will let our British friends know that it is VERY HOT here!! I was shocked when we arrived that all I had to do to sweat was stand still. And it has only gotten hotter and so, so muggy! Yep, it's August.

I will have to let you know about our trip home later.

Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of and praying for us. We still need you thoughts and prayers. We are keeping busy and I am having a bit of culture shock.

We will have high speed internet again hopefully tonight, so I will try to post more regularly again. I am also thinking of starting a new blog. American life from the perspective of a repat. Any ideas for a name? :)

Almost

Only 2 more sleeps.... :o

Leaving do

If you are in Edinburgh and did not get an evite for our leaving do, my apologies. We would like you to come to our place so we can see our friends before we leave. It will be next Saturday, 28 July 10am-4pm. Email me if you can come or need more details.

Also, take a look (or another one if you already have) at our sale: http://carbootsale.blogspot.com We still have so much to sell! I will be willing to ship most items, but will have to add shipping to the total price. Some things have been reduced and I will consider any offers (we just need to get rid of this stuff!).

OUCH!

Orange really mucked up our internet service...

Josh called them Wednesday to ask them for whatever postage thing it is we need to send back our broadband box thingie. They thought we wanted to break our contract, incurring a £190 fee for breaking early (contract ends 4 Sept). Josh could not get it through to them that he fully intended on paying through to the end of the contract, but that we were moving and needed to send the box back early.

He finally gets a supervisor online. This guy says, "Ok, no problem. We will send you what you need, no fees charged, and since we cannot charge you for usage you did not use we will be sending you a cheque for that last month." YAY! Even better than we thought!

Yesterday I am using the internet in the morning, but cannot connect all afternoon. When Josh gets home from work it is still not working. He debates calling, wondering if there is just a server problem that will get fixed soon. I talked him into calling since he will be working all day the next day and I need the internet for planning and such.

So he calls after tea. He is told that our service has been canceled. OOO! I very rarely see Josh as hot as he was last night! And on top of all of the frustration it seems that the call centre is in another country, so he is trying to explain to this non-native english speaking person that there was a miscommunication problem and how vital it is that we have internet NOW for our upcoming move.

He asks for a supervisor. After some investigation it seems that the person Josh spoke to the day before was not allowed to do what he did and the system knew it. The system just shut us down completely. They say it will take 10 days to get service back to us. Uh, and we leave in HOW many days?! Josh explains again that we leave on the 31st and it is vital for us to have internet. So this lady offers us a free month of dial up. WOO-HOO!

We have been spoilt by broadband the last 2 years that dial up just seems DREADFULLY slow. So this means we have to limit our internet usage. We are not clear on if the "free" means that all calls are free as well. Calls are charged per minute here, even for local. And since it take about 4 minutes just to get into my inbox, well...This means no uploading of photos as well. :( I had so much that I needed to catch up on, too. Who knows when I will be able to share our photos of our most recent excursions. And our upcoming holiday to Mull.

Well, I really ought not to be updating my blog now. It is morning and calls are a bit cheaper at night. But I type quickly...

I just had another thought! I can't visit other blogs!! Especially ones with lots of photos.

Ah, poor me. I sure do lay it on thick, don't I? ;)

The Return to Glencoe

The week after we went to the borders with Michelle and Paul, Sam and Peter took us to Glencoe. Let me just say we have been spoilt by our friends! We have been to Glecoe twice. I fell in love with it the first time. But our visits were just to one spot, the same one, and just for a few minutes for photos. I had been wanting to return to spend a bit more time there.

We first stopped at the Visitor Centre where there was a nice lookout point and a big natural display of Glencoe as well as the history and a video about the massacre.

Our picnic spot at the visitor centre

When we were done with lunch we inteded to head out for a wee hike. But nature had another plan. We were hit with a downpour of rain. At least we were still in the car. So we decided to sit out the rain (hmmm...this sounds familiar).

The rain stopped and we started up to the waterfall. I didn't realise the walk was going to be straight up the entire way! I puffed on my inhailer, but I was still so out of shape and embarrassed that I was slowing everyone down. In the end we didn't make it all the way up to the waterfall, though we got a good way there. We weren't even sure if there was a path to the waterfall. The midgies were eating at Peter and me and it was starting to rain again.

After our walk we headed to the King's House Hotel for tea. This is one of the stops for folks doing the West Highland Way, so we saw some tired walkers there.

Thanks, Sam and Peter for that adventure!

The Borders

I am having a hard time keeping up with this blog now. I am trying keep up with another blog to sell our things here: http://carbootsale.blogspot.com/. I am also enjoying the warmer weather we have been having. I just can't attach myself to the computer when it is nice out. Especially here when the weather can change in a second. Just recently we were going to go out for a walk but for some reason Josh wanted to wait a bit, can't remember why. He said something about how nice and sunny it will be when we go out. I said, "Josh, we are in Scotland!" He knew that what I meant was "It may be sunny and warm now, but in just 5 minutes it could be cold, windy, and rainy." I am seriously now exaggerating by how quickly the weather changes. So everyone that lives here knows that if it is now out, you better get out there NOW to enjoy it. :)

So, speaking of weather, we had a nice wet day for our trip out to the border abbeys a couple of weeks ago. Our friends Paul and Michelle wanted to take us to a part of Scotland that we hadn't seen yet. The border abbeys are, obviously, on the borders (of Scotland and England, for those who may not know). I don't know much of the history of them, but I do know that being on the borders they were prime target to be ransacked by the English. I am sure I will provide a few links here and there, so if you are so inclined you can read up on the history.

Jedburgh Abbey was the one that I had seen a lot of pictures of and really wanted to see, so that was our first stop. I didn't really get many pictures because the audio tour thingie was handheld, making it difficult to keep up with everyone else and snap some shots.

After being drizzled on throughout the tour we decided it was time to eat lunch. We found a dry spot (under a pavilion) and spread out our picnic. I guess Paul is like me and goes a bit overboard with the food planning, so we definately did not starve!

After drying out a bit we got on our way toward home. On the way we decided to make a little detour to Dryburgh Abbey. It was anything BUT dry. We waited in the car for a few minutes for the downpour to let up a bit. When it was a little less wet we hopped out to take a look.

I am really suprised that I didn't find too much mention that this is the burial place of the beloved Sir Walter Scott.

You can see Josh is getting wet. We got so tired of WET. But you learn here that if it is raining, you just get on with it. If you wait for it to stop raining, life will pass you by!

Thanks, Paul and Michelle for taking us to see the borders!

Strawberry Shortcakes!

I have not posted about any of my baking fun in a while...well, because I haven't done much baking. I was so depressed and stressed from work and other things that I wasn't in much of a mood to do anything, even though baking can be very therapeudic for me.

We have finally be getting some really great weather, which puts me in the mood for summer foods. And what says summer better than strawberry shortcakes! Well, maybe not for your british folks, but we Americans get very excited about strawberry shortcake.

I baked my own shortcakes and whipped up my own whipped cream. I am a convert. I don't know if I will every buy Cool-Whip when I am back in the States.

I am looking forward to getting back to a summer of plentiful fruit. We haven't had much in the last 2 years because the fruit here is either pretty expensive or it just doesn't taste good. The nectarines, plums, and peaches are sold rock hard! I only recently discovered that they sell a small package of 'perfectly ripe' necartines and such for a more dearer price. I don't understand why they can't just sell them all 'perfectly ripe'! I will miss the british berries, though. They are so scrummy! (weird that I just used that word) I just bought a package of british raspberries and ate them all by myself! Not a single tart one in the bunch. And so sweet!

Last Day

My last day of work was on the 4th of July. It was very uneventful. No tears were shed, except for a customer or two, and Brett who was getting used to his free drinks. :)

Since no one planned a leaving do for me, Josh took me out to celebrate. It was a dual celebration for the 4th of July. We had Mexican! Yum, yum! Something you don't find too often here. And this place has been sitting under our noses all along! We went to the Blue Parrot just down the road from us. They have fun eclectic decor. From the outside it looks like something from Mexico with their colourful painted grates covering the windows. Their loo is located outside in a wee shed. Oh, and they have a fake blue parrot in a bird cage to greet you as you enter.

This was one of the rare times I felt full upon leaving a restaurant here in Scotland (the portions here are much more wee than we Americans are used to). Josh got a burrito and I got chicken fajitas. I can't really get used to the way they serve up their chicken for fajitas here, in large chunks rather than thin slivers. I still cut them small.

Oh, we had chips and salsa to begin with (not complimentary like many Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurants we are used to). The salsa was called spicy, but I had to ask because spicy by Scottish standards is kinda wimpy, even for me. But it really was spicy! And good!

Afterwards it was still so nice out (we are just now starting to enjoy a bit of summer here in Scotland, we get a bit of sun each day and sometimes the temps get up to 70!) that I just couldn't bear to go inside. Despite our full bellies we went for a bit of a walk on the River Leith. I will miss the river.

My Last Week

Today was the first day of my last week of work. Wednesday is my last day. Yes, my independence day is Independence Day. ;)

We had a bit of an adventure. I actually didn't serve any customers today. I would have been greatful for this in weeks past, but as all of my customers are morning regulars and I only have one more morning this week, I was quite sad to think that I may not see any customer if Wednesday happens to be their off day.

I don't know why I always get the pleasure of these early morning adventures...

We arrived to a burnt out door...oh, wait, that was January. Everything seemed fine when we arrived. We went to clock in but it seemed that the newish barista may have punched in the wrong code to the office door and locked us out. Ok, I will clock us in for the appropriate time. We go upstairs to do some opening duties. I am concerned that I may not get all of my duties done downstairs in time to open at the right time (these customers start beating down the door if we do not open at 6:50). I do down later to try again. Nope. Later. Nope. I was sure it had been the right amount of time for the lock to time out. I tried for 20 minutes to no avail. Everthing is in the office. We cannot open without getting in there. Everything including phone numbers.

We get our jackets back on and head on up to the nearest Starbucks. I used to work with the ASM on shift so we have a bit of a banter. Then he laughs at me when I can finally tell him that we are locked out of the office. So I call my manager and write down some other phone numbers.

Back at our store I try the door again just to see. No access. So I call maintainance and have a bit of a laugh with the guy because I was suprised at the cheery greeting he gave me (I had to ask him if I had the right number). I tell him my problem, tell him we can't open, and he says he will have a locksmith call me to see if he can talk me through an override for the code. While we wait, we clean.

My manager shows up. We clean...and we clean. Despite the sign on the door the customers still jiggle it, wondering why it does not open. Some beg us to just make us a drink anyways and they will give us 10 quid (tempting...I might have made out pretty big today if my boss wasnt' there!). We clean. They can't figure out why we can't open if we are all there in plain view.

After 2 1/2 hours we wonder what is up with the locksmith. A call like this would go on an emergency call, which requires a response within 2 hours. My manager calls maintainance. They say, "Oh, you aren't trading??" Uh, we said earlier that we could not open. "Oh, well we will have to send someone from Glasgow. It should be 2-3 hours." WHAH!!!! If they would have responded when we first called they could have been here by now! Ok, so we clean some more.

Our 11:00 barista comes in and we decide we should have lunch soon. At 11:30 my boss says I can go home. YAY!

So I will find out tomorrow when we were finally able to open. Unfortunately there was probably so much food that had to be thrown out because we would not have been able to sell it all without the morning rush.

I wonder if I will have any more adventures this week...

Kinda sad

Maria and me

We are starting to get down to a lot of 'lasts.' Today was the last day I would see Maria. She is flying back home to Spain on Sunday. Today was also the last day I would get to work with any of my favourite colleagues. Maria is gone, Josh is LONG gone, Sylvain was on holidays this week and we are not scheduled to work together next week, Danny is on holidays next week. So that's it.

This move is sad and very different than our move here. When we came here, though we were sad to leave family and friends, we knew that we would see them again. Now we are leaving a place we are not sure that we will ever see again, and we are leaving people we may never see again. If we do, it would require an awful lot of traveling on someone's part.

I am starting to say good-bye to my customers, too. Some of them say they will be sure to come in Wednesday morning for my last day.

Frolicking sheep

I really, really want one of these for a souvenier. http://www.jamespirie.co.uk/standrews/product.cfm?ManID=7&GrpID=0&Group=&CatID=0&Start=1&PageNum=1&ProductID=404

I just can't bring myself to pay those prices for a wee mug. And I mean wee! Highland Stoneware is a good investment, but I wouldn't just stick it up in a cabinet somewhere. I would want to use it and of course I will end up chipping it.

We are going to end up coming home with plenty of other souveniers.

me@work

Very exciting, indeed.

I don't have any pictures of actually doing work. Maybe that says something.

There has been a group of us leaving, so we have been bringing in our cameras to capture our last days. It's been fun to get pictures of the people I have been working with the last 1-2 years.

I don't know why I chose to pose with a milk pitcher and an espresso cup.
Maria and me on her last day.

Nevermind the shiney faces. It was hot and we just finished a rush.

Maria's last day was last week. She is going back home to Spain.

Danny, me, Maria. This again was on Maria's last day.

Josh's leaving do. He recently went back to Canada.

The misty Isle of Skye

And it is not for no reason that this isle is called misty

As I said in a previous post, we decided at the last minute to do a 3 day tour of Skye. Agian, with Rabbie's Trail Burners. They have really good tour guides! Our guide this time was named Richard and he told stories about Scottish history nearly the entire time. They were all bloody because as he said, there are no nice stories about Scotland.

Our tour was lovely, except for the torrential rains on Thursday, the day we toured the island. But by Thursday afternoon the skies cleared and the sun shone (off and on, and rain off and on). That is why they say 4 seasons in one day in Scotland.

On the tour with us was a group of 5 from Malaysia. We learned on the last day that in that group was a couple on their honeymoon! They were also in the hostel with us, in the same room. Now, it's nice to travel with family, but I couldn't take them on my honeymoon with me.

I don't really remember all of the names of places and the exact sequence of things. It is hard to describe the trip, so I will just let you see some of the pictures and see for yourself how lovely it was. I will try to explain some of the pictures when I get them on flickr. It might not be until tomorrow, though, as I am getting ready for work just now.

Can anybody tell me what this looks like?

Can anybody NOT in Scotland (or the UK for that matter) tell me what this looks like?

Eilean Donan Castle

Kilt Rock

You can't see it here because this is when we had the torrential rains, but this is called kilt rock because of the creases in the rock, which look like a kilt.

Portree (the royal port)

Where we stayed

Neist Point

Glen Coe

Much more foggy this time.

And now, time to go home

So then, it was time to say good-bye to my parents. I don't have any pictures of us on this day. We had to get up before the sun, so I wasn't about to risk the wrath of those with blood-shot eyes.

It was so nice to have my parents for a visit, and we were so glad that they enjoyed the trip. This was their first flight ever and we were so worried that it would end up being traumatic for them. I am glad they came in April, too. They were thinking of coming in June, but seeing this weather now, I am so glad they came when they did. We have had about 2 partial days of sunshine in the last month!


We got to enjoy a nice sunrise on the bus ride back in to Edinburgh.

Day 6

I think I must have gotten my days mixed up because I thought the last day was a free day. But anyways, here it is. The last thing we went to see was Rosslyn Chapel. No, I have not read The DiVinci Code. I just know that it is a very ornate chapel and if was high on my dad's list of priorities.

My parents got to enjoy their first ride on the upper deck of the bus. It was here that they saw just how close the busses come together and my mom could not help but panic every time.

Though it was much smaller than I imagined, it was really a lovely chapel. So much work went into the intricate carvings that covered the entire interior. There is so much meaning in the carvings. If you can I suggest reading a bit about it. I couldn't really find any links that went into the detail of the carvings, but here is a start:

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/roslin/rosslynchapel/

https://www.rosslynchapel.com/htm/architecture.htm

And again, like always, vitis flickr for more pics.

Day 5

Today was the big, much anticipated tour to the Highlands. We chose to go with Rabbie's Trail Burners (notice the pun, Robert, or Rab Burns is one of their celebrated author's). There are so many touring companies in Edinburgh. We are glad we went with them because the tour was more intimate. Only 15 people to a bus (our tour happened to only have 8).

First of all we had to make a stop at St. Giles to see John Knox's grave. The first time we were there it was hidden under a car. Yep, carpark #23 and a simple unmarked plaque.
So then we hopped in a minibus and headed off to the highlands. It was good doing this with a tour guide. Don't have to worry about maps and figuring out what the road signs really mean. It was especially good in the highlands as the roads are very narrow and twisty.
Our first stop was to visit a beloved heilan' coo (highland cow) named Hamish. He gets so much attention.

My absolute part of everything we saw during this whole week was Glen Coe. It was so stunning and haunting. I wanted so badly to go in and explore some of those hills, but it was only a quick 10 minute stop. Glen Coe will always haunt me.

Other than it's spectacular beauty, Glen Coe is famous for the Glen Coe massacre. We heard of many battles between the clans on our tour (a bloody, bloody history Scotland has), but this one is very well known because the MacDonlands had given highland hospitality to the troops that had slaughtered them. It was an unwritten rule to always provide hospitality to those who came to your door, even if they were an opposing clan, as the Campbells were to the MacDonalds. And in return, those who accepted the hospitality were not to do any harm to their hosts. The weather in the highlands could be very severe so this hospitality could be very vital to the lives of travelers.

We reached our destination: Loch Ness. Our stop on Loch Ness was Fort Augustus. Loch Ness is not just a wee loch. It is 23 miles long. It is the largest loch in Scotland by volume and contains more freshwater than all of England and Wales combined. Though it is only 1 mile wide in some parts, it is very deep. Its deepest point is 754 feet. The depth of the loch leads to many stories about what could be lying at the bottom of the loch. Including Nessie. And look! We even got a peek at her!

Please take a look at flickr for many more stunning photos of our tour.

Remember, there is more than just one page. Click on the little numbers at the bottom of the flickr page to see more pics.