Rain with a bit of Sunshine

I don't entirely remember what day it is. :) That's the beauty of vacation, I guess.
Today brought better weather. We actually saw the sun shining for a few hours today!

This morning, Brian of the B&B made me a fried egg and sausage for breakfast. I love sausage, but not Scottish sausage! It was not so great. After breakfast, I chatted with Brian a bit about how to get around the city, and told him that I noticed they do long-arm machine quilting (Mom--this post is for you), he proceeded to get his wife, Carole, who took us out back to the quilting shop. She showed us how to work the long-arm quilter and let us practice. I wrote my name. She said that people come for holiday and bring their quilts, and she shows them how to finish the quilts and teaches them. Then, people can do it themselves. Who knew! I should have brought my finished quilt tops to Scotland. :) Then, she took us to the local fabric shop. It was small, and I didn't want to buy anything, but I felt I should because she took us down there! We have way more of the same fabric in the U.S. but oh well! I bought some buttons that will hopefully match a quilt I'm working on.

Anyway, then Carole dropped us off at the William Wallace Monument. Anyway, Brian and Carole were extremely nice. It's fun to get to know local people and have them tell you more about the town. We left them a CD of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It wasn't where we were going to stay, but ended up being the best place for us!

After walking back to the B&B from the monument, we picked up our backpacks and walked into town. I definitely packed too much. Ugh! We were going to store our bags at the bus station, but all of the lockers were full. We walked through town, and ended up eating lunch at a little place called the Shake Bar. We met a guy from Turkey who spoke with a Scottish accent. He was quite hilarious. Part of me thinks it was because I am also funny. :) I had a panini for lunch with a Scottish soft drink called IRN BRU. It tasted like bubble gum. Actually, it tasted almost exactly like Inca Kola from Peru. Weird, I know. It was not good, but it was a drink. We actually came back later and had shakes--a caramel shortbread cake shake--and he laughed again at our accents. He kept saying, "Good" but it sounded like "Gud" and we were all laughing. I know, it's probably only funny if you were there. I was, and it was funny.

Now, we are on the train headed to Inverness. The train takes a little over two hours, but has been delayed because of flooding in different cities along the way. We should get there tonight (Friday) at about 8:30pm, or something depending on how many delays we have. We're currently stopped right now. :)

Caution: Slippery When Wet

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Pretty much all day I've been trying to keep myself upright while walking through the streets of Edinburgh and Stirling. It's been raining nonstop all day, and the cobblestone streets and cement walkways are so slippery in the shoes that I'm wearing. Try balancing yourself while carrying a 30 pound backpack. I know, it's worse than carrying a small child! I obviously overpacked! I just about threw out my back trying to stay upright. I may or may not have had two Scottish men smirking at my efforts to stay upright.

Today we checked out of our hotel, the Cairn Hotel, in Edinburgh and caught the 11:05 bus to Stirling. We rode the bus for about an hour. For the last part, there were two old ladies sitting in the seats in front of me, and I swear they were speaking another language. Come to find out, they were just speaking with the thickest Scottish accent that I've heard yet. Seriously, it was like, "Blah blah blahbbity blah washing machine blahbbity blah blah." For the longest time I couldn't tell if they really were speaking with a thick accent or just speaking in a different language and sometimes in English. I think the farther we get into Northern Scotland, the less ability I have to understand people.

In Stirling, it was raining. Surprise, surprise. We left our bags in a locker at the bus station and walked around town a bit. I had an empanada type pastry, called a pasty, for lunch. It was nice to have something warm after being soaked. We pretty much walked all over and climbed the back of the hill to the castle. The maps we had were not to scale and just sucked. We got lost and ended up walking all over which probably would have been okay had I not been wearing slippery shoes and my leg didn't hurt so much (old injury). Basically, I felt pretty miserable all day because I was cold, wet, tired, wet, hungry, and wet. It was fantastic.

After a bit, we caught a taxi to take us to the B&B, and it's a good thing because we surely would have been lost! I asked our taxi driver what he liked to do around town and places to eat, and I couldn't understand a word of his response. I just nodded and said, "Oh. Uh huh." There's that awesome ability to understand people coming back.

For dinner, we took the recommendation of our host at the B&B, Brian, and went to a local place called The Birds & The Bees. I had fajitas for dinner. They were excellent! The we walked back to our B&B where we went to bed. Not an exciting day. I didn't even take any pictures. So, here are some of my favorites from earlier in the week. One is Edinburgh, the next is a small church in Bamburgh, England, and the last is also in England and is me in a phone booth (I was trying to look through the glass that was not tinted) with the Bamburgh Castle behind me. Dorky, I know.

To England, I Say!

Yesterday was an adventure! We began the morning by climbing the Scott Monument. That's right, 287 stairs straight up a winding, narrow--No, I mean NARROW--staircase. It was kind of scary because it was raining and pretty windy. But, the views were nice, and now I can say that I've done it. In fact, I'm number 54,714. :) Here is a picture of my certificate of authentication, the winding stairs, the monument from below, and myself on the stairs as seen from the landing.

Next, we boarded the train at Waverly Station here in Edinburgh and took the 50 minute ride to Berwick-Upon-Tweed where we then proceeded to catch a bus to the small town of Bamburgh, England. On a small side note, our bus driver was very friendly and quite funny. We talked to him a bit, as we were the only ones on the bus. We rode up top, even though there is no ventilation because we wanted to have the best view. My favorite part of the ride? Going through a town called Pot-a-Doodle-Do. :) Here is one of the coolest things we saw on the way.

Here we were able to tour Bamburgh Castle and walk along the beach of the North Sea. Yes, I went in up to my knees. It was freezing. It was beautiful, refreshing, and relaxing. We ate at a local place called The Castle. I had a BLT (adventurous, I know) and salad. We pretty much spent the whole day getting there, being there, and getting back. We spent about four hours in Bamburgh. While there, we walked through this cemetery where the prominent family name (and apparently local heroes who were old shipping captains) is Younghusband. Interesting!

Now I can say that I've been to England. The English countryside was absolutely beautiful and was exactly how I pictured it.

Our train coming back was 20 minutes late! Not a big deal, but it got quite cold waiting on the train platform in Berwick. I don't think I particularly like trains because they kind of give me a bit of motion sickness. Throw in a bus, and I was about done for. :)

When we got back to Edinburgh, it was raining. Surprise, Surprise! On our walk back to our hotel, we stopped and got take away from a place by our hotel. The guy that helped us was from Brazil and it took a bit for us all to understand each other. I ended up with a chicken carbonara at his suggestion. It was pretty good.

When we got back to the hotel, and after I'd eaten my dinner, I was basically comatose! I pretty much went straight to bed and slept until seven this morning. The sun has a funny way of waking me up.

Today, we are headed to Sterling where we will stay one night, and then tomorrow we will be off to Inverness for a few days. The forecast for the next seven days: rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain with a bit of sunny.

Castles, Monuments, and Plaid . . . Oh My!

Today we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked.

We started the morning by climbing Calton Hill which gave us a nice view of the city and surrounding islands. We saw the National War Monument, which was actually left unfinished and modeled after the Parthenon in Rome. We were also able to see out across the Firth of Forth and see the sea around Scotland. Say that five times fast. We then proceeded to make our way across the city to Salisbury Crags, a hill type mountain that is an extinct volcano, a place that is the home of Arthur's Seat (whatever that means). Anyway, it was a very steep hike! Here is a picture, and if you look closely, you can see people climbing the path up the side. The views were beautiful, but it was very windy and a bit chilly!

Next, we took the hop on/hop off bus to the Edinburgh Castle and toured it. We were there for about 1 and a half hours. It had some pretty awesome architecture and was enormous. However, many parts of the castle are still being used as meeting places and private living quarters, so we didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked to. It seems like all the old buildings here are either abandoned or being used as something else, which in reality makes sense, but I just wanted to see old buildings as such.

After the castle, we walked around some more and went to a Tartan shop where we watched a man work with a machine to weave wool material for kilts. It was pretty cool and kind of loud. It took forever for the machine to make the finished material, and they told us that a kilt takes between 7-9 yards of fabric. Wow. That's a lot of plaid!

We didn't make it up the tower with all the steps today, but probably tomorrow. We were going to go under the city, to the catacombs of sorts--the famous Mary King's Close--but, I didn't want to pay for it today, so I didn't go. Maybe I'll feel like it tomorrow. I feel like such a tourist going to all these attractions. Yes, I know I am a tourist, but I just like enjoying the city more than paying for attractions. Proof that I am actually in the city and not just posting random pictures:

We then came back to the hotel where I proceeded to read and take a four hour nap. I know. Then, we went to dinner at this local restaurant away from the center of the city that was called Vittoria. It was a little Italian place that was delicious. I'm sure at one point or another that our waiter thought we were stupid Americans. He asked where we were from, and I said the United States. He looked annoyed like, "Yeah, I knew that," and so I said Utah. He said, "Oh, is that by Hollywood?" I said, yeah. About 800 miles close. :) (I was just guessing). He had no idea where Salt Lake City was, even after mentioning the Olympics. Oh well.

That's about all for today! Plus, I only had to get out my umbrella once and got sprinkled on three times. Pretty good for one day!

On a side note . . . Yesterday, we had fish and chips for lunch at the Prince Street Mall. The guy who was taking our order was talking super fast. I just looked at him when he asked if we wanted a side of mushy peas--because I had no idea what he said--and he replied, "You want me to say that again faster?" By that time I had processed what he said, laughed, and told him no. He was quite the funny guy. Then, there was this older lady that was ordering, and when she got her order she said, "Am I feedin' the whole place?" :) She had an enormous piece of fish on her plate. These people are funny.

Edinburgh, Scotland

We left this morning from SLC International. The check in was pretty uneventful, except for the TSA security official who decided that while he was checking out my passport that he'dquiz me about the origins of my last name--all while Shelley was waiting for me. He was all "Tell me about your last name. It's pretty unusual." I said, "Well, it's English, and I don't have one. That's about all I know." He laughed, handed me my passport, and after putting everything I had in a box, along with my shoes, I proceeded through security without anyother hassles.
The flight was fine. We each had a little screen to watch HGTV, Food Network, Spongebob, or even a music section to make your own playlist for the flight. It was fantastic! Not fantastic? The pilot kept announcing things over the system, interrupting the music witha volume that was about four clicks louder than what you had been listening to. I guess theyreally do want you to pay attention to all those silly announcements. Oh, the best part is thatone of the free shows that was playing was called, "The Flight that Fought Back" and was of the flight that crashed in the field during 911. Yeah, because that's what I want to watch when I'm flying all day on a plane.

When we arrived at JFK, I looked out the window hoping to see the Statue of Liberty around somewhere,but no luck! Drat! The landing was a bit rough, and then our pilot proceeded to tell us we may or may not be sitting on the runway for a bit because of the back up in flight traffic. Hey, our flight was actually like 45 minutes earlier than it should have been. Is there arule about speeding in the sky? :) Anyway, we only had to taxi for about ten minutes. But, I have decided that trying to get off a plane is like trying to merge into traffic in Utah--people just don't know how to do it. Seriously, it was a bit ridiculous.

We had a very expensive piece of pizza at the airport food court, and we're just waiting for our flight to board in oh, three hours or so. Woopdie doo. Hanging out in the airport is so exciting that I almost can't stand it.

* * *

Our flight across the Atlantic was very uneventful. And long. I felt like the plane wasn't moving at all on the moving map. I didn't sleeep at all, partly because of the time change (we gained 8 hours total), but mostly in part to some cute little Indian girls in front of us. At first, I thought that their whining was kind of funny. I may or may not have actually laughed. I don't know, but there's something about a kid whining in a different language that is less annoying than if it was a kid whining in English. Basically, she whined the whole flight and had only one volume: loud. In other flight news, I sat next to a kid who was trying to move to the UK. He was interesting. Upon landing, it was snowing at the higher altitutes and raining lightly in the city. Just outside the airport, there was a rabbit chasing a bird. It was seriously funny. :)

* * *

When we got to the airport, we took the bus to the city centre, and then walked to our hotel where we dropped off our bags. We couldn't check in yet, so we walked around the city, and eventually bought a 24-hour hop on/hop off bus pass so we could just ride around for awhile. We were tired. Some of the places we saw included St. Giles Cathedral, the Palace of Holyroodhouse (which is where the Queen of Scotland stays), and we walked through a really old cemetery where it proceeded to pour on us. This is a very rainy place!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from today.

A view of downtown Edinburgh.

Mostly, I like this headstone because it says, "Whose affection as a Wife and Mother were an example of every thing that is good."

This is at The Abbey at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Ruins of a 12th century abbey.

A memorial to Sir Walter Scott. Tomorrow, we are climbing the 278 stairs to the top of this tower for a panoramic view of the city.


Well, that's it for today. I will try to get more of our adventures posted tomorrow. Our hotel has free WiFi. Woot woo! I'm going to try to post my pictures in a slideshow, but that will have to wait for another day, as it's 9:15 on Monday, and I haven't slept since Saturday night. :)

And I'm Off . . .

All my affairs are in order . . . or something. Well, ready or not, I'm getting on that plane in the morning to fly to the UK. I will be gone until Sept. 17th. I may or may not be updating this blog from abroad, depending on my abilities to access free WiFi or something. But, my hopes are good. Isn't it pretty much a global world (well, at least in Scotland)? So, have fun doing whatever you're doing for the next three weeks. Good luck with the heat! :) Wish me luck. I'll be looking at old buildings and beautiful scenes of nature in a very rainy country.

Undecided

So, I went to the DMV to get my renewal sticker so that I wouldn't keep getting pulled over. See below posts if you missed that fun weekend. Anyway, I got to the DMV at 5 and apparently, so did half the working population of Davis county. Seriously, there had to be about two hundred people in there. I told the lady I was just there for the sticker and showed her my registration. She said it was about an hour wait.

Yeah, then she said I could come back another day if I didn't want to wait. Somehow I have the feeling that every day is pretty much the same at the DMV. My other choice--the drive through registration. I gave that a shot, put my registration in a tube, and told the lady I needed a renewal sticker. She put one in, printed my registration, and I was done in under ten minutes. Which leaves me wondering: Why would anyone wait inside?

Seriously, something is wrong with this. Either it's a 50 minute wait or ten? I'm not too sure that I want a government agency running health care . . .

Interesting.

Illogical and Unidentified

I have an irrational fear of airplanes and more specifically, the toilets. Yes, I have flown to Hawaii, Mexico, Peru, and Florida, but not once I have used the airplane toilet. They freak me out.


Did I mention I'm flying to Scotland? Did I mention the flight from JFK leaves at 8 PM and gets to Edinburgh at 8:30 AM? Maybe I can just sleep through the whole thing . . .


Irrational, I know.

Something Like Irony

So, here's one for the Clinton cops. And that's not a good thing. Darn Clinton cops.

My roomie was driving my car Friday night over across the way to get a drink. She was driving my car because I was in the end of the driveway, and the easiest car to get out.

She got pulled over. Flashing lights, sirens, the whole deal.

Long story short, she didn't turn the lights all the way on. Just the running lights. No amount of convincing would persuade the officer that she just forgot to turn them on. She was given a fix it ticket for faulty equipment for both tail lights.

I tried to get this taken care of Saturday morning before I went out of town with no luck. I thought police stations were always open. Turns out, Law and Order isn't real life. Monday to Friday 8 to 5 is. Drat! Who has time to go to the police station during the week? Not I said the busy girl. So, I just left town, hoping that something would work out.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. I'm driving home at the butt crack of dawn (for those who don't know--that means it's earlier than anyone wants to be up), when what do I see in my mirror by the flashing lights of the UHP. What a way to start a Sunday. No, I wasn't speeding.

My registration, though current, doesn't show that way because HELLO Division of Motor Vehicles--Send those stinking stickers already! My temporary registration expired on the 14th. But, what can I do with no stickers? The officer said that it was called, "Improper Display" but didn't cite me. Basically, my car is registered in the system, but my stickers aren't correct. The nice officer and I had a discussion about what to do.

Then, I pulled out the fix it ticket. This may sound silly, but I had been thinking about getting pulled over and getting this ticket signed. It's like I thought about it and the universe made it happen.

"While I have you here," I said, "would you mind signing this off for me?" I proceed to tell him about the ticket and what happened, to which he gave a disgusted look and the eye roll. He was like, "They cited her?! Where was this?" He signed the ticket and said good luck. So, I left the incident better off then when I began. No citations, and a signed fix it ticket. Woot! I know, you are all wishing you had this luck with the UHP, too.

Yes, I did drive home under the cover of darkness, hoping no officers would see my expired registration. Three times in three days would just put me over the edge.

There's No Sarcasm in Third Grade!

I heart my class this year! They are in third grade, and already they are funny. Part of me thinks they can't help but be funny because they are mine. :)



I always joke with them. We play a memory-type game with our vocabulary each week. I usually say, "Read, set . . . " and then end will a silly phrase or word like "banana pudding" or "Supercalifragilistic." Then, as they're groaning and saying, "Teacher, why?" I trick them (or so I like to think) and say "Go!" really fast. I know they like it because they giggle.



Well, today I was teasing them, as usual, with the phrase, "If you don't _________, I'm going to ________." Fill in the blanks with one thing you want them to do and anything ridiculous.This phrase goes something like this: "If you don't put your chairs up quickly and quietly, I'm going to take away your birthday." This is usually followed by many giggles, a few strange looks (always the stragglers), and the desired effect. :) Today I said, "If you're not quiet walking in the hall, I'm going to . . ." to which a student burst out, "take away our allowance!"



I laughed and replied, "You are cooler than the flip side of my pillow."

A Good Deal

So, I've been wanting something new for awhile. I contacted this lady through the internet. We decided on a place and time to meet, and a price for the goods. I left my teaching job, drove down to a well packed park and ride at the end of the Salt Lake valley, and waited there in my black car. Pretty soon, a black jeep pulled up next to me. She motioned for me to come over. I got in her car, we chatted a bit, and she showed me what she was selling. I looked it over, gave it a try, and made sure I was getting a great deal. I was! So, I went to my car, handed her a bank envelope full of cash. We swapped the goods, and we both climbed into our cars and were off.

I bought a new camera! :) I heart it, and will post pictures from Scotland.

What were you thinking?

Things that Suck

20 dollar lightbulbs
40 minutes to put it in
6 guys trying to figure it out

misunderstandings
no callbacks
obligations

unused tickets
having to decline
not enough time

Boomerang . . . SMACK.

So, just like a boomerang, this story constantly comes back:

One semester in college, oh 6 or 7 years ago (Wow--I know, huh), I had a really stupid history class that I loathed. Yep, it's true. Why was history my minor? I do not know. Anyway, so out of frustration, one day I wrote on a piece of paper something like this: "History? Why do I need History? All I want to do is stay at home, crochet, and make canned goods." If there is more to the quote, I'm not sure. You'd have to ask Cami. Now, why do I say this, you ask? Well, Cami found this on the floor one day, and proceeded to hang it on the fridge of our apartment. We had a good laugh about it. Now, fast forward about every 2 years, including this one. I got together with Cami and friends last night. What came up? That quote. Every time we get together it seems to come up. Cami STILL has it hanging on her fridge in her apartment in Missoula, Montana. This means she has kept it not only through few different moves, but even through moving out of state! She claims she loves it. :) Nick and Cami see it every day. What a riot. I have nothing to say for myself.

Lucky!

I am the luckiest aunt ever! Look at these cute kids! :) We have the princess who's like, "What? Smile? What's that?" We have the Big Cheese, and The Professor (the serious one). I heart them!

5 K--Check!

This weekend I participated in the Sandy Midnight Moon 5K Fun Run. If you're laughing, I know. I basically was, too. Here are some of my thoughts:
-People do this for fun?! In the heat of the day? Are they crazy?
-Am I there yet?
-Why is the majority of this race straight uphill?
-I SO should be sleeping right now.
-Where is everyone?
-I heart my iphone/ipod.
-Water, water, where is the water?
-I have to beat that lady pushing the double stroller . . .
-Run, Forrest, Run.
-These glowsticks are neato.
-Why did I wear a jacket?
-There's the finish line!
-Hey, I know those people!
-They're cheering for me. Yay!
-I beat my projected time. Go go gadget legs.
-Let's go home! I'm beat!
-I ran a 5k, and all I got was a T-shirt. It glows in the dark.
-What? The Turkey Run? I'll have to think about it . . .