Scotland Day Five
The day started off with an awesome view of the lake and mountains outside my bedroom window. skye was definitely a great choice to spend 2 days. very relaxing and the bed and breakfast experience was so great it seemed unreal. the hosts were extremely friendly and the home was very clean and well furnished. i finally have a solid picture of the word idyllic. got into a pretty heavy chat about race, the war, the media, and family.
Went to the talisker distillery and bought some bottles of scotch (one being one of a numbered series). i wonder if there is a law about how much liquor you can bring back on the plane.
The drive to Edinburgh was about 5 hours, fueled off of coffee, red bull, and amphetamine. Stopped to buy sheepskin souvenir for mom at a tannery in skye and got a brief tour of the process. Stopped by to take the requisite castle photo (check). Stopped in a bar/cafe/hotel for wifi so I could find a place to stay for the night.
Driving through Edinburgh would have been easier if my GPS system recalculated for construction conditions. Overall, driving has gotten a lot better, though i still find myself drifting to the right during turns.
Street parking surprisingly easy to find around the corner from the bed and breakfast. However, not happy with the price of the room being £65. Found another place for tonight for £29.
Even though initially reluctant, walked around aimlessly through the city. ended up at a random bar looking for aberdeen steak. they had stopped serving food at 9. i decided to order a shot of Dalwhinnie since i missed the distillery on the way from skye. off-handledly asked woman next to me if they tipped in scotland. she said no and whispered, i'll tell you later. her drink arrived, and she said that it is unusual to tip for drinks in the UK. we ended up talking more. i asked about what there was to do around edinburgh, told her where i was from, etc.. she introduced me to a group of her friends. one thing led to another, and i end up becoming part of a ad-hoc party crew. it was a going-away party for her canadian friend. we had a lot to chat about since she had lived in japan for 3 years. most of the time i spent talking to a woman named denise who is also canadian. eventually the group thinned out and i was able to meet some more of her friends including to brits who were absolutely hilarious. one recently had found what she thought was dog shit on her porch, only to find that it wasn't 'dog' shit. oliver, the only other guy besides me, talked about a political figure who was caught soliciting a 'rent boy' to shit on him. i found the term 'rent boy' hilarious -maybe it was just the way he said it, not sure if it would sound right not coming from a brit. since wimbledon is going on, he segued into sports and how the brits seem to always manage to get to the top and then lose. it was funny to find out that he, being a tall, lanky and bespectacled, got around having to play rugby at school. again, not the same impact as if hearing it from the horse's mouth, but funny nonetheless. ended up leaving with a group of seven when the bar closed at around 2. they went to another club, and i left for my bed and breakfast. took me about an hour to get back since i got lost, at one point ending up at a museum, going around it, and, finding that there was no 'around it' running back. it was a pretty large museum. in any case, it gave me an insight on what the nightlife is like in edinburgh on a saturday evening. its not much different than how it is in any large city i've been in with a bunch of young drunk kids stumbling around in groups and waiting in lines to get into clubs, other than the fact that it was between 2-3am. finally found the right route home. the problem was that i assumed that the streets ran in a grid, which all old cities in UK are (add sarcasm and self-depreciating tone). another 'plus' from getting lost is that you tend to lose a lot of calories running back and forth, in circles, etc.. I get back at 3am take a shower and crash. thinking that i'd end up sleeping in i set my alarm for 9am. i wake up at 6:30am and can't get back to sleep. wonder how today will go... however, to be honest, the spontaneity of the night/meeting new people would leave me expecting nothing more from edinburgh.