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Recap Holy moly, guys. So today is only my third day here and I’m so grateful have been able to cram so much in! I was quite drunk and exhausted while writing reports of both of the last two days so I missed a few things and thought I’d recap. Currently I’m awaiting a 540pm train to the highlands. Also, for those who don’t know, Scotland is 5 hours ahead of the USA, so right now it’s 4pm here which makes it 11am at home.

So from day 1: I watched some rugby at Castle Arms while eating and drinking and learned that the World Cup for rugby is currently being played in England. After 2 Guinness I tried a different bar called the Inn on the Mile and it was super packed for the second rugby game, France vs Italy (France won). I watched that while having a few beers, one by Innis & Gunn. Next I went to Ensign Ewing’s, a pub advertising live Scottish music. There was a fiddle player and a guitar player and that’s it, but they played well. I had two more drinks, a Belhaven’s Best and a cider called Addleston’s that I thought was disgusting. Then I caught the bus back to the B&B & slept well.

From day 2: At breakfast (at the B&B) I met two doctors from India who were there for a thoracic surgery conference, a couple of older women from Indiana, and an older couple from somewhere in England, south of London I believe. My bus let off on Princes Street so I walked down and through the gardens before climbing the Scott Monument. Then I walked all around town and down the Royal Mile through several alleyways called Closes or Wynds, it was so interesting! Old town is where Greyfriar’s Bobby (the dog!) was, so I walked around that area as well. After visiting the cemetery I went to the Elephant House Cafe where legend has it that J.K. Rowling first wrote about Harry Potter. I got a coffee and a shortbread elephant at the “birthplace of Harry Potter” and then walked through a few exhibits at the National Museum of Scotland. Admission is free so it’s a great place to check out and it was very nice in there. Next I walked to Holyrood Park and began the steep climb up to Arthur’s seat. I didn’t know where I was going so I just followed the long, rocky, uneven path up and around. I met a man with a beautiful dog named Astrid who was very smart. He let me give her a treat and then we played fetch with a stick, it was lovely. Not long after that I met Stellio (he’s half Italian, half French, and lives in France) and Yannick. They stayed with me as I labored my way up.. and then eventually down, which confused us until we realized that a higher point had been hiding behind what we thought we were supposed to climb so we did a lot of extra work, but at least we got great exercise. 251 meters is about 823.5 feet high, so that was a serious climb for great views. It rained on our way down and Yannick was often ahead because Stellio kept stopping to take photos. We came to a point and Yannick advised us which way to head down.. This turned out to be a horrible decision as Stellio and I almost plummeted to our deaths several times, hence Yannick’s message on my cast. All the while this climbing was taking place I had only 5 tissues that I was continuously reusing because of my running nose caused by exertion and the wind and climate/pollen changes- thus my cast message from Stellio. I had wanted to go to The World’s End bar because of this crazy movie I had seen, which evidently has a different title in Europe but Stellio and Yannick had both seen it as well. On the way there a seagull shat on Yannick. We went to another pub and had some more beers, then got crappy food from the only place around that was open. We went after that to a pub called Biddy Mulligan’s where they had okay beers but closed at 1 so we went to Dropkick Murphy’s and listened to good music there till just after 2, and from there we just walked around and missed my bus and my phone died so we had to wait for another bus while I used Stellio’s charger. They were both such gentleman to wait with me and make sure I got on okay. The bus driver who took me back to the B&B was awesome! He has a place in Orlando, he loves hockey, and his dad lives in Dallas. Great night! That ended at 5am….

So today I woke up exhausted, missed breakfast, and got ready just in time to check out. I managed to pilfer a water, some ginger snaps, and some crackers from the B&B over the course of my two nights there :)

I took the bus to town and printed my train tickets, then got lunch at this restaurant called the Black Rose which reminded me a lot of my friend EBG. When I cashed out the owners asked about my cast and signed it so we’re up to 5 signatures now!

Next I went to Hard Rock Cafe to get Erica Z her pin, I am so grateful to her and MZ for letting me stay with them and entertaining me whilst I am in Germany! And she really loves her Hard Rock Cafe pins.

Currently I’m at Starbucks charging my phone. My train leaves in just under an hour for Invergordon, where Gavin is picking me up to have two days of ancestry awesomeness!!! I’m PUMPED!

Thanks for listening!