30 December 2010
The day started with my alarm not going off. I woke up a few times but went back to sleep because I didn't hear my alarm go off. Apparently it did and no one heard it. Dad got me up at 10AM. That was okay we could use the sleep plus nothing opens until around 9:30 anyway. We started off the morning with a traditional Scottish breakfast. For those of you who've read my Ireland blog, the Scottish breakfast is similar to the Irish. You've got your eggs, sausage, tomato, mushrooms and haggis. :) I was able to connect to the web for about two seconds. Okay, a little more than that, but it's seriously ridiculous.
We decided to head up to the Castle today. On the way there we stopped at the Hub to get my Loony Dook tickets. SOLD OUT! I'm so upset. It sold out right before I got there. How does an event that doesn't require much of anything sell out? WTF... Not happy.
So, we headed the rest of the way up to the castle. William Wallace was there on the way. No, not Mel Gibson, but a guy dressed as Wallace down to the era confused woad makeup.
The castle was amazing! I can't even begin to describe everything. We saw the 1 o'clock gun be shot. They say to take two hours for the castle. We arrived around noon and didn't leave until almost 4. There was a cool demonstration about weaponry. We decided we couldn't stay to see Mary Queen of Scots, so we headed up to get our New Years Eve tickets for tomorrow.
We high tailed it to Amicus Apple for our dinner tickets before Georgie left for the day. She got us taken care of. And got us our Street Party tickets. The location couldn't be better for the fireworks. I can't wait!
Next we decided we had to find a place to eat. We headed toward Calton Hill and stopped in at the Guildford Arms. Their dinner doesn't start until half 5 (5:30 for you American-types). So we headed back down the street and stopped in at Burger King. No, not to eat. Are you kidding me?!?! Dad got a soda and I got a shake. We headed upstairs to the Wifi zone. Wifi my butt. Didn't work there...
I looked at the map and we decided to head to the Cafe Royal oyster bar. I started off ordering the Venison. But they were all out. I went with the Seafood plate instead. Half of a lobster, 3 raw oysters, 2 prawns, 2 (amazing) scallops and smoked salmon. They started out with some wonderful olives and bread with raspberry viniagrette to dip it in. The raspberry portion was almost jam-like.
It took forever for our waiter to collect the bill. But as soon as we headed into the street what did we hear but bagpipes. When we came around the corner we saw the Vikings with torches headed to Calton Hill. We joined right in with the bagpipes behind us. We followed them up Princes Street to Calton Hill. When we got to the top of the hill there was the Viking Long Boat they were to set ablaze. We got a great spot along the side. There was a record attendance this year of 20,000 people! An hour after starting the procession people still hadn't left from the starting point because the line was that long. Eventually they lit the ship on fire and then were the fireworks. It was the most amazing thing!!!!! What a great way to start the celebrations!
After that we headed back to the hotel for the night stopping at a Sainsbury for some refreshments. mmmmmm.....Ribena!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Not all who wander are lost.
29 December 2010
We finally arrive in Scotland! Entry into the country was no problem. We were met at the airport by our guides. Our bus had Sheila and the other bus a gentleman in a kilt. We went on a tour that was shortened from the original 4 hours to 90 minutes. She drove us through town and gave us some overviews. We stopped at Holyrood Palace and got out to take some pictures. She had us go down part of the Royal Mile...yadda yadda. She justified my questioning of the fog. Indeed, it was the haar.
Haar - a fog brought in off of the North Sea.
The hills were hard to see. You could see the Castle but it wasn't clear. The top of Arthur's Seat was not able to be seen at all. I anticipate being able to see it.
We were dropped at our hotel and got our keys. Apparently my iPhone doesn't work here....like at all. And I've recently found the internet is spotty.
After getting situated and switching my shoes we were ready to be off. We decided to head to Princes Street to check out the Christmas Village stuff they have set up for Hogmanay. There's a ferris wheel and other random rides. There were cool shops as well. We got a Scottish Mead. It was heated and came in a mug. There were many neat hat places. We got some Smoky Garlic Cheddar Cheese and Vanilla Tablet.
Next we were off to dinner. We headed up towards the castle for dinner at Deacon Brodie's. Dad got a Caledonian 80 and I got a B? Best. Mine had a Guinness-esque head on it. For dinner I decided to jump right in to the culture. That's right.... Haggis! I had Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. That's Haggis, Turnips and Potatoes. It was delicious!!!!! I don't know what people complain about. Dad got Sausage and Mash. We had good times. Our waiter was cool and related to where we were from asking about the Flyers and such.
After that we planned on walking down the Royal Mile. We did so and stopped in at what shops were still open. I saw Mary King's Close and asked if wanted to get to it tonight. They had two spots open for 8:20. So we walked around for a bit and returned. It was one of the neatest tours I've been on. It would be hard to see that view and hear about it anywhere else. The television really does a good job of peaking interest.
Then we went searching for Sandy Bell's for a session and a pint. I thought I knew where I was going...but it was a little strange because the map I'd been looking at was missing quite a few streets and quite a few streets were missing street signs. At one point an Edinburger asked if we needed help. We said sure...but he couldn't figure it out either. Eventually I figured it out. When we went inside it was a hole in the wall. The session sounded good, but our friends weren't there so we decided to head back to the hotel going past (the influence for) Hogwarts.
We finally arrive in Scotland! Entry into the country was no problem. We were met at the airport by our guides. Our bus had Sheila and the other bus a gentleman in a kilt. We went on a tour that was shortened from the original 4 hours to 90 minutes. She drove us through town and gave us some overviews. We stopped at Holyrood Palace and got out to take some pictures. She had us go down part of the Royal Mile...yadda yadda. She justified my questioning of the fog. Indeed, it was the haar.
Haar - a fog brought in off of the North Sea.
The hills were hard to see. You could see the Castle but it wasn't clear. The top of Arthur's Seat was not able to be seen at all. I anticipate being able to see it.
We were dropped at our hotel and got our keys. Apparently my iPhone doesn't work here....like at all. And I've recently found the internet is spotty.
After getting situated and switching my shoes we were ready to be off. We decided to head to Princes Street to check out the Christmas Village stuff they have set up for Hogmanay. There's a ferris wheel and other random rides. There were cool shops as well. We got a Scottish Mead. It was heated and came in a mug. There were many neat hat places. We got some Smoky Garlic Cheddar Cheese and Vanilla Tablet.
Next we were off to dinner. We headed up towards the castle for dinner at Deacon Brodie's. Dad got a Caledonian 80 and I got a B? Best. Mine had a Guinness-esque head on it. For dinner I decided to jump right in to the culture. That's right.... Haggis! I had Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. That's Haggis, Turnips and Potatoes. It was delicious!!!!! I don't know what people complain about. Dad got Sausage and Mash. We had good times. Our waiter was cool and related to where we were from asking about the Flyers and such.
After that we planned on walking down the Royal Mile. We did so and stopped in at what shops were still open. I saw Mary King's Close and asked if wanted to get to it tonight. They had two spots open for 8:20. So we walked around for a bit and returned. It was one of the neatest tours I've been on. It would be hard to see that view and hear about it anywhere else. The television really does a good job of peaking interest.
Then we went searching for Sandy Bell's for a session and a pint. I thought I knew where I was going...but it was a little strange because the map I'd been looking at was missing quite a few streets and quite a few streets were missing street signs. At one point an Edinburger asked if we needed help. We said sure...but he couldn't figure it out either. Eventually I figured it out. When we went inside it was a hole in the wall. The session sounded good, but our friends weren't there so we decided to head back to the hotel going past (the influence for) Hogwarts.
The Airport Half-Marathon
28 December 2010
Dad picked me up from my place at 2:30 (Eastern time.) We were on the bus and headed for Newark, NJ by 3:15. There were horribly long lines to check-in. Big surprise. The worst part was that people weren't comfortable using the self check-in kiosks which sat empty for quite some time while people waited to be helped by a person. After waiting in line for an hour we were at a kiosk. First we tried to scan Dad's passport but that wouldn't work. Then we tried mine. I was able to scan it without a problem. I had to change my seat to get a window. In a plane that is 3 by 3 with a person that gets sick if they sit on the aisle you'd think since the chances are better for a person to be in the middle or at the window (2 to 3 odds) that you wouldn't have to change your seat. No such luck. In order to get Dad's boarding pass we had to put in his confirmation number.
Security - we went through with no problems.
Next is time to sit and wait...and move and wait...
We started out journey at gate C75 for a 7:45 departure. That got pushed back to 8:15 because we "had a plane but they needed to move it to us". Okay, understandable.
Next we're moved to C108 for a 9:10 departure. Now, if you've never been to Newark Terminal C let me give you an idea of the location of things. The airport has three arms (similar to those on a clock pointing to 9, 12 and 3). We exited security between 12 and 3 and headed up the 3 o'clock arm for C75 which was 3 "people movers" or so down the hallway. Not a bad spot because the food court is there. On the other hand C108 is in the 12 o'clock arm and at least 2 people movers down. The move made sense to me. Our plane is here...if you can't get the plane to the people get the people to the plane, right? Wrong!
We started to show some concern when our 9:10 turned into a 9:30 because they were boarding people for Oslo. We met some guys from Glasgow who were headed for Vegas. Their flight was supposed to leave at 6PM.
C96 with a 10:30 departure was next on the list. Guess where that is...yep, right back to the 3 o'clock arm.
C92 for a 10:30 departure. Then moved back to 11:30.
Finally C95 for an 11:30 departure. 11:15 the plane just arrived. They are entering the plane to clean and all that jazz. What are the odds that our luggage will arrive there with us?
12:20 departure. 11:47 people started boarding the plane.
~
Rough night. Quite a bit of turbulence. Dinner was around 2AM (Eastern time). The flight attendants were short-handed by two, but they were some of the best I'd ever had. I chose the beef and rice because I was afraid the chicken teriyaki would make me sick. Apparently I made the wrong choice according to my stomach. After dinner I tried to sleep. I'm usually okay until the last 2 hours or so, but the turbulence didn't help matters, nor did the temperature shifts. The final hour and a half was pretty bumpy.
For breakfast at 11:45 UK time (that's 5 hours ahead of you USA) we had a croissant and melon slices. We flew over Northern Ireland and I got giddy. Next up Scotland and Edinburgh airport. There's a thick layer of fog...duh, British Isles...visibility is reported to be 1.5 miles. Is this the weather phenomenon known as the "haar"?
Dad picked me up from my place at 2:30 (Eastern time.) We were on the bus and headed for Newark, NJ by 3:15. There were horribly long lines to check-in. Big surprise. The worst part was that people weren't comfortable using the self check-in kiosks which sat empty for quite some time while people waited to be helped by a person. After waiting in line for an hour we were at a kiosk. First we tried to scan Dad's passport but that wouldn't work. Then we tried mine. I was able to scan it without a problem. I had to change my seat to get a window. In a plane that is 3 by 3 with a person that gets sick if they sit on the aisle you'd think since the chances are better for a person to be in the middle or at the window (2 to 3 odds) that you wouldn't have to change your seat. No such luck. In order to get Dad's boarding pass we had to put in his confirmation number.
Security - we went through with no problems.
Next is time to sit and wait...and move and wait...
We started out journey at gate C75 for a 7:45 departure. That got pushed back to 8:15 because we "had a plane but they needed to move it to us". Okay, understandable.
Next we're moved to C108 for a 9:10 departure. Now, if you've never been to Newark Terminal C let me give you an idea of the location of things. The airport has three arms (similar to those on a clock pointing to 9, 12 and 3). We exited security between 12 and 3 and headed up the 3 o'clock arm for C75 which was 3 "people movers" or so down the hallway. Not a bad spot because the food court is there. On the other hand C108 is in the 12 o'clock arm and at least 2 people movers down. The move made sense to me. Our plane is here...if you can't get the plane to the people get the people to the plane, right? Wrong!
We started to show some concern when our 9:10 turned into a 9:30 because they were boarding people for Oslo. We met some guys from Glasgow who were headed for Vegas. Their flight was supposed to leave at 6PM.
C96 with a 10:30 departure was next on the list. Guess where that is...yep, right back to the 3 o'clock arm.
C92 for a 10:30 departure. Then moved back to 11:30.
Finally C95 for an 11:30 departure. 11:15 the plane just arrived. They are entering the plane to clean and all that jazz. What are the odds that our luggage will arrive there with us?
12:20 departure. 11:47 people started boarding the plane.
~
Rough night. Quite a bit of turbulence. Dinner was around 2AM (Eastern time). The flight attendants were short-handed by two, but they were some of the best I'd ever had. I chose the beef and rice because I was afraid the chicken teriyaki would make me sick. Apparently I made the wrong choice according to my stomach. After dinner I tried to sleep. I'm usually okay until the last 2 hours or so, but the turbulence didn't help matters, nor did the temperature shifts. The final hour and a half was pretty bumpy.
For breakfast at 11:45 UK time (that's 5 hours ahead of you USA) we had a croissant and melon slices. We flew over Northern Ireland and I got giddy. Next up Scotland and Edinburgh airport. There's a thick layer of fog...duh, British Isles...visibility is reported to be 1.5 miles. Is this the weather phenomenon known as the "haar"?
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