Internet cafes play bad music.
Hello to all! I've got a few extra minutes on the ol' cafe computer, so I figured I'd give everyone a little run-down on the goings-on of James and I.
London- Very big, very old, very noisy, very cool. When we arrived (about 21 hours without sleeping) we spent 2 hours standing in the line for customs. Good...Lord.... Needless to say we slept for 5 hours after that and totally threw off our internal clocks more than they already were. We went on one of those double decker bus tours so we could actually see all of the crazy things to see in that sprawling metropolis. We saw Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, St. James Park (MY favorite part of London), Soho, Picadilly Circus (overrated), Parliament, the Horse Guards, etc. We went into the Tower of London and the British Museum (of course! I've been dying to go to that place for 5 years now). Awesome. We rode the crap out of the Underground (expensive but necessary, unfortunately. Also incredibly HOT). We drank at pubs, we ate greasy pub food and one TERRIBLE meal at a Thai food place. I've discovered that the rumors about England's food being flavorless and disgusting in general are true....
Inverness- We took 2 trains north to Inverness (the "hub" of the highlands) which took 8 1/2 hours. England's countrside is gorgeous, as are the Highlands themselves. Sooooooo many sheep. I kept informing James when I would see a sheep by poking him and saying "sheep". It happened alot. Pretty much every 3 seconds. I stopped. Sometimes the sheep would be bounding away from the train and we'd see their fluffy butts bouncing away. Twas too cute... We changed trains in Glasgow. All I have to say about Glasgow is that hopefully it has a pretty area that isn't the part we saw while changing trains... We got to Inverness and got lost, but a friendly Scotsman on bike named Ray actually walked us across town to show us our hotel. What a guy!!! The hotel was SO much nicer than in London, but the weather was FREEZING. Literally. It was about 27 degrees F when we got there. And it was cold the rest of the time too. It's still cold in Edinburgh, further south. We ate this crazy potato stuffed with Scottish aged cheddar. MY.... GOD...... So good. And we went on a boat tour of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. No Nessie sightings, but our ADORABLE tourguide Jim (a sweet old Scottish local man) told us that he lived on the loch for 20 + years and "There is definitely something out there, but what it is, I'm not sure..." He seemed genuine too. The boat ride was quite scary, but fun too. And the Loch is stunning. At one point (in front of the castle) it is like 750 feet deep! And in general all I have to say is I LOVE Inverness. By the way- by the time we were in Inverness the exhaution of jetlag finally subsided. Finally. Heavens to Betsy, that was fun....
Edinburgh- Now we're in Edinburgh until Saturday. Its a very old and beautiful city. We walked (hiked, really) up to the castle today. We didn't go in, but we did go into the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where Mary, Queen of Scots lived. There's so much history everywhere we go!!! I'm crapping myself at every turn. Not literally, of course.....
Saturday we fly to the south of France. I'm looking forward to delicious wine, delicious food, and warmer weather! I'll post again when I can. I hope everyone is doing well :)
posted by froelica @ 6:08 AM
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