Wanders with Winkie #7: The Rest of Scotland

I don't want to leave the impression that the rest of our time in Edinburgh was disappointing.  Each day held new adventures and new things to see.  And there was much that we had to pass on for lack of time and endurance. 

We spent one day exploring the Royal Mile.  This is an old part of the original walled town that stretches from Edinbourgh Castle to Holyrood Palace which is the Queen's home in Scotland.  We visited several shops looking for just the right presents to bring home.  Eventually we realized that much of the merchandise was the same in each shop and we had pretty much covered the majority of the offerings. We rode a bus called the Hop On Hop Off bus.  It seemed like it was a way to have transportation throughout the day but in reality I think it was meant to be a tour of the area.  It served it's purpose in giving us a way around town, but I wouldn't put this on my "repeat" list.  We visited St. Giles Cathedral and walked over to the other side of town where there are "regular" (as opposed to tourist) stores.  Besides my family gifts, I came home with two items for myself.  I found a brand of shoes, Brasher, that I've never seen for sale here.  They have a comfortable, roomy fit and a pair now live in my closet.  We also came across a shop that makes custom kilts selling fabric remnants!  I came home with a collection of different tartans that will hopefully be transformed into a special remembrance from this trip.

The next day the weather was particularly miserable with high winds and drizzly rain all day.  We decided to do an indoor activity and opted for a visit to Holyrood Palace.  The Palace is only open when it is not being used by a member of the Royal family and in fact this was the only day of our stay when visiting was possible. It was very interesting.  Much of the Palace was basically historic with the Royal apartments on the third floor closed to tours.

We walked around the town a bit more until we were tired of getting beat on by the wind and then we made our way back to the hotel.

Wanders with Winkie #6: The Scottish Highlands

Hurray for Hairy Coo!!  When we were planning our trip to Scotland, we realized that it wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Highlands.  In fact, for me, much of the appeal of visiting this country was in seeing the geography that always looks so magnificent in pictures and film.  We considered renting a car and driving ourselves around but I am SO glad we didn't do that!  Driving anywhere in the UK looked very intimidating to me, starting with the fact that you are driving on the left in a right hand drive car; the cars drive very close to each other and many of the turns are accomplished in traffic circles of sorts (going in the opposite direction, of course).

We stumbled upon these Hairy Coo tours.  They are the #1 rated tour in TripAdvisor and for good reason.  The groups are small, the tour guide is knowledgeable and entertaining and you can't beat the price.  There is no charge for the tour.  It is a "tip only" policy.  At the conclusion of this all day excursion, you pay only the value of the tour to you.  The exact itinerary of the tour is dependent on the group and the weather.  We saw a variety of sites including:  the bridge at the Firth of Fourth:

several infamous lochs:

the castle where Monty Python was filmed:

and the name sake of the tours - the hairy coo.  This is Fiona:

In addition, we saw Stirling Castle, the William Wallace monument, and a small town called Aberfoyle.  We learned the real braveheart story, listened to Scottish music, and basically fell in love with Scotland's country and culture.

I hope I have the chance to visit again and I hope that Russell and the guys who run the Hairy Coo tour are still giving tours.  Thanks, Russell!

Wanders with Winkie #5: London

If you're following the "pig" theme,  I didn't actually have Winkie with me this time, but I've decided to still name my travel posts for him.

We flew into Heathrow arriving early in the morning after an all night flight.  We managed to find our way through immigration, to baggage claim and onto the Heathrow Express to London.  I had done plenty of research ahead of time so I had an idea of what to expect at each step but was also realistic enough to know that there are always surprises.  But, we made it to Paddington Station and managed to find a taxi to our hotel where we crashed for several hours trying to feel somewhat human again.  In the afternoon we took a Duck Tour.  These are tours that start out on land and then continue on water using amphibious vehicles from WW II.  I had gone on one several years ago in Seattle and thought it was very enjoyable.  This one was not quite as good, but provided us with a nice overview of London with little effort on our tired bodies.

The second day we started out by oversleeping - still trying to adjust to the time change and then spent the rest of the day at the Tower of London.  We didn't get to see the current crown jewels since Queen Elizabeth was wearing some of them to open Parliament that day.  But there was plenty of bling left behind to impress.  I had several "take aways" from this part of the trip including:  The guard at the crown jewels wears a rather impractical dress uniform but carries a VERY serious weapon.  He clearly is there for more than show. The towers where prisoners were kept were sort of odd prisons.  They had large windows with only the height from the ground as a true deterrent to escape.  And it was strange that after executing some of the prisioners, they were then buried in the chapel in a place of honor.  That seemed like a sort of contridiction to me.

We also checked out London Bridge, but we were too late to take a tour inside.  The next morning we made our way to King's Crossing Train Station for a four hour train ride to Edinburgh.  As I mentioned, this was my first train ride of this sort. I was glad to have the experience.  My one amazement was the pressure in my ears as the train went through a tunnel!  I wasn't expecting that at all.

A few other observations included:  London fashion loves their tights - both with and without skirts.  A lot of the younger people working at the hotel and tourist spots were from other European countries.  Many of them had a sort of "awe" about New York City.  I found that interesting since London has everything that NYC has and more, but somehow there was a sort of fascination with NYC.  Water is not provided automatically at restaurants.  They really like their sparkling water - at room temperature and without ice.  In fact, there was no ice machine in the hotel, no ice bucket in the room.  And no top sheets on the beds.  Little things, I know, but they were all different for my sister and me.  It's those little things that add together to make the different "feel" of another country.  We even noticed that the smells were different - not good or bad, just different from what we recognized at home.

We left a lot undone in London and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.  I'm even making peace with the craziness of Heathrow.  So maybe one day we will make a return trip.

Next - the Highlands of Scotland.
 

New Pig Travels: London and Edinburgh

Last year I made my first trip outside of North America when I went on a cruise with my sister and her son and his wife.  We had a great time and thought that perhaps we could try to go on a sister trip each year. So this year we decided to go to England and Scotland.  We spent two nights in London and four nights in Edinburgh.  Since neither of us is an experienced world traveler, everything was an adventure.  The trip allowed me to see things I had never seen before, to have some extended sister time and to absorb the differences of another country and it's own distinct culture.  There was so much to "learn" from the new currency to how to ride a train (believe it or not, the only trains I had ridden before this were subway/metro types or tourist trains) to what marmet is (more about that later).  I'm going to write about this in several posts, mostly because it is too much to put into one.  And I took a lot of "bad" vacation pictures to share.  The weather was pretty terrible - rainy and cloudy just about every day - making the pictures even worse than normal - but you know how I feel about pictures. I had a faithful pig companion with me the whole time - two in fact - but this is the only picture I got of them. 

The "pig thing" is explained here.  For the record, this is Smokey (the little darker pig) and Smiley.  Smiley actually was a stow away put into my suitcase by my husband.  We're never too old to appreciate a touch of home when we're away.

Cheers!

The Home as "Parent"

I lived in one house my entire childhood.  Others, including my HW moved every few years.  Even though I tried to provide my children with the stability of staying in one place during their growing up years, I can appreciate the advantages of both the adventure of new places and the stability of a few.  But in either case I think the important thing is to establish "home" as a safe place to be.  In that way it sort of takes on the role of a "parent".  We establish it, we create it and in a way it becomes an extension of us caring for our loved ones and at times caring for us. Home should be predictable.  Home should provide the essentials a person needs.  When the boys were old enough to stay alone for a few hours my rule was usually that they had to stay in the house.  I knew that the house was predictable and the trouble they could encounter was limited.  I realize that there can be home disasters - fire, power outages and such - but if the house is well maintained, these are not likely and dealing with them (basically, get away from the fire and get help) can be taught.  The boys had several houses growing up but they each quickly became home.  I think it's something we tend to take for granted, but something that forms a strong foundation of security in us.  Even as adults, after a long work day or a vacation we all like to come "home".  

I have two favorite "home" quotes from vastly different sources:  "There's no place like home." from The Wizard of Oz.  and....
"Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike; Indiana's misty morning dew; way up in the hills of Colorado; home is just another word for you.  from Billy Joel's Travelin' Prayer.

And a home takes maintenance and work, but all good relationships do!

My First Online Comment!!

Mark this day on the calendar!  I've received my first online comment!  I know I've complained about the lack of dialogue on this blog (or maybe whined is a better word) but it has finally happened!  Thank you so much Heirloom Creations!  This is one of my favorite sites for inspiration and information.  They are presently doing a "foot of the month" series that I really like.  Each month they highlight a different foot showing the different things you can use it for.  I've added a few of them to my "wish list" and actually want to plan projects that will let me try some of the techniques.  The link above is to the blog, but the site includes a lot of other features including an online store.

Thanks again, Heirloom and I'm looking forward to the adaptations to make the 1600 quilt in different sizes!

Uh-oh!

Well, for the first time since I started this blog and my quest to reach a healthier weight, I've gone a bit in the wrong direction.  It's only a pound or two, but nonetheless, I need to nip this in the bud.  I want to blame a new prescription I started a few weeks ago - a statin drug to tame my unruly cholesterol, but I think that might be a bit of a cop out.  I've avoided these drugs for about ten years now but statistics being what they are, my age now adds to my risk factors and makes cholesterol control more important to my doctor.  For me, high cholesterol is more genetic than dietary. And given that fact, I wonder if it doesn't serve some yet undiscovered purpose in our bodies.  But, I finally caved to the urgings of my doctor that I would avoid trouble later on if I controled it now.  Here's the thing.....my appitite seems to be different.  I get hungry more often, I crave carbs, and I want to eat more.  So, which is healthier: a skinny me with a high cholesterol or an overweight me with a low cholesterol?  I would vote for the skinny me every time because there are so many other benefits to the low weight.  But first I need to see if I can indeed turn this around and lose weight while still on the medication.  If not, I guess I need to exercise my "patient's rights".