The rest of the trip

Well, I’m flying home tomorrow and I’m way behind on these updates so I’m just gonna jam in the last few days here. Condensed version:
Scone Palace, (but a bait and switch- no scones there), afternoon hike, drive back to Edinburgh, take a train to Glasgow for two nights-(as soon as we checked into our B and B we hightailed it to the Ear Wax Clinic to get Cynthia’s ear cleaned out. I got to watch and saw this huge chunk of wax fall into the little cup. I so love that stuff! And voila! She could hear again. Must be a big problem for there to be a whole clinic dedicated to ear wax removal! I myself have been told that my ears are exceptionally clean so I wouldn’t know much about it!)
Next day walked to meet our guide for a bike ride and toured Glasgow that way. Did a little shopping and then did a ghost tour that night. Walked over 13 miles and rode 10.. next day train to Edinburgh.
I almost forgot! Remember Paul- our talkative host at our first B and B? Well we stayed at the same place upon our return. When we sat down to breakfast on the first morning, Paul announced that we were in for a treat. The asset was going to perform for us as he was on fall break. Oh joy! Gotta love THIS first thing in the morning. I think Paul and the wifey were holding our preordered breakfasts hostage until after his act. “Oh well”,I was thinking, “maybe we’ll hear a nice Beethoven violin sonata, given that the asset had been “diagnosed” gifted”. Out walks this very good looking tween boy with a Rubik’s cube. And he proceeded to “solve” the cube, explaining in detail how he was doing it every step of the way. My grandson does cube competitions and could have done this in one tenth the time!I later asked Paul about his younger two daughters. He said they had a “good work ethic”. Hmmmm.
Walked a couple miles to a lesser known castle in the area, that night did a food tour in an incredibly noisy restaurant. And ….drumroll please….we tried haggis!! And it wasn’t too bad! Not that I’d ever actually order it if I were paying but surprisingly tasty!Next day walking tour of Edinburgh including the castle. (Fantastic and entertaining guide! Would that we would have had him the whole atrip! I may have been more interested in history!) Then I went over to see the Queen’s ship the Britannia. That was super cool. The Queen and Prince Philip slept in tiny twin beds in adjoining rooms. Seems like a Queen should have at least a Queen size! (Insert rim shot here). Walked all the way back and met Cynthia for dinner and now in bed about to go to sleep and flying out tomorrow.
It’s been an overall good trip despite some less than ideal weather. But it’s Scotland! What did I expect?
The trip itself was less hiking and more history than I would prefer, but it was fine. It’s a beautiful country. If I ever come back it will be to visit some of the lesser known islands.

It has been great to get out of the US for a spell. It’s gotten absolutely exhausting to live there. Although our Scottish guides and Uber drivers, etc have no skin in the game, almost every single one said they hadn’t met a single American that supported what is going on in our country. They puzzled over how a certain president had even been elected based on the people they talked to. Our guide yesterday said that he had faith that we would find our way out of it. He said “You Americans are weird”. I asked him whether he had been listening to himself talk about Scotland and Scotlanders!
I leave Scotland with a new penchant for using the word “wee” and a couple of other terms that I can’t remember right now. I downloaded movies about Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce to watch on the way home. I can tell you vaguely what the Jacobite rebellions were about (so maybe all the history wasn’t a complete waste!)
Earlier in the trip I decided I was gonna get a set of bagpipes and take bagpipe lessons, but after hearing them almost daily for the past two weeks I have found that a little bagpipe music goes a long way. Also they are one of the most difficult instruments to learn. So plan B. I’m thinking harp instead.
I totally failed on the souvenir shopping. Sorry family! I just didn’t wanna lug a bunch of stuff with me all over the country. Especially since I can probs get most of it on Amazon.
Til next time! (New Zealand in Feb.). Be well!En savoir plus