The heart of Scotland

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We've had 4 nights in edinburgh - tonight is our last. After 2 nights at the University, we moved to the Royal Mount hotel on Princes street. It is pretty well situated between the Castle and the Palace of Holyrood. It's right next to the royal mile - the main area with all the shop, stores, pubs and attractions.

Saturday we took a guided tour of Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle. The history hear is awesome, and I really liked Stirling. Robert the Bruce and William Wallace (Braveheart) both have monuments.

Sunday we drove for 1.5 hours to get to church 20 minutes away. There are several roads of the same name, but we made it half-way through the lastmeeting. There are 14 missionaries in the Edinburgh ward. Justin was surprised to find that one of them was a fellow high school classmate - one year ahead of hm. I know his parents as well, and I'll have to remember to tel them I ran into him when we get back. Small world.

We have dinner at a "Taste of Scotland" show. Music, dancing, bagpipes, fiddles etc. It was awesome - topped off by the Festial of the Haggis. (ths time it tasted a little better - but haggis is haggis, after all)

Today, Monday, we saw a few more sites in Edinburgh, including a ghost tour of the underground vaults beneath the city. Lots of spooky stuff has happened here (witches, etc). It was cool. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a pub and listened to some live music for a while.

tomorrow we're off into the Highlands, to see some wooly coos and what not. OH - but first, regarding the accents here. I'm getting the hang of it, and even trying to speak a bit like a Scot. the other day a man and his wife (who we met on a bus and walked a while with - another story) asked me where i was from, they guessed Australia. Oh well, I've got some kind of accent going, it appears, but I missed my target.

Somtimes I still get caught up in the accent whilst listening, and completely miss what is being said. I just stand there blinking like a dimwit who has no grasp of the english language. for example, on the bus ride mentioned above, I was getting on and the driver said to me "New Coops". So I, of coure, just stood there blinking in confusion. He repeated the words, new coops. the man and woman with us tried to help, and said the same thing, motioning to our hands. I looked down at the soft drink I still had from burger king. Huh? Ohhhh, No Cups. got it. We had to toss our cups in the rubbish before we could get on the bus. But I've been working on it, and my plan is to pass for a Scot before we leave! Cheers.

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