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Welcome to Edinburgh
A friendly reminder! So Suzy drove me to London Stansted this morning for my flight to Edinburgh. I made it on time only to find the flight delayed. The have a stupid system where they don't assign seats people just rush onto the plane like a heard of hungry animals! I made some friends while in the crowd, a man and a woman in their late 40s heading to a funeral. We decided to watch the crowd and make fun of them so we soon sat next to eachother continuing our sarcastic banter. We first waited 20 minutes for the plane to be refueled, we were then teased by a couple of minutes of runway action only to hault to an announcement that a passenger would be leaving the plane and that we needed to wait for the stairs to arrive. Over the loud speaker they called out a man's name, and we could see him waiting to leave the plane at the front. We waited a good 35 minutes watching for stair cars only to see three arriving all at once a good 20 minutes after the announcement! As the passenger (or so we thought) was leaving a woman announced that there was
The castle
Castle on a hill. a pregnant woman onboard who had to leave. However all we could see was this man so we decided that either a transvestite was pregnant or that they must of got their bunch of "regular excuses" mixed up! Anyway it took ages to get going but we finally made it into the air only to discover that they charge for everthing- even soda! My two new friends (who I learned aren't married but are childhood friends) ordered us all Brandies so we drank alcohol and ate Pringles still trying to figure out the mystery of the pregnant man who had to leave the plane! We exchanged emails at the end of the trip and I was invited for a stay in London or Bristol if I was ever in the area again.
We finally arrived in Edinbrugh and before baggage pick up I decided to head to the toilette (can't say bathroom anymore I'm in the UK!). And in line was none other than the mother of the pregnant man/woman explaining the situation that had occured onboard. It turns out that the pregnant woman had called ahead of time to ask if, at 31 weeks, she could travel on
Whiskey Tasting
The Amnesty International wiskey tasting event EasyJet. They informed her that the limit was 32 so she proceeded to buy a ticket (she was headed to a wedding). Once aboard the plane the attendants refused to let her fly saying that she was too pregnant. So the man they called over the loud speaker was her husband (not a pregnant transvestite, damn 😞 would have been more exciting that way!). It's funny, I had guessed this had happened when talking to my new friends, because I had read the "fine print" when purchasing the ticket and had thought it was strange that after 30 something weeks, it was up to the pilot's discretion whether the pregnant woman could fly on his plane. I thought it to be a bit strange but didn't expect there to actually be a case of it right in front of my eyes!
So I said goodbye to my new friends and caught a bus into town to meet my 4th couchsurfing host. She's actually American, 23, and is doing a masters in anthropology! We walked back to her place dropped my stuff and then went shopping to find her friend a birthday present. Let me just comment on how absolutely
Another castle
Another really cool castle-looking building. No idea what it is or who it belongs to?! amazing the weather was and how magnificently gorgeous this city is (especially in this weather). After buying a flatmate a present we walked through some beautiful parks, went to a famous but spooky graveyard, and then ate Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potato with gravy) and Haggis (sheep's bladder filled with oatmeal) for an early dinner. We chose the two most Scottish dishes on the menu and later learned that most Scottish people don't even like these dishes! I enjoyed them. We were invited to share a table with these fat scottish men in their 40s who were so stereotypically Scottish, drinking pints of beer and talking about the strip club they had just come from. They took an interest into us Americans telling us about the food we just ordered and teaching us Scottish words and slang. I loved every minute of it!
We then continued back to Nicole's flat and changed to go out to a whiskey tasting event for Amnesty International. I've never really had whiskey with any knowledge of what I was drinking so this was also an interesting experience for me, to say the least. We tried 5 different types of whiskey, learned
Craig's Seat
I climbed this thing! the different between blends and single malts, and to be honest got really drunk and laughed all night about our experience with all the whiskies. I was very proud of myself for being able to distingish between each whiskey yet by the end of the night I couldn't remember the name or origin of any of them. I made lots of friends though. It turns out the Ediburgh is a largely international city so all of the students that study here tend to be from vastly different corners of the world. I met an Afghani guy who has been studying English here for the past four years. Everyone else was there for their masters or PhD. I made friends with two australians, one who's a doctor, the other who is getting her masters in public health. They are both planning on visiting me in Barga in July (yet I don't know how much I believe their drunken promises!). All in all I had a great night talking and drinking and learning about whiskey and meeting Edinburgh students. Everyone I've met so far has been so friendly and the city has so much to offer. If the weather were a little
Ocean View
Once I made it to the top I could see the ocean on one side and the city on the other more promising during the winter months, I could see myself living here for a while.
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It's now the next morning and I'm planning what I will do for the day. Tonight there is a huge party of Nicole's Finnish flatmate so we will also be preparing for that. I'm looking forward to meeting some more cool Edinburgh students. Stay tuned!
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mommy
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sheeps bladder
Haven't seen any pictures lately--Please try to take some--it's nice to have the visuals. Would especially like to have seen the sheep bladder with oatmeal. I can't believe you ate that--how's your stomach?