Haggis and Scotch

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Aye laddies and lassies!
greetings from the land of scotch (swallow...shudder) haggis, and kilts! Well kat and I arrived in scotland yesterday via 2 trains, a bus and one guy with REALLY BAD B.O...ick. What a beautiful city. We both love the towers and skyline of this historical place. We decided to walk from the train station last night to our b & b, because it looked close on the map, however it was a hour and a half trek with fully loaded bags. long story short we arrived and we now take the bus anywhere we go. Last night we tried to go to a pub for dinner at 8:15. we were greeted by a bouncer who informed us that it would take a long time to get a drink but we asked him if we could still order food and he said that no pub in scotland would be serving food "this late" Ummm....OK so we took off. we did find a pub/dining room though and sat down for a lovely scottish dinner! Kat had a scottish beer (which by the way is served warm) and a casserole of challum beef with tomato and mushroom sauce. I had a couple warm pints and a steak and ale pie. yummm...kinda like ragu without the spices and bad gas! maybe just a little but kat slapped the urge out of me. Today my stomach hurts from holding in all of those toxic scottish fumes! shes happy though! I finished off dinner with what else? a single malt. And kat had a tradional dessert that was passed down from william wallaces day....lemon pie with ice cream. hehe.

Kat is correcting my grammar. She almost has some pretty black rims for her pretty blue eyes. That'll teach her. now back to my horrible spelling, lower-case, piss poor grammar. ahh.. thats good.

So we woke up this morning and had a great breakfast at the b&b and came into downtown to walk the famous "Royal Mile" At the top is the Edinburgh castle which we toured for a couple of hours. amazing. so historical and magnificent on the hill over-looking the city. we'll try to up load a few pics. then we walked down the street which is full of vendors and tourist traps and crap, but there are some historical churches and just a neat walk to see some stuff. had lunch on a patio and looked at the holyroodhouse palace (which is where the queen stays when she comes to edinburgh) and hiked up a small volcano to arthurs seat which looks over the city. We are just wandering around a district here which i think looks like steven ave in calgary. tons of pubs, people walking around and of course. a internet cafe which is where we are now.

(Kat speaks now...)

We had a great second day in London...Guys and Dolls was awesome!! Funny, great music...we both loved it...plus it was funny watching all the older women swoon over Patrick Swayze...he was pretty good though. The next day we had to switch hotels so we moved into the City where we stayed at a place that we had booked with priceline.com...we paid $84 for a room that normally goes for £300!!! That's almost $700 a night!! High rollers in the UK...people were looking at us with our backpacks thinking "what the heck are they doing HERE??". Anywho...we headed off to St. Paul's Cathedral which was incredible...well worth the admission to see where Princess Di got hitched, where Churchill's funeral was and lots of other important historical figures were buried. After that we cruised passed the Tower of London which was pretty cool from the outside but admission was a whopping £15 per person...that woulda been over $60 for a walk around the inside and a glance at the Crown Jewels...so instead we walked into the gift shop, flipped through a book and voila, $70 saved! We then took a little stroll and a little nap in Regent park, just beside Buckingham Palace (where we also saved the ridiculous amount they were asking for admission). We also took a walk around Portobello Road (Mom, i can hear you singing the song now...) and also walked around Notting Hill...no Hugh Grant though. We finished our evening off by catching The Producers, which was very funny...there's nothing like seeing Broadway in London...i coulda stayed for another week just to see all the other shows!

(Josh speaks now...)

We are really having a great time together. We are looking forward to spending the next 9 weeks together doing just his. exploring this wonderful world filled with so much history...wow. We were just in a church today that was built in the 12 century! the oldest building in edinburgh. but how old is canada? 135 years old. It's really amazing being here. Keep us in your prayers and we look forward to our next message. probably from ireland where the leprachauns run and everyone eats lucky charms. maybe we'll find a pot of gold? Anyways, rest assured we are safe and having a great time. we love you

Josh and Kat

cant figure out how to upload pics so not now, but hopefully soon!

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Comments

[Forbes]

He stood seven feet tall and blew fire balls out his ars!
Just thought I'd add a little Braveheart excerpt for the experience. WOW sounds like you guys are having a great time together; all the sights and ahem..smells. What is it like to have warm beer? Gross or good? Or is it one of those only in Scottland? I can't lie seeing Patrick would of been cool, and all the broadway! wow. It seems so funny to think that Canada is truly a baby in comparison to well...the world. Love the Blog's!! Love Always Lindsay

[Mommy Rogers]

Kafrin, you know me too well!
Loved both of your accounts of England and Scotland. I smiled so big that I am surprised you couldn't feel it when i read the part about Portabello Road. I was singing the song before I read your line "Mom I know that you are singing it"! Such fun. Be safe and enjoy each minute!!!! P.S. Hiked with Devora and Mick McAuley today. They said, whateve you do, when you get to Croatia, DON'T

[Mommy Rogers]

continuation from my previous message
They said that whatever you do, do NOT take the bus in Croatia. They said it is AWFUL. Long rides, many stops, too many people, HOT HOT HOT, now windows and no airconditioning. They said to take the ferry! And also Dubrovnik is a MUST SEE! Food for thought. Love you both lots! xoxoxox

[Elisa]

Thinking of you!
Hi guys. Well I'm so glad that you arrived safe and it seems as though everything is going wonderful. I think about you both often and I'm definitely living vicariously (sp?) through you. I'm loving hearing about all you adventures, especially sitting at my desk, agh! Warm beer?? What's up with that? That's one trend that I don't think will catch on here. Can you just imagine me in a meeting one day..."ok guys so I have this brilliant new idea, I think we should take Lakeport in a totally new direction....warm beer, that's right, no more fridges, no more clean, refreshing taste." Lets just say I wouldn't have a job any more. Well I miss you both tons and think of you often. Kat - I gave my friend Kelly your email address so don't me shocked if you get a little email from her. I'm not sure if you are going to cross paths but who knows. Can't wait to hear of your next adventures. All my love, Elisa

[Mommy Rogers]

Guess who's coming to Europe
Just talked with Joan yesterday and Greg and Andre are taking a 6 week trip (via Eurail) through Europe. Sounds like your visits through Spain and Portugal could overlap on the calendar. So if you are traveling there and you see someone who looks remarkably like Greg, it probably is. Just to give you the head up. Small world! Love you both LOTS and LOTS. xoxoxoxox

[Josh and Kat]

uhhh...warm beer?
I tend to agree with you that the warm beer concept won't really fly! Probably not worth losing your job over!!

[Josh and Kat]

the verdict on the warm beer...
...is that it is kinda like having that last sip of your initally cold beer throughout your entire beer drinking experience...Josh is informing me that an ale is 'meant to be drunk warm'...well just call me an uncultured swine and give me a nice COLD brew!...and much thanks for the wee Braveheart excerpt...