'Tis the Season in Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, Scotland. Andrew and I traveled a quarter of the way around the globe thanks to the airfare we won in a British Airways contest. It's unbelievable, really.

I'd worried that I would have a very hard time understanding the Scottish people. I've heard some very strong Scottish accents before, and I had a difficulty following what was being said. The accent in Edinburgh isn't all that strong. It's strong enough to be unique and lovely, but it's not so strong that I'm left feeling like we're speaking two different languages! Funny thing is, many people have been having difficulty understanding me! I hadn't thought of that. On our flights, the stewardesses had to clarify everything I said a number of times. Two resorted to asking me yes and no questions! I felt bad, and, so, I'm now trying to speak slowly and more deliberately.

The airport in Edinburgh is surprinsingly small, yet their shuttle service from the airport is top notch. We took the Airway 100 shuttle, which runs every 10 minutes from the front of the airport. It cost £3.50 per person and had free wifi. The ride was about 20 minutes and quite comfortable. Our shuttle passed by adorable, short stone homes and large, gothic cathedrals. Even as we creep in on winter, Scotland is stunning.

It was a ten minute walk from the shuttle stop. We headed north into New Town from Princes Street, which is one of the main streets running through Edinburgh. Our innkeeper explained to us that New Town is new (mid-18th century to mid-19th century). It's sort of funny to think about the difference between what is new to a person in the United Kingdom and what is new to me as an American. Andrew laughingly told her that the oldest parts of "New" Town is still older than our country! Anyway, New Town, as it is called, is created on a grid pattern and easy to navigate. Some of the streets are paved in cobblestones and a bit narrow, but most are wide open and smooth.

We missed our innkeepers when we first arrived, and so we grabbed some lunch at a local French cafe. Lunch in Europe reminds us to slow down. I'd forgotten that from my last trip. Meals take quite some time, and it was an hour and a half before we left the restaurant after an omelette and mug of coffee. Oh, speaking of coffee, my options were "black coffee" or "white coffee." I understood white coffee to be coffee with cream, but I'm a black coffee drinker myself. The coffee was strong, almost an espresso, but nice to sip on slowly. Andrew's great-uncle is from the UK, and he told us not to expect free refills on coffee or tea. Sure enough, as I sipped my coffee down, no one came by with a warm up. That's OK, as one was probably enough!

When we got back to our bed and breakfast, neither of the innkeepers was there yet. They'd left a number on the door, but I have no idea how to make calls in the UK. There were 11 digits, and I wasn't sure if I would need to dial all of them. In the US, everyone has a 10 digit number when you dial from within the country, but, in most places, you only have to dial 7 numbers if the call is local. I've never made an international call ever, and so I don't know what numbers the international numbers might be, if they were posted in those 11 digits at all. I took the sign and sought help from the owner of a nearby beauty salon. He helped me dial out, and we tracked down our very friendly (and apologetic) innkeeper.

We were finally all settled in, showered, and cleaned up by 4:30pm local time. Our plan was to stay up until at least 7pm to get ourselves adjusted to the time change. We'd been up for over 30 hours, and reasoned a couple more wouldn't hurt!

The Christmas Festival down at the Princes Street Gardens just started today. The entire block is lit up. It's not hard to find! One one end is a large, lit ferris wheel. There is a large ice skating rink, where we watched dozens of people skate around. There were rides for the kids, and so many sweet stands. One of the main features is the German Christmas Market. There were rows of cute little shops set up, some selling ornaments, some selling toys, some selling cuckoo clocks, some selling collectable figurines. Even some of the most beautiful items weren't all that expensive. We just window shopped, but I have a feeling we'll be picking out a little Christmas souvenier before our trip is over.

Andrew and I split something called a cheese toastie. Although it was in a little booth, the woman who took our order chopped and sauteed onions and garlic right there. She toasted up some bread and added cheddar cheese. It was the best grilled-cheese like sandwich I'd ever had! I ordered a hot, mulled Scottish wine to go with mine. I'd actually never had wine before, and they are served in cute mugs. The mulled wine is £3.50, but you get £2 back when (if?) you return your mug. I reasoned that that means I could keep my mug as a souvenier for £2, so I did. While Andrew waited for our toastie to be made, I stood at a standing community table and sipped a bit on my mulled wine. Fireworks started up, and everything felt perfect--beautiful, serene, spectacular.

Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes, I started to get a weird headache. It literally felt like someone was piling books up onto my head. I decided it must be from the wine. I've heard some people get headaches from wine, and I must be one of them. There was nowhere to dump my mostly unfinished drink, but I still wanted my mug. I finally dumped its contents in the trash. Sorry, Edinburgh! I hope that wasn't too messy.

I stowed my empty mug into a coat pocket, and Andrew and I wandered the festival a bit more. We then made our way into town and stopped at a Starbucks. The plan was for me to hang out there while Andrew went to a meeting nearby. His meeting wasn't until 8pm, but by 7pm, I couldn't hold my eyes open. We decided to leave. Just as we were packing up, a group of young teenagers stormed in. They were rowdy and yelling and threw themselves on the furniture. As I stood up to button my coat, one girl literally shoved me and took my seat! I've never seen anything like it. I looked at her, and she looked to be a well-to-do 14 year old. She was wearing too much makeup and tried to give me a cold stare when I looked at her in surprise. Their behavior was so bizarre and appalling, and I blurted out, "Excuse you!" I stared her down, but she never said a word. She looked surprised that I spoke up to her, though, or maybe she was surprised I was a foreigner. I don't know. The kids shoved the furniture around some more and then got up, grabbed all of the drinking straws, and left. Unbelievable! I checked my belongings to make sure I hadn't been pickpocketed or something (I hadn't). On our way out, she tried to block my way. I couldn't believe what a little brat she was, but I didn't want to give the group of young teenagers a reason to try to defend their "tough" act, so I just ignored her. Andrew told me there's some word for spoiled kids who go around reaking havoc, but I can't remember what he called it. I'd just never seen anything like it in my life! I also couldn't believe no one else said anything to those kids.

As we made the trek back to our bed and breakfast, I remembered the rude teenagers Phuong and I had encountered in Salzburg, Austria when we were there in 2006. I'd been appalled then, too, at the way they harrassed an elderly man and then Phuong. They were young, wealthier teenagers, like the ones we encountered tonight in Edinburgh. They made fun of Phuong for being Asian, were grabbing at their eyes and making offensive "ching chong" talk. It was my first time experiencing something hateful like that. To be honest, it had ruined my whole experience of Salzburg, and I tell everyone not to go there. I strongly associate Salzburg with rude, hateful people due to that experience. It shook me up. The kids in Edinburgh didn't shake me up like that, mostly because their ridiculous behavior wasn't based on hate and racism. Yet, I'm feeling weary of teenagers in this part of the world, and I'm wondering why they seem to be allowed to behave this way.

Our walk back to the bed and breakfast was uneventful. I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. Two hours later, I woke up. I thought it was morning! Our clock read 9:00, and I started to kick it into gear. Breakfast ends at 9:30, and I wouldn't want to miss free breakfast! I went to the washroom to get ready, and I noticed it was dark outside. I was so confused. I puzzled over the darkness outside for a while. I literally opened the curtains three separate times to make sure it was really dark. I finally reasoned to myself, "Oh, it must be 9pm in Colorado, which means it's actually 4am here. We have a couple hours until breakfast." I went to the computer to start it up and load the photos from (what I thought was) the previous day. The computer said it was 9pm. Weird, because Andrew had updated the time. I went on Google and asked Google, "What time is it in Edinburgh?" Google answered that it was 9pm. I couldn't believe it! Literally, I thought something must be wrong. I woke Andrew up to ask him what was going on. It was only after he told me I'd just gone to bed a couple hours ago that I realized I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep. Jetlag is so weird! How did I only sleep for 2 hours after being awake for a day and a half?

We have the whole day tomorrow to explore the city some more. I want to check out some of the old buildings, closes, and maybe even the castle. Edinburgh is beautiful, and I hope our encounter with those rowdy teenagers was just a bump in the road of our otherwise pleasant vacation.

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Photos

Edinburgh
Here I am at the German Christmas Festival in Edinburgh.

Andrew at the Christmas Festival
I was pleasantly surprised that Andrew enjoyed the festival as much as he did! I thought the festival would mostly be for me, but Andrew loved all the food and shops.

Comments

[Aunt Carol]

Happy birthday!
What a great way to spend your birthday! It sounds as though your trip (rude teenagers soon to be forgotten) has been wonderful so far. I'll enjoy following your through your blog. Have fun!