2 posts tagged “england”
We are sitting in the Edinburgh airport waiting… They say that delays are at an all-time high in most airports, but Liz and I were starting to wonder if that were true. After all, the worst that we have had to deal with is a nasty 10 minute delay in London’s Heathrow airport. So when they announced that are flight was delayed an hour we, along with everyone else, were disappointed in the delay. But I have to admit that I can’t be that upset because this is the first delay that we have had to endure. So we have a little extra time to prepare for our 3rd country in as many days!!
The weather is quiet stark here in Edinburgh today, very cloudy and not much sign of letting up, so I am not so sad to get out of here.
I must say that I was not sure what to expect from the Scottish culture and people. We have learned some things here though. First off, Scotland is beautiful, we really only got to see Edinburgh, but it is such a beautiful town. The streets are very narrow with buildings that seem to loom directly overhead with a mysterious feel. The buildings are almost all 4 stories high with shops and pubs and restaurants on the first floor. The royal mile is a street that stretches about a mile long (I know what your thinking) but it is a very cool place to be. On one end you have Edinburgh Castle that sits atop a large rock in the middle of the city, watching over all of Edinburgh. On the other end of the street is Holyrood Palace, a place that was built along time ago (like the 12th century or something), and Her Majesty the Queen still comes and stays there every summer. The Palace is a huge place with what seems like all the original structure still in place. To think that these places were used for fortresses and are still lived in is very cool.
Ok, what else did we learn? Let’s just rattle off some things here: 1) Edinburgh is a beautiful city, 2) the Scottish can drink, 3) The f-word isn’t really a cuss word (or it doesn’t seem like it with how often you hear it), 4) we didn’t find that many Scottish people that friendly, they kept to themselves, 5) there are a ton of young people in Scotland, and apparently the gothic punk rock thing is the in thing here, and last but not least (or all we learned) 6) The Scottish are extremely difficult to understand. Holy cow,their accents are so thick that it is incredible anyone can understand what they say.
So we say goodbye to Scotland, in what could be the last time we ever set foot on Scottish territory, but we had a good time, enjoyed the scenery, and learned a little about the Scottish culture. They are a proud people, always willing fight for their rights. I will always admire the Scottish people, possibly because I love the movie Braveheart so much, I mean how can you beat a guy who tells an English royal to go in front of the enemy army and put his head between his legs and kiss his own arse?
So long Scotland, so long tartans (kilt patterns), and so long the home of William Wallace.
This is not the thing you want to hear coming from your flight attendants mouth when your 30,000 ft. above the Atlantic Ocean. Luckily we went through some rough turbulence and made it through alright. I was very excited to set foot on British ground for the first time, that is until I saw the customs line, WOW!!!!
More importantly, we made it, we are here in the land of my ancestors. That's right, I have some English in me. I will be here to search out my relatives and a good pint of beer. I was skeptical of this whole jet lag idea, but I have to tell you that Liz and I were both super tired. I just woke up from a nap, it is about 4:30pm here, but my body thinks it is morning. We are going to go to the gym and get a workout in, I know sounds weird for vacation, but we are going with our new friends in the UK.
So far, we have learned some new words. #1-Queue, it is a line, we have heard it a few times, but when there are lines all over the place, you are in a queue, or your queing.
Also, the whole car thing is going to be hard to get used to. First time I got in on the passenger side I pushed to hit the brake, but it wasn't there. Then every time we go around a bend (turn) I see another car coming right up to us on the wrong side of the road! I have to admit that on several occasions I got a little scared when I looked in other cars on the street and saw that there was no driver only a passenger.
But, to finish off my first entry from the homeland, I shall tell you that as soon as we pulled out of the airport what is the very first thing I see? MCDONALDS , you travel for 18 hours to discover a McDonalds!
Well I shall add more later along with pictures, but for now I must go and cycle away!
