Scotland!

I spent all day yesterday in London, seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and Soho - I even went to the original Patisserie Valerie.  I was of course impressed by London, but more than happy when I arrived exhausted at the airport in Edinburgh to find Bradshaw waiting for me.  After waking up at about 3:30am UK time, 9pm felt like the middle of the night!

We got to St. Andrew's when it was dark, of course, so I didn't see much, but we had a good supper at an Indian restaurant before I called it a night.  I spent today walking all around the little town, absolutely amazed at how BEAUTIFUL it is here.  We visited some ruins - a castle and a cathedral - and luckily Bradshaw is into history and was able to tell me all about them (I've discovered that the thing about Europe is that they have many, many, many more centuries of history than the US seems to).  We even walked around the Old Course, which apparently is arguably the first golf course EVER where the first game of golf was played.  I was skeptical, but still took a picture there.

I maintained my habit of trying to eat local cuisine by having a meat pie and "mash" (it's really just mashed potatoes) for lunch, and then a fried Mars bar for dessert - and was wonderfully surprised to learn that afternoon tea is a MUST here.  Afternoon tea is really a great invention, and the only reason I can think of that we don't practice it in the US is that it takes up quite a bit of time that could be spent much, much more productively.  Of course, that makes it essential for my vacation.

Tonight we have a dinner party - they keep busy having fun at St. Andrews! - and someday we're hoping to try to go shooting (awesome!).  Being back in an academic community is making me miss my computer sorely, but I'm sure I'll survive.

So far, my favorite thing about the UK is that when I'm out and about, people ask me for directions.  I guess I no longer look so lost!

P.S. I also really like that all the menus and signs and speaking are in English.