Scottish likes and dislikes

Things I like about Scotland:

Swirling clouds - the sky is never still in Scotland. The old adage about waiting 10 mins if you don't like the weather is really true here.

Fringe Festival - so much fun and the city's style adds so much to the whole event

Good friends & family - I have had a great reunion with all my Scottish contacts and made some new ones along the way

The countryside - the rolling green and purple hills that seem to go on for ever

The accent - even when you can barely make out every third word, it is still fun and dead sexy

The lanaguage - seemlingly made up words like swithering, blaggard, and wee that just make sense in context

Haggis - that's right; I tried it, survived it, and even quite like it

Traffic lights - they flash red and yellow just before the light will turn green

Things I don't like about Scotland:

Midges - swarms of small biting bugs that always seem to find any flash of bare skin

Larges groups of tourists from the same country - this is not unique to Scotland, but just became very apparent while on the bus tour to Inverness. Half the group were Italian and were annoying the rest of the bus to no end. How do you say "shut up" in Italian?

Scotland at last

I have been in Scotland for the last 10 days - and thankfully I still have a week more. I had wanted to come here for quite some time and I have not been disappointed in the slightest.

I have been very fortunate in that I was able to enjoy the wedding of a good friend, Ange, and several shows at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Perfect timing.

The weather has been a wee bit wet and a wee bit sunny, but mainly cloudy, which is expected at this time of year. If it weren't for the weather, I reckon I could put Edinburgh on the list of possible places to live. It is a fabulous place. It is very historic, with amazing buildings. It is also tightly packed to make getting around a traveler's dream. The Fringe Festival has amped up the activity level in the city. There are 100's of shows each day and dozens of street performers everywhere.

I have also had the pleasure of being in Ayrshire (south west coast). The wedding was in Ayr and then my friend Karen and I went over to the Isle of Arran for a few days. We didn't succeed in getting up Goatfell mountain (we didn't even try to be honest), but we did manage a couple of good walks out to ancient stone circles and up to a beautiful waterfall. We also drove the entire width and breadth of the island. It is known as Scotland in miniature, so I feel it helped me understand this grand country.

I have also gone north to Inverness. The search for Nessie was not successful, but it was still a magical place. The rolling green hills and the gentle water have a calming effect on everyone who passes by.

I still have some more exploring to come. I will head to Glasgow for a few days before heading back to ireland next week. I am sure I will be back to Scotland in the future.

I had a brief visit with friends, Alison & Peter Wood. We met on my tour in South East Asia and promised to meet up when I made it around to their neighbourhood. It was great to catch up with them after all this time. It really reminded me just how much ground I have covered this year.

I want to wish Gary and Ange all the very best in their new life together. It was such a treat to be apart of your wedding. Thanks again.

Disaster has struck

For some reason today when I went to sign into my email account and catch up on all my communications I found myself staring at a message that told me that my email account had been cancelled. NOOOOOOO!

Your stomach hits the floor and suddenly your whole life passes in front of your eyes. What the hell happened.

Before I judge to quickly (deep breath), and jump to any conclusions (deep breath), or throw myself off the nearest bridge (deep breath), I have sent off a couple of emails to people who may be able to help (please, please, please).

My entire life is tied to that email account, not to mention all my data for traveling this year. All my itinerary information, all my credit card and financial data, plus all the communications I have had with friends and family. All lost in a single key stroke. OK, that is a bit over dramatic. It isn't lost, but all my access has now been pushed over to another account and no one can contact me on my old address. What a nightmare, especially when I am sitting in Scotland hours ahead of anyone in Toronto who can help me. This must be a lesson in patience and stress management. Something that I have to go through to see a bigger picture... blah blah blah. CRAP!

Come to think of it, I woke up in a panic the other night for no apparent reason. I couldn't get back to sleep and couldn't understand why I had suddenly woken up with a sense of uneasiness. Perhaps it was at that very moment that someone / something severed my electronic lifeline. AHHHHH!!!!

So for anyone who needs to get in touch with me for the next little while (showing faith that my account will ultimately be restored), then my new account is allyson_boode@yahoo.ca.

Signing off for now to give the Internet gods time to review their heinous mistake and find a way to restore my address and my sanity. Pray for me!!