Paris to Scotland

Monday March 23, 2009
So far I am a big fan of Scotland. I haven’t seen anything other than the airport and what I saw from the bus ride in but I like what I see!
I had a wonderful week in Paris with my mom. We saw everything we wanted to (except the Orangerie- but only mom wanted to see that anyways haha) and we did it without tiring ourselves out! It was a well balanced week with food, relaxing and seeing the sights. I loved the Louvre. I never know what I’m going to find when I go into these museums and I am always thoroughly delighted when I see statues that I know. I saw the Nike of Samothrace which of course I knew I would see but she is so beautiful all the same- a perfect example of High Hellenistic sculpture. As for the Mona Lisa, soooo not exciting. I prefer the giant painting across from her of the wedding at which Christ turns water into wine. Also, the spaces in the Louvre are amazing… The visit was wonderful and tiring so we flopped into the comfy chairs at the Starbucks located inside (yes!). I was only disappointed about one thing: the pre-classical Greece wing was closed!!! Very upsetting, they have so many of the things I studied from the bronze and archaic ages. Bummer. After the Louvre we hopped on a river cruise! It was gorgeous and we learned some things!
After that we went to a nearby restaurant that was recommended by Rick Steves. It was amazing. We met three Americans from Texas who were on spring break vacation who had also read about it in Rick Steves! The cook was awesome! It’s a one-man-show, he cooks and serves. He has a new menu everyday. I had a salad with kind of a Caesar dressing and on top was toast with melted and browned goat cheese. AMAZING! Then I had the lobster bisque soup, I don’t know what it is supposed to taste like but I thought it was mightily delicious! Mom had scallops St Jacques with rice and salad, also very tasty. We had some rose wine with it too.
The next day we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery and our loyal Rick Steves led us on a tour through the most famous graves: Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere etc. Mom was feeling weird about the whole thing though so we didn’t finish the tour. The tombs and graves were amazing really works of art. Lots of them had beautifully crafted stained glass windows too.
So yesterday mom had to leave the hotel at the ungodly hour of 4 am. So we took all the stuff down to wait for the shuttle bus that was coming to pick her up to take her to the airport. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t for some reason so I played card games on my iPhone until 6am. Then I managed to fall asleep until 8am. I read my book and had cereal for breakfast before checking out at 11. I walked down to Starbucks and read my book there for a while before trying to figure out the train situation to the airport. Very confusing. I figured it out and got to the airport at 2. My flight didn’t leave until 5:30 so I had a lot of waiting time. Now I did have the right converter for French plugs and yet, NO OUTLETS!! How does this always happen? Luckily I have a great book. So I read my book while I waited.
The flight was good, I had a cup of tea that was lovely- I thought it was appropriate coming to the UK and all. Oh and all the flight attendants had accents! It was great! Looking out the windows, Scotland is just how I pictured: very green with rolling hills. It is very different from France and Italy and to tell you the truth I need a change. We disembarked onto the tarmac and the Scottish wind was blowin’! I loved it, couldn’t help but smile. And it was my favorite time of day: twilight. You know how it blankets the world in that blue light? Well it was very beautiful driving on the bus past little farmhouse type homes. For a second I thought our driver was drunk- driving on the wrong side of the road!! Then I realized that’s how it works here, very strange. I got off the bus at Haymarket Station and one of my first views was of a Starbucks- how wonderful. The Scottish appear to like their Starbucks as much as me. I passed two on the five minute walk to my hostel. In Paris you had to really hunt for them! My hostel is really cool! Its an old converted church with stained glass windows and everything. Basically they have put up 12 ft walls in the nave to form rooms so all the sounds carries but I’m a heavy sleeper when I need to be so its all good. They have a sweet common room with kitchen and pool tables and stuff. I had some bread and cheese that I brought from France before retiring to my bed to organize my photos (I will post some as soon as I can get my hands on the Internet) and see what my plans were for today! I will start at Starbucks and there is a free walking tour that leaves from there which I’m excited about! I love free things! So the walking tour leaves at 11 and is three hours. After that I might go to Edinburgh castle but I don’t like to pay for things so perhaps not. I am taking the 4:07 train to Stirling to meet my friend Emily who goes to school there. I am of course, inevitably up too early. I went to sleep at 10 so maybe that’s why I woke up at 6:20.
Oh and people are very helpful here for the most part. I like that. It helps that they speak English, it is so nice to be able to talk easily to people and understand conversations on the street etc. I sometimes enjoy eavesdropping. So this is my only day in Edinburgh so I must make the best of it!
EMBLEM OF THE DAY (for yesterday)
Flying into Scotland- stunningly beautiful and they speak my language except with excellent accents.