Picnics

The weather here has been stupendous the last few days--75 degrees, little bits of wind. It's really nice because you aren't limited to just a few hours either, it feels like midafternoon from like 10am-8pm, because again...the sun pretty much never goes down here. Anyway, all this nice weather and the scots accumulate in the meadows...the central park of edinburgh. One huge field split into 4 sections including an amazing playground (with a zip line), running paths, eating options and lots of shade and sun--this is the meadows. There are lots of blankets with kids playing chess and drinking wine or beer--I think open container laws exist in Edinburgh but I have never seen anyone's beer taken away. People are playing frisbee, soccer, practicing tight rope walking. People here are so friendly to begin with but everyone gets so giddy in the sun, the meadows turns into a huge commune and every one belongs to it. Some people invited Lauren and I to join their tight rope walking gang even.

Mountain Climbers

Yesterday I climbed Arthur's Seat. This huge volcanic rock just to the east of the city. It's about 850 feet but the incline is insane. The view was magical. But, once I reached the top I was more scared that the winds were going to blow me off than anything. This is a very windy city.

By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Wonderful Sea

I walked to the beach the other day. Portobello beach. It's exactly three miles from my flat taking the scenic route. The normal route that I run is 1.5 miles but that's just to the ship yard, this is the beach. As the temperature has not gone above 65 degrees since I have been here, I don't know that people actually "go" to the beach here, but it was really beautiful for a walk. These pictures were taken at about 9:30 pm. The sun sets here like...never.

Good and Bad Scottish Digs

"It's fizzy. It's ginger." -- That's their slogan.

It's disgusting. And people drink it here more than water. I haven't met a Scottish person yet who doesn't love the stuff. And I haven't met a foreigner who does. It tastes of bubble gum.















On the other hand...Jaffa Cakes. Oh my
god. I didn't even like the orange and chocolate combo before today. I just ate 6 of these.
By the way, that is the best part of living here, particularly without a car. I eat any and everything I want because I walk like three hours a day minimum.
Anyway, delicious. Spongy, sort of an
orange jam in the middle and covered in chocolate.