Sunday, June 29, 2014

Edinburgh

I really love Edinburgh. The look of the city, the feel of the city, just the thought of being in this city makes me feel happy.  

I'm sitting in the Elephant House Cafe, where J. K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. It's a really cute little place with views of the Castle and pretty elephant decor. I think it's magical for Jasmine to be here where a large part of her childhood was created. And they have a pretty good vegetarian chili. 

We started out by climbing to the top of the Scott Monumnet. Those of you who know me will be surprised to hear that if you know anything about the Scott Memorial. It was constructed to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, and is 200 feet tall. The only way to reach the top is to climb up a very, very narrow staircase in the middle of the stone structure. I actually forgot about being claustrophobic and afraid of heights until I started up the staircase. It was rough going for a little while, but I made it to the top and the view was amazing. I'm so glad I had my Valor with me!  

After that we did a hop on/ hop off bus tour of the city. We didn't hop off until the end of the tour, though, so let's see what we end up doing next. There are so many interesting sites here that's it's really hard to choose. Tomorrow we are doing a bus tour up to Loch Ness, so this is our only day to explore Edinburgh.

So, it's many hours later now and we are beyond pooped. We ended up doing a walking history and ghost tour this evening. In one day I climbed up a very narrow tower and went into several small ancient vaults below the city. I think I faced all of my worst
feaI really love Edinburgh. The look of the city, the feel of the city, just the thought of being in this city makes me feel happy.  

I'm sitting in the Elephant House Cafe, where J. K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. It's a really cute little place with views of the Castle and pretty elephant decor. I think it's magical for Jasmine to be here where a large part of her childhood was created. And they have a pretty good vegetarian chili. 

We started out by climbing to the too of the Scott Monumnet. Those of you who know me will be surprised to hear that, if you know anything about the Scott Memorial. It was constructed to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, and is 2000 feet tall. The only way to teach the top is to clim up a very, very narrow staircase in the middle of the stone structure. I actually forgot about being claustrophobic and afraid of heights until I started up the staircase. It was rough going for a little while, but I made it to the top and the view was amazing. I'm so glad I had my Valor with me!  

After that we did a hop on/ hop off bus tour of the city. We didn't hop off until the end of the tour, though, so let's see what we end up doing next. There are so many interesting sites here that's it's really hard to choose. Tomorrow we are doing a bus tour up to Loch Ness, so this is our only day to explore Edinburgh. I think I faced all of my worst fears today and survived. Surely I must be stronger now, right?

I also discovered today that our family name of Chism (Chisholm) means "cheese meadow". Does becoming vegan and then traveling to Scotland only to discover that you are descended from the cheese meadow clan constitute irony?

Thursday, June 26, 2014

It's just fun to say that I'm posting this note from "Southend on Sea", Essex, UK.   What a cute seaside town this is.  Once again, we've been very lucky and the weather has been just beautiful since we've been here.  From our apartment we can see where the Thames runs into the sea, and since it's been bright and clear every day I have a nice view of it every morning when I get up and every night before I go to bed.  Depending on the time of day, we either see gently rolling waters or a sandy/rocky beach stretching out until little boats are left sitting directly on the ground looking like a child's toy that was left out in the living room after play time. 

I think the thing I love the most about this town is all of the beautiful flower gardens.  Not only do you see gorgeous, colorful flower beds and pots in front of the houses, but on the walk down to the river as well.  There are all of these beautiful flower beds along the road and all down the hillside between the apartment and the river.  Every time I've been out for a walk I've seen people out enjoying picnics between the flower beds and under the trees.  It's just a little something extra that makes the town even cuter.  There are roses and lavender everywhere.  It's hard not to feel happy when you're surrounded by roses and lavender.