Out in the Rain

On Saturday I planned to go shopping alone, but Deb tagged along for a while before eventually going off on her own to see HM Yacht Britannia. Where she took this groovy picture of the flag locker:



It rained a lot and was truly crappy most of the day. I had spoken with the Doc's pal Roger earlier in the morning, and he said a big storm was coming through the islands -- that is, the Hebrides, where Roger lives. So it looks like there will be more of the same in the near future.

I'm glad we stuck to the game plan and went to Stirling on Friday; it would have been pretty miserable to trudge around that castle in the rain.

Despite crap weather -- even the girl whose opinion I asked of a jacket, which I eventually bought, at H&M confirmed that it was cold and rank weather this time of year even for Edinburgh -- I had a good time exploring, mostly the New Town. There is Princes Street that runs along the north side of the castle (I think), a very wide street like Wilshire Boulevard. Another wide street runs parallel to it, George Street I think, and in between, at a certain part, is a promenade a la the one in Santa Monica, with shops and cafes and such. Just like in L.A., the streets were undergoing construction, and at one point there were so many pedestrians flowing around the temporary crosswalk/detour that we just zagged up to the next street to avoid the compression. I went to this place called Neal's Yard Remedies, which I'd read about in a guidebook, and got some botanical goo for the divine Ms. M. Found "The Highway Code" to teach me the rules of the U.K. road. I also purchased a cool, square crystal shot glass etched with an outline of Scotland on it (for our collection), and a sweet little silver ring shaped like a thistle (the Scottish national plant), with a little purple garnet in it. It's slightly too big for my pinky, but I can get it sized.

I shopped and looked and wandered, from Tollcross to New Town to Old Town and back to Tollcross. I don't even know all the places I walked in mostly endless rain. Did I mention I love my Lands End fleece-lined packable raincoat? Well, I do. (I had to get a man's size S in olive green, to avoid girlier womem's-size colors like red and light blue -- no black for either gender, stupid preppies -- but it works fine.) It can be so windy here that you don't even want to hassle with an umbrella. But I have a nice, waterproof hood. I'm sure I looked like a geek walking about, but I don't really care.

For dinner on this, our last night in Edinburgh, we went to a place called Haldane's. Very fancy. When we emerged from the B&B to wait for our taxi to the restaurant, the rain had stopped. As the cabbie made his way across town, we could see the evening sky clearing over the Forth, a pretty stab of rose light shining through the deepening dusk.

Dinner was great. We had an American waitress. We decided that was planned by the staff, as Americans are so hard to understand with their damn freaky accents. I had this appetizer of twice-baked goat cheese and garlic souffle with walnut and apple salad ... mmmm. Deb's was haggis -- in a little pastry cup and topped with pureed potatoes and turnips on the side. Upscale haggis! I tried it; it was good. Kind of peppery and a bit like sausage or something. Her entree was fillet of Scottish beef with a pepper sauce on a potato patty; I had pork with an herbed crust in a dark sauce with little potatoes on the side. And some French wine that she picked (do not remember what). We had whisky for dessert.

Cabbed it back and packed up. Tomorrow (or, technically, today) we get the car. And I drive! I have been writing for more than two hours and feel not the least bit sleepy.

What I do feel is that there's been little time for reflection. I think we are trying to do too much; the trip already feels over-scheduled, even though we've been in the same place for four days. I wish I had done more here, but also less. We didn't go on a ghost tour, even though we wanted to, mainly b/c of me being so off my schedule, my feed, my sleep, and everything else. I did want to experience the ghost tour, but I also feared it would be sort of lame ... and I think part of me also feared that if we had a real ghost encounter I very well might have fainted, being so totally out of sorts as I am. Oh, well. I'm sure the ghosts will be here next time.

Edinburgh is hard to describe ... so old, yet teeming with modern life. Our B&B isn't too far from the university, so there are young people all around, listening to their personal digital stereos and radio headphones and whatnot. There are Internet cafes in elderly buildings. I like this contrast. This old Victorian that is our B&B has many mod cons -- TV, stereo, hairdryer, coffee in the room, computer in the hall. I noticed when we were riding from Glasgow to Edinburgh on the train that many of the very old buildings have installed newer, more energy-efficient windows. So you have these rows of spanking-new windows set inside ancient stone walls.

If I had been here by myself, I might have done things differently ... but I don't regret the way we did it. I just wish I could've slept like a normal person. Can't take a Xanax tonight b/c I have to drive very soon.

I guess my three days in London will be where I can sleep. I hope.