Day 123: Aberdeen, Scotland

Today I didn't to anything.  This may seem stupid, because I am in Scotland, and you are correct.  But what had happened was... I woke up at like 10--not so bad, right? But I felt a little puny, so I went back to sleep, and woke up at like noon.  I felt like this was a good decision, because I felt much better, and I still had time to go explore Aberdeen for a few hours before Megan got home. I took a shower, and this is when disaster struck.  Maybe not disaster, but my plans were totally scuppered.  Look it up. 

Whilst showering, I slipped, and busted my shin, and spent the next hour pressing star and Texas shaped ice cubes to my leg.  WARNING: The following image is graphic, and potentially disturbing.  Not really.  But I guess it's kinda gross. 

My shin, Round Midnight.

My plan had been to walk around the city center a bit, but I just had some toast.  I practiced for a bit, and it was going really badly, and Megan's friend Will came over.  She was taking him to the airport, so he was here to meet her.  Megan came a bit later, and the three of us chatted for a while.  Will is a nice guy, and we had a good conversation.  At around 5, they left for the airport, and I practiced for a while.  It was still really bad.  At around 5: 30, Jayna met me at Megan's and we went to Pizza Express for dinner.  I got a decent mozzarella and tomato salad and an alright pizza.  (Tu me manque, France.) I did however, have a fantastic tiramisu for dessert.  Megan met up with us during dessert, and we had coffee and stuff.

This was ok.  The corner looks mashed up because I took a bite out of it, but then I put it back to take this pic.

After dinner, we went to some bars for some drinks.  No fewer than three strangers offered to buy us drinks.  People here are really nice.  We played darts with this guy we met named Paul, and some other guy we met named Gavin.  And Jayna's bf, John.  It was fun. 

This is Megan and Jayna at the old man bar they go to.  We were the only people under 40, and they were the only girls.  It was a nice place though. 

Megan trying to reach her dart. 

Another weird day today, but it was alright.  Hopefully I can see a bit of Aberdeen tomorrow before I leave. 

Day 122: I Don't Even Know, Scotland

Today, Megan and I woke up at around 8 or 9 and started getting ready to go.  We wanted to get an early start to make it to St. Andrews and still have some day light. St. Andrews is a town in between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and is famous for being the site of the film Chariots of Fire, and a golf course, and some cool old stuff.  However, the wind forecast for most of the day was between 50 and 60 km/h.  This made traveling pretty difficult, and due to bridge closures and road closures we ended up in Stirling, which was in the wrong direction, and it took us almost 2 hours to cover the 40 minutes to Stirling.  We tried to visit the castle there, but it was closed.  Probably too windy...  We got some soup at a bistro/pub and then headed towards Aberdeen. 

This truck got sleepy, so it was taking a nap on the side of the highway.

The drive was actually pretty nice, for me.  The wind made it pretty tough, but Megan did a great job driving. 

Some of the countryside from drive.

We stopped south of Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, to see Dunnottar Castle.  Unfortunately, it was already getting dark, and the castle was closed, but we did go walk around it.  It was very cool, and it was nice to get something done today. 

Looking down a canyon to the castle, which is right on the coast.

The castle.

It was so incredibly cold at this castle.  The wind at the coast was pretty incredible.  We didn't stay for long, because it was so cold.  Once we finished, we headed to Aberdeen.  It was great to finally make it to not a car.  Megan's apartment is really nice, and I have a great bedroom.  I practiced for a little bit, and then we ordered Chinese delivery.  Jayna came over and we all ate, and now we're just sitting and talking at Megan's place.

My bedroom.

Today was pretty annoying, but it turned out alright.  We made it safely(Thanks Megan!), and it is going to be a nice visit in Aberdeen. 

Day 121: Edinburgh, Scotland

No wonder the Romans decided they'd rather just build a big wall than bother enter this forsaken land.  For real.  How is it possible that this place is so cold, and bleak, and dreary, and windy.  That said, it was a pretty nice day here in Edinburgh.  It was actually clear and sunny for most of the day, but VERY windy.  It was not much warmer than freezing and humid, plus it was really windy.  Like I said before.  We got up pretty early, mostly because we had to move Megan's car by 8:30.  We drove into town, parked, and then found some breakfast.  

This is a typical Scottish Breakfast. 

That stuff on the right is Black Pudding AKA:  BLOOD.  Basically, they take blood and cook it with a filler, until it congeals at room temperature.  Also, I ate Haggis AKA: GROSS.  This is the lungs, liver, heart, and some other crap(not that it really matters at this point) of a sheep, cooked in its stomach.  There is a reason this stuff is not Kosher.  IT IS DISGUSTING.  Really, who looks at blood and goes, "You know... I'd sure like to cook that up"?  If you need me, I'll be in France.  With the food.

After our "meal", we walked towards the Edinburgh Castle along High Street also known as the Royal Mile, because it covers the (Scots) mile (1.12 actual miles) between the top of the Castle Rock to Holyrood Abbey.  There are lots of shops and government buildings and all sorts of old stuff here. 

This is some of the Royal Mile.  It was empty because all the real Scotsmen were still drunk/drinking/hungover from last night's festivities.  Jan. 1 is a big night to drink in Scotland because it is a night.

St. Giles Cathedral, the seat of the Church of Scotland.  We couldn't visit because it was not open, an hour after it should have opened.  Presumably, the clergy were all still hung over from the festivities.

This is a REAL name.  WALTER FRANCIS MONTAGU DOUGLAS SCOTT, 5TH DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH AND 7TH DUKE OF QUEENSBERRY, KNIGHT OF THE GARTER. Really...

The Castle.  It is on top of the Castle Rock.  CAKE sings about the Castle Rock in one of their songs.  I never knew what that meant.  Now I do.

The Castle Rock is very steep, and was a volcano.  344 million years before the world was created.

This thing seemed old.

Once we got our tickets for castle entry, we headed to Usher Hall, to see a performance of Handel's Messiah.  Megan didn't tell me that she had seen it only a few weeks ago.  It was very cool of her to let us go.  THANKS MEGAN!! This was the 125th annual Edinburgh performance of the Messiah.  They seem to take a lot of pride in it.  They have some neat traditions, including eating a picnic lunch at the long interval, utilizing young soloists, and long history of bizarre happenings.  This year, an old person fainted in the front row, and the countertenor(singing the alto part) jumped off the stage to give them his water.  

Very cool staircase, in the newer addition to the hall.  The shaft was lit, and leads to a skylight in the roof. 

A look into the hall.  We sat on the far right, kinda near the back.  Our view was a little cut off, but the acoustics in the hall were fantastic, and everything sounded great. 

Looking down the same staircase.

Our French-ish picnic lunch.  I liked it.

Overall, I thought it was a really great performance, and it was highly enjoyable.  It was very cool and I'm glad we went. Here's a little sample of the performance.  The video quality was reduced to 0.05% of the original to upload it to interwebs.

 

After the concert we went quickly(it was getting dark) to the castle.  We got there right in time for the final tour of the evening.  Our tour guide was funny, and it was a good tour.  

Me in front of the main gate of the castle.  This was once the first of seven gates guarding the castle. 

Part of the inner castle and Edinburgh in the distance.  I like how the castle is built into the hill.

St. Margaret's Chapel inside the castle.  And the oldest building in Edinburgh. 

This building had a purpose a long time ago, when it was built, and now it holds the crown jewels of Scotland. 

The greatest event in the history of time itself. Ever.

Princess Street and Waverly Station in the dusky dusk.

The castle, c. 5 pm.

After the castle, we went back to our room for a bit, and then headed out for dinner.  Megan wanted pizza, and my stomach was still not feeling great, so we got Italian again.  I am quickly discovering that Italian food is the best Scottish cuisine.  My dinner was some good pasta, and I had a really good panna cotta for dessert.  

Yup.

After dinner, we came back to our room, and now we are watching The Help.  It is good.  It was good.

Day 120: Edinburgh, Scotland

I woke up today at around 9, and I felt absolutely horrible.  I went to the bathroom, and then slept again until about 1pm.  I was starting to feel a little better, so I got up, showered and Megan and I went out to find food.  We ended up findind this place called Taste of Italy.  It was Italian food.  It was pretty good, and not trop cher. 

Megan in the 45th minute of deciding.

The called this a panini, but I disagree.  I also had cream of broccoli soup.

After we finished eating, we walked to Usher Hall, to buy tickets for some concert I didn't really want to attend, but concerts are still nice, so I was going to go anyway.  We ended up not going to the concert, but it was nice to see some of Edinburgh. 

Here is Usher Hall.

And its very cool, modern addition.

Edinburgh Castle sit on a hill over the city.

After our little walk, we just headed home.  I am still feeling pretty sick, so I wanted to get back.  Hopefully tomorrow, I feel much better.

Day 119: Edinburgh, Scotland

Voltaire once said: "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation"
  
Apparently Voltaire was a complete idiot.  Or really liked him some beer.


Today I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning.  I felt pretty terrible, but this is probably because I got like four hours of sleep.  Junior drove me about an hour so I could get on a train from  Roosendaal to Schiphol. My travel went really well, and I got to the airport in plenty of time.  I had to wait for about an hour, but it was alright.

First one of these I have seen in 4 months.  Didn't miss it.

This is why Dutch is the most ridiculous language on the planet.

My flight was good, and only lasted about an hour.  I went through immigration, and Megan met me at the airport.  We headed into town, but we needed to wait a few hours before we could check in to our guest house, so we went to a pub to get lunch.  It was good, but this sure ain't France.  Or the Netherlands.  Or even Belgium.  I did try Haggas.  It was fine, but I wouldn't want to eat it. 

These sausages were actually ok. 

Contains: water, apple pulp, sugar, malt vinegar, cane molasses, thickener, tomato paste, salt, acetic acid, spices, onion powder, preservative, colouring(caramel paste).  Yeah.  They don't call it Brown sauce for nothing...

After lunch, we went to a little place called the French Fancies, and got some decent food.  I had a lemon tart, which was great, and a cafe.  It was a great end to the meal.  Once we finished, we had killed enough time and we went to the flat where were are staying.  They lady who rents it out was very nice, and it is a nice room.

This is our building.  Ours is on the top floor, just before the bell tower.

Here is most of the room.  There is one other smaller room behind me. 

Once we were settled, Megan went out to get our tickets to the New Year's party tonight, and I stayed back to shower, and practice and maybe take a nap.  I took a shower, which was nice, and then I got back to the room and felt really tired, and ended up accidentally taking a nap.  I woke up a couple of times, but wasn't feeling any better, so I kept sleeping.  When Megan came back, I got up and discovered that I felt horrible.  I was achy and my muscles just hurt, and my stomach was upset, and I generally just felt awful.  Finally, it was pretty late, and we needed dinner, and had to be in the event by 11pm, so we left at around 8.  I didn't have much of an appetite, and almost all of the kitchens at places we went were closed.  Finally, we found a pizza place that was still open.  I just got some pasta with butter.  I managed to keep it all down, and it was good that I ate.

We spent our New Year's at the Edinburgh Hogmanay.  It is just a giant street festival with concerts and DJs and lots and lots of beer and food.  I would say a majority of the participants were pretty drunk by about 10pm, inside and outside of the gates.  It seems to be the the accepted method is get a 2 liter bottle of your favorite soda, mix in your favorite liquor, and stumble about the streets drinking it. 

He knew that until France had its own Angus Steak Bars, it would never compare to the cultural utopia that is Scotland.

This is what the street generally looked like  inside the gates.  Voltaire strove for, but was never able to achieve, the philosophical intellect possessed by these great minds. 

Here's us under one of the chateaus of Edinburgh.

People gathering to watch the fireworks.

The fireworks were really incredible.  They were a great show, but the cool thing was that one would never be allowed to stand as close to the fireworks as we were.  At times, they were literally exploding directly over our heads.  It was pretty amazing.

They were loud.

These ones were red.

Once the fire works ended, I was pretty much at the end of my line, so we had to head home.  I'm glad we did because it started raining.  When we got back, I spent about 30 minutes huddled in front of a space heater while poor Megan tried to figure out how to cool herself off more.  I am really hoping I do not get more sick.  SPOILER ALERT: When you read tomorrow's blog post, I will be more sick.

Day 118: Vlissingen, Netherlands

Today was a good last day in the Netherlands.  This is also my last day in continental Europe.  No more Euros…  I didn’t do a whole lot today, but that is ok.  It has been really great to relax after so many days of sightseeing and walking and traveling.  I woke up around 11h, and watched a show about oil rigs for a while.  I ate some bread with jam and butter and some fruit for breakfast.  At around 12h 30, everybody went out, and I practiced trumpet for about an hour.  It was a terrible 30 minutes, followed by a great 30 minutes.  Hopefully, I can continue playing without a mute in Scotland.

Here's the view from my window, up Junior's street.

When Junior and Dawejano (w=v, j=y) got back, Junior and I went to the Boulevard along the beach in Vlissingen.  He showed me some parts of his town, which is small, but very nice.  We finished with a trip to the grocery store, and then we ate dinner at home.  We had pasta with a tomato/meat sauce.

Getting ready for tomorrow night.

This is one of the best maritime training academies in the Netherlands.

This is a part of the old defensive wall along the coast, complete with canons.

This is the North Sea.  If you stand near it, you will be cold.

Hotels and condos on the beach.

This is the dike that holds back the ocean. 

...from all of this.

I was planning on leaving tonight for Schiphol, in Amsterdam, since my flight is tomorrow morning.  However, Junior is going to drive me to Roosendaal at like 5 in the morning, so I can take a train from there.  It is about an hour’s drive, so it is very nice of him.