Scotland. First we take a train from Salzburg to Munich, then a plane
from Munich to Edinburgh, and finally a car from the airport to our
night's lodging. If only we could have worked a boat into the day. . .
Up about eight, a quick shower and off to town to find a cash machine.
The campground does not take plastic, and does not want "Mickey
Mouse"(US Dollars), so I have to grab a few more Euros to pay the
bill. About a mile walk to a machine, cash in hand I return to camp.
The sun is out and it is warm, so while Sally pays the bill, I head
for a shower to clean up for a day of sitting. The 11:18 train is
sitting at the platform when we arrive at 11, so we board and start
pouring over books about Scotland, making decisions about what we want
to see. Concentrating on Lochs and Glens, the train announces our stop
and we are a disheveled mess off books, notes and food. We quickly
stuff it all into our packs and scoot of the train as it stops. We are
getting more comfortable with the trains. We used to stand with our
packs on 5 minutes before it stopped.
The Salzburg to Munich train was about 2 minutes early. This put us on
the platform just in time to step into the connecting train to the
airport instead of waiting 18 minutes. If it had been on time, the
connecting train would have pulled otu at the exact minute we pulled in.
At the airport we checked our bags, went through security and found
our gate, then got a bite to eat.
As we flew over the English Channel I was surprised at how narrow it
is. I did not realize while over the coast at Dover you can see
Calais. Now that I think about it, at 15 miles it should not be
surprising, but in my mind I pictured the curve of the earth obscuring
coastlines from each other. It put the Battle of Britian, the German
arial attack on England in a new light for me.
We landed at Heathrow, hung around for 20 minutes after going through
customs and security again, then we were airborne for Edinburgh. We
landed a few minutes after 8, and David and Magnus found us at the
baggage claim.
We first met David and Caroline in 1993, when we were living on Orcas
Island for the year. They were biking all over the world and Sally
happened to meet them on the ferry. They stayed with us on the island
for a few days, then they were off to Australia and New Zealand to
avoid our winter. They cycled into Toledo the next spring on their
way down the west side of the US, spent a few days with us while we
were living in our tent and building our house, and then they were off
again. We saw them again two summers ago when they were traveling with
their family, this time in a van. We were finally getting to their
side of the "pond" to visit them.
We walked out to David's Volvo, threw our bags in the back and I
walked around to the passengers side to get in. David calmly says,
"Chuck, your on my side." I looked in the window, and sure enough,
there was a steering wheel where their should be a blank dashboard.
As we drove to the B&B Caroline had picked out for the night I felt
weird sitting on the left side of the car as a passenger, looking at
the traffic moving in the "wrong" direction in each of the lanes.
Maybe I am getting old and inflexable, but it appeared very foreign to
me. But, Hey! That's why we are on this trip, to experience things
foreign to us.
The B&B was this exquisite sandstone house in Edinburgh with a four
post bed in the most beautifully appointed victorian room you could
imagine. Wainscoting, wall paper, sculptured plaster cove molding on
the ceiling, more pillows than you could hope to use, 10 foot
ceilings. It was scrumptous. I wanted to lay awake all night with my
eyes open just so I could enjoy the room.
We went downstairs to the sitting room and visited with David and
Caroline until 11, catching up on families and politics before calling
it a day.
Chuck
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