TRYING NEW THINGS!

You would all be so proud of me! I have been trying so many new things here. For lunch I ate Black Pudding (look it up and you will understand)-- very good though.
For supper I went to the pub that is attached to the hotel. I had lemonade (which is clear), Guinness battered fish (which was half of a fish), chips (fries), and ready for it.......mushy peas. I had to try them. They are pretty good. It is like split pea soup only boiled down so it is as thick as mashed potatoes with lentils and no meat. They aren't very seasoned so after some salt and pepper it was pretty good. I don't think I'd would want to eat them all the time but now and then would be OK.
Both the Black Pudding and Mushy Peas are veeerrryyy Scottish.

PS-- No ranch dressing for the chips so don't get to excited!
PSS-- Another weird thing is that pubs here don't have bar stools. Everybody stands at the bar. I suppose if they get too drunk to stand then they cut them off. =)

OOOHHH....AAAAHHH!!!

These are the awesome pictures from my trip!

Becka driving us down to Madison.

Mary on our way down to Madison.

Becka and Mary like two peas in a pod enjoying our very nice hotel room.

Eatting our Frrreeee breakfast. Becka was soooo happy!!!!

Catching the bus to go down to Chicago.

My plane at Ohare.

London Heathrow Airport.

Just outside of London after taking off from Heathrow.

Getting ready to land in Edinburgh.

Flying over top of Edinburgh. The big hunk of volcanic remains is called Arthur's Seat. The big building just to the right is Edinburgh Castle.

This is Grassmarket Street where I am staying at. My hotel is all the way on the end on the other side of the red building. Keep an eye on the people on the left in the green cafe.

Grassmarket Street-- you can see a bit of the Castel on the left. See where the people are sitting in the green cafe from the picture before.

This is the view of Edinburgh Castle from the end of Grassmarket Street. I am one block away from my hotel! So cool!

Looking out the window where I ate lunch at Victoria Street. The street is really tilted.

This is the Kirk across from the Elephant House on George IV Bridge St.

This is a Black Taxi (that's what they are called)!

The sign to the Elephant House.

The Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book.

This is the George Harriot School that JK Rowling based Hogwarts off of.

This is the emergency sign outside my room. It is a bright green you just can't tell because the hall is so dark. Not very alarming is it! If you couldn't read English it might look like it is pointing to the nearest jogging path! =)

Go Left Young Man...Go Left!!!

I have arrived in Scotland and LOVE it! Edinburgh is amazing. It is a blend of old and new, busy and laid back. No one seems to be in a rush unless they are driving then of course they are out to qualify for NASCASR. The streets are very narrow, wind up hills, many are cobblestone so you'd think that people would drive with some caution. No way!!! They fly by at crazy speeds like 40mph on little streets with people eating at outside cafe tables right next to the road so close they could reach out and hit them with their bread and butter. And of course they drive on the left side but can park on either side they like. So there are cars parked on a side facing nose to nose.
Now I knew that they drove on the left side but it didn't quite sink in that they would walk on the left side also. From the moment I got off the plane in London I kept running in to people. It is very bizarre to enter into places from the left because the doors are setup to enter in the left and exit on the right.
All information signs are in yellow and strangely enough all emergency signs are in green. Told you they were laid back. Apparently if there is an emergency you should be aware of it but not get too excited.
The toilets (not restrooms) are very small.
I had my first Scottish meal today because yesterday I was too tired to move and slept for 20 hours once I got to my room. I had what they call Black Pudding. When I asked the waitress what it was the only thing she could describe it as was a blood sausage "Not to worry it's very Scottish" as if that would make it not completely gross. I decided to give it a try and amazingly enough it was really tasty. It is not a pudding (major disappointment) but more like a very dark, bready, seasoned meatloaf. I also had mackerel fish cakes and fruit salad with ice cream. It was all very good.
Later on as I was walking around I stopped at the Elephant Room where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book and had a hot chocolate because it is a very reasonable 65 degs or so.
I also went to Gray Friars Kirk (Kirk=Church) were the Covenaters signed the National Covenant and the organist played a few hymns on the huge pipe organ just for me. There is an American flag in the corner of the Kirk which was given to them by the American consulate because the dedication of the church coincides with the landing of the pilgrims in America. Outside in the Kirkyard is the tomb of Grayfriars Bobby.
I am hoping to post some pictures later on today and will tell more about my trip.