I'm Back

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the good news is that this post is this blog's first from Scotland. My visa finally arrived at the end of August. I immediately booked a flight from Newark to Edinburgh for the night of September 1. I crammed all of my stuff into Space Bags and then into a suitcase and a large wheeled duffel bag. The duffel bag was a good choice since its starting weight was much less than the suitcase. This goes a long way in making sure that you stay under the 50 lb per bag limit.

I arrived in Edinburgh on the morning of September 2. Continental's direct flights between Newark and Scotland are a good product, especially when you get an exit row seat with an empty seat next to you. The food on the flight is pretty good and the VOD is good enough. After collecting my bags in EDI, I had the fun of maneuvering my two bags through the airport to the ATM right on the other side of customs, then to the kiosk to buy an airport bus ticket, and finally making the turn in the railings for the bus queue line. This is where the shortcoming of the duffel bag became clear. It was a lot harder to keep the bag stable while trying to do anything other than move straight.

Once I was at Waverly Station, I had to get to one of the side platforms for my train to Stirling. Rather than go up the stairs, I tried to take the elevator. The door on the thing won't close. I had to have been in it for close to three minutes before it shut. At least after it started to move, I had a laugh about how the elevators here talk. A 50 minute train ride later and I was in Stirling ...