Melanie

Scotland 6: Day 23

/ Dav / 2 Comments

03.21.18 | Thurso, Scotland | 08:21

Last night my roommate was a guy called Josh, who is from Texas. I asked him if he knows my sister Melanie, and he doesn’t. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure how close he lives to her. Josh has brought a big surfboard. He loves to surf and has heard that Thurso is one of the best places to surf in Europe. I knew people came here for surf competitions, but I didn’t know it had that reputation!

Thurso Station | 10:21

The train doesn’t get here for the next two and a half hours or so. I was going to go to a really good Chinese restaurant that I remember from my previous visits here, but the lady who sold me the train ticket told me that this particular restaurant no longer has a dining room where you can sit and eat. They’ve gone to carry out only. I’m not in the mood to carry my Chinese food in this rainy weather. I’ll just be glad that I had a good breakfast. It dawned on me that I have some cookies in my bag- cookies for lunch!

Thurso > Inverness | 14:09

On these trips, I always try to take notes on the things I see. This is how I discovered Pitlochry, years ago. It was a stop on my way up to Inverness. I took a picture of the sign and later did some research. It’s not one of the many towns that I love when I travel through Scotland.

Thus far today, I haven’t found many towns on my way from Thurso that I’d like to stop and see. For me to enjoy a visit, the town needs to at least have a pub. Not that I’m hanging out in pubs all the time, but that shows me that there’s enough life there that’s the locals need a place to gather- usually that is done at the pub.

Inverness Hostel | 22:22

The saddest thing about Inverness is that the fish & chip shop that I would always go to is now closed down. Very sad, indeed. I did manage to find another one, that was almost as good, but it’s just not the same.

I just got back from a visit to the cinema, where I saw the new Tomb Raider movie. It was so much better than the Angelina Jolie version- no offense, Angie, if you’re reading this. I just liked this girls version of Lara Croft so much better. It was a much more relatable character, and she didn’t have that stupid smirk on her fact that Angelina always has. I’m proud that it was around two miles walk each way. Perhaps not the safest thing to do by myself at night, but I did manage to get home safely. If anyone had tried to rob me, they’d have been sorely disappointed. I know bad things happen, but so far I’ve been very blessed in my travels.

/ Dav / 3 Comments

Scotland 5: Day 1

03.01.16 | 11:04 | Glasgow Hostel

Glasgow is every bit as beautiful as I remember! The brown buildings bring back so many fond memories! As I made my way from the airport shuttle to the hostel, I had to stop during my walk and take a few pictures. Today it’s overcast, which is quite common in Scotland, especially at this time of year. The streets are wet from a morning rain, but thank goodness it has let up just long enough for me to get to the hostel.

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The lady at the reception desk of the Euro Hostel told me that I couldn’t check in until after 15:00 and so I stowed my backpack in their luggage room and felt it was time to go find a chippy (fish and chip shop) and a can of IRN BRU. This is a soft drink that is made here in Scotland. It tastes kind of like red creme soda, but it’s orange in color. I’m not sure if it’s available in the states. I’ve convinced myself that Fish n’ Chips taste better when consumed in the U.K., especially with IRN BRU! I suspect I’m going to destroy my sexy Herbalife body by the end of this trip.

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12:23

I feel like I really need to take a nap. I didn’t get any sleep on either of my flights. I should probably make myself stay up until later tonight so I can adjust to the new time zone faster. At the moment, I’m hurting a bit too much. Life will be better when they finally give me the key to my room.

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17:05

I laid in bed trying to sleep for just almost 3 hours. Have you ever been so tired that you can’t fall asleep? I think that’s what I was experiencing. In a way, however, I’m glad I couldn’t fall asleep because if I can just push through until tonight, this is going to help my adjustment to this new time zone. I decided to change my clothes and head out to find a new electrical plug adapter. The one that I brought from Utah is a piece of crap and isn’t working properly. I walked down to the Apple Store, only to discover that it was closed. I stepped for renovations.

Soon the weather had turned and it was pouring down the rain. I decided I’d walk back to the hostel to grab my umbrella. As luck would have it, the front desk had a few universal adapters for sale. I paid the £5 and made my way back up to my room on the third floor. The new adapter seems to be working just fine!

22:05

Technology still fascinates me! Earlier this evening, I was able to FaceTime with my sister Melanie, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Remember how George Jetson used to chat with Mr. Spacely on the screen? We’re living in the future, people!

I found dinner at the Handmade Burger Co. I loved the look of the restaurant so while I waited for my food to arrive, I was walking around taking a few pictures of the place. One of the workers told me, “Pictures are not allowed here.” I didn’t like that- and you know how I can be a brat? I may or may not have told a little white lie. I may or may have told him that I was a food and travel blogger who came to Glasgow from America-technically that’s not a lie, I do travel and I do blog about it, and I do put food pics on this blog– who works – ok, here comes the lie– for The Travel Channel.

After dinner, when I got up to leave, he apologized and I said it wasn’t a big deal. I told him that I wasn’t offended by his no-pictures request and that the burger was delicious. He told me it was ok if I took a few pictures and I told him, “I already did.” I smiled and walked out. So here’s the controversial pictures that I took. Please tell me if I crossed any lines.

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After leaving the restaurant, I took a longer walk back to the hostel so that I could take a few pictures of some of the buildings at night. The night air was very chilly, but at least the rain had stopped. I love Glasgow!

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Back to the beginning of Scotland 5 | Forward to Scotland 5: Day 2

I love the ocean. It is Magical!

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When I stand or swim in it, that is so much proof that God loves me. I think I appreciate it more now than I ever did growing up. There were occasional trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, or various beaches in North Carolina, and even though I enjoyed the ocean back then, I love it so much more now.

I have never been one of those who would just sit there on the beach, like an unemployed whale (remember that line from The Simpsons?). I hate to sit in the sun and tan. Bronzed skin is pretty ugly on any Caucasian. It makes you look like you’re from New Jersey. Thankfully, my Scottish and Irish genes won’t allow me to stay out very long before it’s time to go inside. I start to burn in about 25 minutes usually.

I have enjoyed this last three-day work trip. It had a double SJU overnight, and on the second night, I had plenty of time to swim in the ocean. I have some new swimming shorts that I needed to break in. Just as I suspected, they make me look pretty darn sexy, if I do say so. That was the idea when I bought them at Fort Lauderdale beach last week. It has been a nice break from the brutally low temperatures of Utah and Colorado.

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My sister Melanie tells me that I have my dad’s feet. Whatever. At least my friend Brian says I have sexy feet for a dude (except he says that the second toe on my right foot looks like I tried to pull it off).

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My sister Melanie and her husband Pete are visiting Utah for a few days. Their son Doug is graduating from college in a few days and so they’ve come to visit with the family. Since my parents won’t be home until 17:00 tonight, Pete and Mel came to visit me- their first visit to the house. I told them when the arrived that we were going to play a fun game. This game is called Pretend Dav’s House is Clean.  It’s a fun game and anybody who comes to visit me on short notice gets to play it! Actually, had I not just gotten home yesterday, I would have had more time to clean. They understood. After a brief visit, we drove into town and had Mexican food for lunch. It was so good, but the company was even better!

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