Scotland 6

Scotland 6: Day 1

/ Dav / Leave a comment

02.27.18 | Edinburgh Hostel | 23:00

When I came out of International arrivals, Jonny was waiting. His flight had arrived just about an hour before my own, and he waited at a Costa Coffee in the airport in Edinburgh. I’ve never had anyone waiting for me in Scotland. As you know, these trips are usually a solo endeavor and even though he’s going to be with me for less than a week, this is hopefully going to be a good plot twist.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before my jet lag kicked in, but since it was Jonny’s first time here, we needed to go see the world-famous Edinburgh Castle. We dropped our bags off at the hostel and headed up High Street, a.k.a. The Royal Mile. This city has so many great memories and about now is when so many of them were flooding back. We paid our £17 entry fee and were able to join a guided tour that had just started. Then the wind kicked in. Let me tell you- I have never been to Scotland in this kind of cold. The snow hadn’t yet started, but the wind was already starting to make things miserable. We probably spent about an hour walking around and decided to go find some lunch so we could spend some time indoors.

We walked down High Street until we came to Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. Jonny had some vegetarian sausages, and I had a steak, ale, and mushroom pie. This was the perfect escape from the wind, which had now brought in the snow. I have never experienced Edinburgh this cold before. Even when I come at the end of February, or the beginning of March, I only have had to prepare for winds and rain. This was a whole different ballgame, and I still loved it!

Dinner was a restaurant in a mall area on the New Town side of the city. It is called Slug and Lettuce. Jonny, the traveling vegetarian, got a salad. I had some fish, but it actually came with a super-foods side salad. Also, even though I’ve only been here for two days, I’ve already had three hot chocolates! This may become a problem! I will no doubt come back to the states heavier than when I’d left! Thank heaven for Herbalife!

Scotland 6: PreTrip

/ Dav / Leave a comment

My plane from BWI to PVD landed just after noon- two legs down, one to go. When I turned on my phone, I had a voicemail from the Anne Arundel County police. Apparently, I butt-dialed 9-1-1. Whoops! I’m sure they got the wrong guy. Weirdly, the call isn’t showing up in my call history, though.

Here’s the problem I am now faced with: My flight doesn’t leave until 21:35 tonight, so I need to fill up the time doing something. How early is too early to check-in for an international flight? I texted Jonny, and he told me that he wasn’t looking forward to sitting around for five hours until he can catch his flight. I just wish I only had five hours here!

I asked a Delta baggage-office agent if there are any decent restaurants near the airport, and he sent me to Legal Sea Foods, which happens to be located right across the street. I had some clam chowder, followed by some dang good fish tacos. I fought the urge to order dessert. I rationalized that since I’m on vacation, it’s ok. Then I realized that I’m most likely going to eat too many desserts soon. I will remain strong (for now).

After lunch, I caught a Lyft to a nearby shopping center to get some chocolate for the flight crew and try to get a haircut. The chocolate that I found came from a place called Sweenor’s. I wanted something better than M&Ms, but not too expensive. I ended up spending about $30 on a 1 1/2 lbs. assortment. Since I’m flying Norwegian, I asked my friend and former crashpad roommate, Kyle, who now works for this airline, if he knew the crew. He said he didn’t, but that most of them were based in Edinburgh. I hope they appreciate the chocolate. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the haircut I was seeking. The lady told me that they did take walk-ins, but every stylist was fully booked for the day. I’ll have to get one on the other side of the pond.

Now I’m sitting at the Starbucks outside the Security checkpoint at the airport. This is awesome because my large 12.9 inch iPad is in front of me, and since I’m typing and sipping a venti-sized drink (an herbal tea, if you must know), I can pretend I’m one of those wanna-be screenplay writers who live in Los Angeles and hangs out at Starbucks to use their free Wi-Fi.

PVD > EDI | 21:35 (Eastern US Time)

21:35 was when we were scheduled to depart, but Norwegian actually pushed back from the gate about 25 minutes early. This was good because we’re already up in the air before our scheduled push time. I love it when this happens! I guess if you have everyone, you have everyone- let’s go! Jonny sent me a message right as I was turning off my phone. His flight was slightly delayed, and we were leaving about the same time. Perhaps we’ll land closer to the same time- he was initially supposed to have to wait for a couple of hours for me once he landed.

The crew really appreciated the chocolate, and they were terrific! I will definitely continue to look for a flight on Norwegian in the future. They impressed me from Copenhagen to New York City last year as well. They thanked me several times, handed me three bottles of water, and told me that there were empty rows in the back of the plane if I want to go back and lay down. I hope to get at least a little sleep in the next six hours and forty-five minutes. I doubt it’s going to happen, however. I’m “as giddy as a schoolboy.” I believe that quote is from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

23:40 (Eastern US Time)

I don’t know why I even try to sleep on the plane when I travel. I’ve never been able to rest. I think I may have mental problems. Perhaps it’s the fact that there are other people around? There are a few times where I’ve come close to dozing off, but I never get any rest. It doesn’t really matter how tired I am. If I don’t at least get some rest, tomorrow will be a long, headachy kind of day. Bless the flight crew who have reserved some vacant seats in the back so I can go lay down. I really don’t think it’s going to do any good. Just over four-and-a-half hours to go.

/ Dav / 2 Comments

Last night, my nephew Sam came over and slept on my couch. I asked him if he could drop me off early this morning at Salt Lake City airport. Since I’ll be away from home for a while, I didn’t want to keep my car out in the elements. The employee parking area at SLC isn’t covered parking. I pay them tons of money to park there, and I wish they would use some of that money to put a roof over our vehicles. Perhaps my money is helping to pay for the new airport that they’re building.

Sam has inspired me to set up a website that will display a ranking of how much I love each of my nephews and nieces. This way, they can compete for the top spot by doing things for me or buying me stuff. He is currently at the top of the list. I want to inspire/ challenge the other 24 to up their game to earn that number one spot. I would include all of my great-nephews and great-nieces, but they are too young and don’t yet have jobs to make money to buy me stuff.

The first leg of the journey was a flight from SLC to BWI. Tonight I’m back in Linthicum, Maryland. This is my old stomping grounds from the first three years that I was based at BWI. Many memories of living in downtown Baltimore and then having a crashpad here in Linthicum after moving to Kentucky. The best part of living in Maryland was the friends I made. Among them is my dear, sweet friend Monica.

Monica picked me up, and we just had a great meal together. She told me about the friends she’d kept in touch with- friends from “the old days.” While we talked, I realized that I had left Maryland for Kentucky more than ten years ago! I don’t even know where time has gone! The last time I was even with Monica was at least five years ago when our friend Arron was in town- I remember going to play games at Dave & Buster’s. As per usual, my time with Monica was so short. I had to be the party-pooper and get back to the hotel. I need rest- I haven’t slept very much for the last three nights. This is because I’m too excited- it’s been constant trips to the bathroom, you know when a little puppy gets so excited that it has to pee? That’s been my body all week. Finally, the day has come! It’s time to go on vacation!

Each time I prepare for a trip to Scotland, I have a friend or two who want to go with me. The first time this happened, I asked that friend what he wanted to see and do while there. I set up what I thought would be the perfect trip to Scotland, especially for someone who has never been there. Then that friend had a conflict and had to drop out of the trip. I still had a great trip but by myself. I’m not complaining, however. This same thing happened a second time with other friends. Just like last time, these friends had to drop out for one reason or another. I’ve learned that I need only to plan the perfect trip for myself. That way, if the others drop out, I still have an ideal trip for one. No regrets- over the years, I have gotten extremely good at traveling by myself (and I like it!).

I invited many friends/ coworkers to come with me. Most of them said they were interested, but the number quickly began to dwindle before I started booking. Of the twenty-one invited, two have made it to the deadline. My coworker Jonny will join me for the first few days, and my friend Alan wants to join me toward the end. I am surprised that more weren’t interested because this is a group of people who make their living by traveling. Most of them know how to make an international trip. Some, albeit, are new to the line of work/ lifestyle and aren’t getting paid very much yet, but It’s not like I planned this trip last week- I let them know about this as early as October.

Again, no big deal- it’s still going to be a fun time in Scotland! I have planned the perfect adventure. I am going to try to update this blog every day, internet connection permitting. You know there will be pictures of most of my food and, more than likely, a daily sleep report. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors- these will be fixed at a future date. 

Here we go! when you thought I would sit still for a little while- Tomorrow is the beginning of Scotland 6!

I have been making plans for Scotland 6

/ Dav / Leave a comment

Yesterday I was perusing the internet to estimate what my flight to Edinburgh is going to cost. Even though my job gives me great flight benefits, those benefits are usually on a space-available basis. This should happen in the early spring of next year. Overseas flights don’t usually fill to capacity in the early spring. Still, since I like to book my lodging and transportation in advance, I don’t really want to be stuck in an airport somewhere, waiting for the next plane that happens to have an empty seat.

In pursuit of a good deal, I checked kiwi.com and noticed that Norwegian had some excellent deals going on. They are the airline that I flew on from Denmark to New York last year (see post). I clicked over to their site, Norwegian.com, to find out which U.S. airports they fly to. In doing so, I found a killer deal! PVD-EDI for $99 + taxes and fees! The grand total: $186! They may charge me for checking my one bag (it’s usually a colossal backpack), but even if they do, it’s still a great price- and this is for an exit row, window seat! I couldn’t pass up this kind of deal! I whipped out my credit card, and bam! It finally feels real- Scotland 6 is happening!

/ Dav / Leave a comment

Life has been going quite well. Yes, I dropped off the face of the earth, but here I go, posting again. I’ve spent so many layovers in June in Washington. This meant so fun visits into Seattle, but also an amazing hike with my friend and fellow flyer, Jordan. You’ll have to wait on those pictures- they’re at home on my other machine. Tonight I’m in Brighton. I just finished a three-day work assignment today, and I start another one tomorrow.

I have some fun plans in the works- and I can’t wait to tell you more about them as they happen. Two non-work trips are in the making. I’m talking about bucket list item number 72 (Stay for 7 days in New York City) and working toward number 84 (Go to Scotland 25 times) as I have begun to make plans for Scotland 6. I can hardly wait for these two trips! The first, coming up this September.

Even though Scotland 6 won’t happen until next year, I’m going to be able to visit some more places where my ancestors came from. Also, I may have some crashpad roommates joining me for the adventure. I’ve had people tell me before that they’d love to go with me, but nobody has ever followed through. It would be fun to share the journey, but at the same time, I find great value in traveling alone. So no matter what ends up happening, I’m looking forward to another great adventure.

Ok the real reason for this post:

I had an amazing experience at work yesterday, the Fourth of July. I was working a flight from Denver to San Francisco and as I greeted the passengers. Two of the passengers boarded the plane with musical instruments. One carried a guitar, and the other a fiddle. My coworker, Melody, asked them if they’d be willing to play a song on our flight. Much to our excitement, they agreed.

After our completing our service, I got on the P.A. and told the passengers that we had a special surprise. I then called Adam and Jon to the front and asked them to bring their instruments. The played a couple musical numbers- they are amazing! Such beautiful music and both highly talented- they make the perfect duet! Jon asked me to record it on his phone. During the second song, they decided to walk through the cabin. It was brilliant! The passengers ate it up!

I sent them a message later that evening, asking for a copy of the video. Here it is:
For more about Adam and Jon (or to get their CD), check out http://adamageejonsousa.com. These guys are great! I plan on stalking them.