Scotland

It's been 3 weeks since I arrived in Edinburgh and think I've finally warmed up! After arriving and meeting Cameron's family I was quickly introduced to driving in city. I have been driving Cam's parents car all around and have to admit it's been an adventure. Not only am I on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car but the streets here are barely wide enough for a car to fit through especially with all the cars parking on the sides of the streets. Not only are all the signs and markings different than ours but it seems as if they don't feel the need to put signs up for much either they just paint it on the road, such as right turning lane only, but you only see it once you are at the front of the lane and then everyone, including Cameron, is yelling at you to get into the straight only lane. Also for every stop sign we have they have round a bouts and sometimes it's just a white circle painted on the pavement as if I'm suppose to know what that means... It's made for some interesting car rides with the 2 of us. Just in case you're interested, gas is $8/gallon!

Edinburgh is beautiful. The castle on the hill and the old buildings. We have spent a few days just walking around Prices Street shopping or checking out the market. For the holidays they had people playing bagpipes and a Ferris wheel and ice skating rink. Cameron took me to see the castle and we've taken walks around Arthur's Seat. I also climbed a Munroe which is a mountain in at least 3000 ft high. I went with Cameron, his father and brother and it took me about 1hr and 50 minutes to reach the summit (the book says it takes 2 hours:) and about an hour to get down. I have to admit I thought I was going to die about 40 minutes into it. It was a pretty steep hill with small frozen streams running down over the grasses which made it very hard to climb. Finally making it to the top was great. We were standing on ground that was even higher than the clouds. Cameron and I spent a little more time on the way down to enjoy the views and will post pictures soon.

We have spent a few nights out in the city and have met some interesting people. Most of the pubs have big fireplaces and about 20 different draught beers to choose from. Big step up from Egypt! I've eaten late night at a chippy and tried haggis, we've taken many walks around the city and had a really nice Christmas. We spent Christmas at Cameron's parents house with one of his brothers and his Grandparents and then in the late afternoon we went to his other brothers who lives on a farm an hour south of Edinburgh. After staying the night there we spent the next day walking and eating and then headed home. The fields here are really beautiful and spread out through the hills and mountains usually covered in sheep. We have just gotten back from a 4 night New Years holiday in Crieff, which is an hour north of here. We stayed at a big hotel that had all the festivities planned for Hogmanay (the Scots word for the last day of the year). Every night they had dinner and Scottish dancing with most men and boys in kilts and all... On New Years Eve, we dressed up, Cameron wore a tux!, and for the last 20 minutes everyone sang Scottish songs until midnight and then bagpipes played and they served champagne and stovies (mashed up potatoes and meat). Cam and I stayed up until 4am and had a great time. While at Crieff we also did clay pigeon shooting with Cameron's dad and brother. Before we went I was a bit nervous because I have never shot a shotgun before and Cam was quite confident that he would shot more than I would... On the first round he and I were tied with 4 out of 8 and then on the second round I got 6 and he got 3... He blames it on the instructor because we had a 2 quick 2 shot rounds from 2 different machines and he along got them all (but so did I). So, it's very painful for him to discuss but I did beat him at clay pigeon shooting and have a sore cheek and shoulder to prove it...

So we are back from our holiday within a holiday and have bought plane tickets to DC for January 16th. We plan on staying for a little less than 2 weeks and then heading over to Mexico early Feb. Cam is keen to do a cave diving course and I am looking into doing my Instructor course but are first planning on checking a few places out until we settle, including Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Well, I can't wait to come home for a bit and to bring Cameron with me... Hope everyone had a great Holiday and Happy New Year... See everyone soon!!! xo