Skipping around Scotland

My time in Edinburgh flew and now I am sitting in the airport waiting to fly to Dublin.  I always feel a bit sorry for the first stop on a vacation.  As with any international trip, you are in such a daze from jet lag and exhaustion, usually on the second day.  Approximately sixteen hours after I left home in Newbury Park, I finally landed in Edinburgh and made my way via taxi to my flat. I was too tired to deal with the bus and I honestly couldn’t face hauling my 49 pound suitcase anywhere other than the back of a cab.  My cab driver was a lovely man, born and raised in Scotland, with the thickest accent to match.  I was only able to understand every fourth or fifth word, however I was able to make out his tour guide-esque announcements as we passed interesting sites such as the birth place of Sean Connery, as well as the university Tony Blair attended.  He was a sweet, sweet man, eager to use the twenty-five minutes to tell me about his city.  I love it when people have pride in their home.  We arrived to the flat when I suddenly realized I had not studied the pound or any denomination of the pound.  Um, that should have been the first thing I did.  I had notes and coins in my wallet, but I honestly wasn’t even sure what they equaled.  UGH!  And my bleary eyes were having trouble reading the faded coins.  I felt really unprepared, which I did not love.  Anyway, I managed to pay the man, vowing in my head to immediately go upstairs and hit up my Rick Steves book to study the currency.  My flat was located on the Royal Mile.  This is a stretch of road in the center of Edinburgh filled with shops, restaurants, pubs, etc.  The location of my flat was a dream…with the exception of the six flights of steep stairs that I had to climb to actually get to the front door.  To be honest, this didn’t bother me much.  I figured it would help in burning off the pints of cider I was about to consume over the next couple of days.  However, hauling my suitcase, backpack, satchel and tired body up those stairs the first day I arrived was rough.  Almost tear inducing rough.  Luckily, the urge to cry was quickly quelled upon entering the beautiful flat and seeing that the very stairs that I was cursing a moment ago were just the thing that enabled me to have breathtaking views from every window in the place.  LUCKY ME!!!  

                                  VIEWS FROM MY FLAT

My Air BnB host greeted me, showed me around and departed…leaving me to quickly fling myself onto the bed and tear into the dainty package of shortbread cookies that were left for me.  YUM!  As I lay there inhaling a few cookies, I noticed I could hear the faint sound of bagpipes.  Was this a dream??  I mean really, a flat with breathtaking views AND some mood music drifting in from the streets below?  That afternoon I had the best time just traipsing up and down the Royal Mile, ducking in and out of shops, milling about the street and watching wonderful street performers, stopping for a leisurely coffee, and finally ending my night with INSANELY delicious fish and chips and a cold pint of Three Hops. I slept like a log on Sunday night.  

Monday morning I had already signed up for a Zumba class in an area called Morningside.  The trick was figuring out how to get there.  I was determined to use public transit so off I went, all geared up, to try and find the bus.  I attempted to get on one bus, but I didn’t have the exact change.  The driver kept saying something, but I could NOT understand what he was saying!  Damn Scottish accent.  I stood there blankly for a moment, trying to process whatever the hell was coming out of his mouth, with what felt like hundreds of people on the bus staring at me.  After a bit I scampered off the bus and promptly hailed a taxi.  I’d deal with the bus another time.  I arrived at the location of the Zumba class in Morningside, which happened to be at a beautiful church.  To be honest, everything in Edinburgh sort of looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale.  I had the best time taking Zumba, and for an hour I actually felt in my comfort zone.  Figuring out public transport, the stress of airports, understanding new currency, trying to decipher thick accents….all out of my comfort zone.  But dancing?  Bring it.  The instructor Nadia was awesome and energetic and I really enjoyed the class.  

                   ZUMBA IN MORNINGSIDE WITH NADIA

After the class was over, Nadia and another kind lady quickly gave me a mini lesson on the currency and I felt ready to attempt the bus system again.  Success!  I took the bus back to the general area of my flat, but got off a bit early to walk around Princes street and buy tickets to a couple of shows.  I was lucky to catch the tail end of the Fringe Festival, one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world.  I bought tickets for an A Capella show and Fifty Shade of Grey, The Musical.  

After heading back to the flat for a shower, I went back out to hit up a few pubs before the show.  At one pub I met some really nice people and they seemed to LOVE that I was from Los Angeles.  Their first question was if I had ever seen any celebrities.  Very cute!  I had to tell them of my recent sitings of Ryan Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, of course!  They squealed!  I finished my cider and off to the shows I went, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Walking between venues was an experience because it was COLD in Edinburgh.  The nights were low 50’s, even high 40’s, and it was chilly!!!  After the shows, I was walking back to my flat and stopped and witnessed one of the main chefs of a restaurant on the Royal Mile getting a bucket of ice water dumped on him (ALS ice bucket challenge).  Mind you, it was about 12am and probably 49 degrees at this point.  Brrrrrr.  As I continued walking I heard some amazing guitar coming from a pub, so I popped in to enjoy some tunes.  As I was sitting there enjoying the music, a VERY drunk Scottish man danced toward me.  Like, he was actually doing that lasso thing where they pretend toss it to you and then reel you in.  Picture it…I’ll wait.  Got it?  I just about died, but kept it together.  I politely declined, but still got a kick out of his slurry Scottish accent.  I also had a good giggle when I overheard a table of Americans talking about how they’d give their right arm for a Chipotle burrito.  I guess they’ve been abroad for a bit.  I just looked at them and said "I get it."  I mean, it's Chipotle.  I finally got home at about 1am, but had the worst insomnia.  I was able to text with a few friends, and then FINALLY fell asleep around 5:30am (as the sun was coming up).  Surprisingly I was able to sleep until almost 2pm.  This bummed me out a little because I had to skip some of the activities I had planned on doing.  However, NOTHING would have been fun or enjoyable on zero sleep.  

INSOMNIA  :(

Tuesday morning was lost to sleep, but I made the most of my afternoon and evening.  I grabbed some coffee and off I went.  I ended up logging nearly 8 miles of walking.  I walked all over Edinburgh, visiting St Giles Cathedral, Mary King’s Close, Grassmarket Street.  I had a late lunch at a fantastic cafe called Hula where I could have sworn I saw Gerard Butler.  Unfortunately, last night on Twitter I saw that Gerard was in Los Angeles at the Chelsea Handler wrap party so I suppose it wasn’t him.  Oh well, dare to dream.  I also hit up an adorable cafe called Lovecrumbs, recommended by my cousin Elka who lived in Edinburgh for a bit.  Sitting on the most comfy couch, I sipped violet petal tea and just breathed it all in.  I reminded myself not to rush, not to see this trip as a checklist, running from one thing to another, but rather as an in the moment journey.  I relished in the sounds of accented conversations all around me, crisp scarf wearing weather, and the warm mug of tea in my hands.  Happiness.  I knew I wanted to take one more Zumba class before leaving, so I googled the location of the class.  It was 1.9 miles from where I was sitting.  So off I went…walking through gorgeous neighborhoods with the bright Edinburgh sun on my face.  I arrived to the class and danced my feet off for an hour, loving Nadia’s class even more the second time!  By the time the class was over, I could not face walking all the way back to my flat so I asked the lovely girl at the front desk to call me a taxi.  Everyone was so incredibly kind.  From the taxi drivers who I could not understand, to my Zumba teacher, to the bartenders I chatted with over pints of cider.  Edinburgh was wonderful.  As I said before, I always feel a bit sad for the first city.  I’m sorry Edinburgh, if I cheated you a bit with my jet lag and exhaustion.  But, I solemnly promise that one day I will be back.  

GORGEOUS SITES IN EDINBURGH

FAREWELL EDINBURGH!!!

Travel Tip #1 - Get comfortable with being lost.  You will feel lost constantly and instead of letting it frustrate you, see it as an opportunity to explore, test your skills as a survivalist, and invest in the idea that the extra walking while lost is totally burning off the calories of those shortbread cookies you devoured the first night.  :)  

Gifts That Cost Nothing!

The other day I was thinking about stuff.  How we accumulate so much stuff throughout our lives…things that we really don’t need, that fill our junk drawers, fill boxes in our closets, hang out in cabinets unused.  We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on stuff that in the end, won’t mean anything.  I’ve been all about simplifying lately, tired of the junk and clutter.  Consumerism is so empty, it fills our homes, but it doesn’t fill our hearts.  It is friendship and love and experiences that fill our hearts.  It is the support of a friend, the kiss of a loved one, a simple action or touch or statement that fills us and makes us whole, especially when we start to feel a bit broken.  Not stuff.  Then I started to think about how much power that gives us….good power, I mean.  We have the power and ability to give each other gifts all day, every day.  With a simple decision to do so, we can distribute beautiful tokens of love on the daily.  We have the ability to build each other up, support each other, compliment each other, love each other.  And guess what?  These gifts don’t cost a dime!  Which leads me to wonder…why don’t we do this more often?  Why don’t we bestow these free gifts upon each other day after day, when they are 100% free and so powerfully positive?  Are we all just too consumed in our own self centeredness to do so?    Are we too shy?  Too uncomfortable?  Too caught up in our own lives?  Do we forget that it costs nothing to give these gifts away?  What’s even more powerful is when you start to realize that the more you give these free trinkets of love and support away, the better you start to feel yourself.  You will build a kingdom of positivity and good karma in your life so it’s truly a win win.  I say challenge yourself….take a minute to stop thinking about all that you have to do, all that you have on your plate, all that you want, but don’t have…and give a gift to someone else.  Give a compliment to someone (a genuine one!), send a thoughtful text asking someone how that interview went or if that nasty cold has gone away.  Remembering something specific that is going on in someone else’s life is a gift worth a million bucks because it makes that person feel heard and remembered. Hug someone that you might not normally hug.  Send a card, draw a picture, hold a hand.  Step outside of the love language you are used to using (or maybe you're not used to using any!), and try something new on for size.  Perhaps touch isn’t always comfortable for you…hug ‘em anyway.  Perhaps saying “I miss you” feels weird, do it anyway.  Sometimes even asking questions feels weird to some people.  Do it anyway.  Give the gift of time to someone.  Stop with the junk and start giving gifts that will last.  Just some things I’ve been thinking about.  XO