Waving from Holland: Travel Update: We are IN Scotland!

At Schipol Airport

At the dark hour of 6:30 AM Thursday morning, I set off on foot with my backpack to the train station. 90 minutes and two trains later, I was the Schipol Airport, waiting at the curb for the rest of the family to pull up in the car. Together we checked into our flight and were invited to the front of the line at customs (thanks to Annika). The flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh is only an hour long, confirming my opinion that the United States is just too big of a country. I read that the United States is about two and half times the size of Western Europe!

Where are we going?

Once we landed and rented our van, we made the hour long drive through the countryside to Sally and Roy's farm (Geographers, Claire's friend from school). Alex did a commendable job of driving on the left side of the road, on the left side of the car, which was a manual, so using his left hand. As we drove, I took in the sweeping landscapes of Scotland. It didn't take long to leave the city of Edinburgh (capital and 2nd largest city of Scotland) and enter rural countryside. It was overcast and drizzly, but very beautiful. There are many rolling hills and even mountains covered with pine trees - something you don't see every day in flat Holland. And hundreds of grazing sheep speckle every pasture.

Sally's farm is home to 3 horses, 2 pigmy goats, dozens of chickens and ducks, a neighbor's flock of wondering sheep, and a young labrador named Bramble. Oh, and two boys, Thomas (9) and Ben (7). Because they're English, they have accents which make everything sound intelligent and extremely polite. When I asked Thomas if the pants he was wearing were for riding horses, he corrected me in his proper English accent: "They're called trousers, not pants. You're in the U.K. now, so you have to speak English." It is my hope that I will add many English words to my vocabulary after this trip. It is so hard, by the way, not to slip into using an English accent when you're speaking with a Brit.

Located in the kitchen, this stove is the water heater!

Last night, for dinner, Sally prepared us a dinner with traditional Scottish cuisine - haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed parsnips and potatoes), and cobbler with custard for dessert. Haggis is minced sheep liver, tongue, heart, and lungs with onions, oatmeal, and spices encased in the animal's stomach. This sounded so appealing that after 14 years of vegetarianism, I decided to cast my dietary principles aside and try a bite of haggis, smothered in hp sauce (British condiment). If you don't think about what you're actually eating, haggis isn't all that bad. My vegetarian diet has taken a real blow since my arrival in Europe. In August I tried herring, a staple in Holland. I can't say that I prefer one over the other (herring vs haggis).

So far, I love it here. I love drinking tea by the pot-fulls, listening to the BBC, and falling victim to British sarcasm. To my surprise, I also love being on a farm. Growing up on a farm with animals and muck boots, all I ever dreamed of was living a cosmopolitan lifestyle. But after a few years of living in small apartments in densely populated cities, I find that I have a change of heart when I'm back in the country. I love looking out the window and seeing chickens pecking the ground and in the near distance, mountains hidden behind a cloak of fog. I actually am saddened when I think of how I wasted so much of my childhood in apathy towards our rural upbringing. It makes me reconsider the rural vs urban debate - which is a better place to live?

We will be staying on the farm until Monday, then we'll really put my patience to the test when we embark on a 5 hour car ride across the country to the Isle of Skye, which is sparsely inhabited. There, we'll spend a few days exploring hiking trails and castles, then slowly make the journey back to Edinburgh. We'll leave Scotland on Friday, October 26th, but instead of going home with the family, I've booked a trip to LONDON!!! I've been invited to stay with an old friend, Ryan Goeden, and his wife Christine. I'll spend the weekend there, then head home on Monday on a ship. I will sleep in my own cabin and arrive at the Hook of Holland Tuesday morning. I'm so excited!

Cheerio!