Bits and Pieces

No one story in particular, so here's a bunch of little ones...

On flying here--
Tim was sitting next to a young couple and their small boy on the way to Edinburgh. They carried on a sippy cup for the wee Scot while in flight. Once we were in the air, the kid opened his drink and it went PSHHHHT! spraying apple juice on everyone in the vicinity.

On eating here--
I could get used to the salt and vinegar on fries. It's yummy.

On the food--
Cheddar cheese is not yellow or orange here. It's white. And tasty.

On the language--
French fries are called chips. Potatoe chips are called crisps. They have a gazillion flavors of crisps here. In fact, last night I went into a pub where I bought a bag from the hottest Scottsman ever (he kept calling me "Darlin'" and "Luv"--swoon!). He gave me a choice in crisp flavors including prawn cocktail, chicken and rice, onion and cheese and salt and vinegar.

More on the language--
On our way into Edinburgh airport a few minutes ago (we can't check in for another 20 minutes, so I thought I'd blog), we passed a traffic sign. We were coming into an area with a lot of speedbumps, so the sign warned: Humps for 300 yards. How exhausting.

On Hogmaney--
We happened to be in Edinburgh for the Scots equivelent of Mardi Gras. They had a beautiful fireworks display last night and have a huge midway set up on several city blocks. There's also a Christmas marketplace, where you can get mulled wine in real mugs (no paper or styrofoam here!). They also sell oranges stuck with cloves. Everyone is in the Christmas spirit around here. It seems they celebrate more between the holidays than before. They're playing and singing Christmas carols and there are trees and decorations in nearly every window.

On right now--
Tim is sitting a few feet behind me with our bags. There's a maintenence man sitting right next to him mumbling, making motions like he's pouring himself (and Tim) a wee dram.

On yesterday morning--
The daylight is short here. The sun's only up from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. While we were walking to the stop for our tour bus, a red fox popped out of the hedges and trotted along with us on the opposite side of the road.

On stereotypes--
While at Loch Ness yesterday, we saw a family walking a Scottie dog. I swear, if the dog could talk, he'd have a brogue.

On forgetting--
Last post I promised to explain the difference between a loch and a lake. A lake is something you find in England. A loch is a lake you find in Scotland, only more beautiful.

Time to catch our flight to London now. We'll catch up more tomorrow.

Happy New Year!