Vacation Day Nine-If Its Not Scottish Its CRAP!

Today's a travel day. I have to go coast to coast, like Allan Iverson on one of his patented one-man fast breaks. All the way from Galway on the west coast, to Dublin on the east. From there I took an Aer Lingus (Irish for "flying bus") quasi-domestic flight to Edinburgh (not the one in the Valley, thank God). Ordinarily I'd have been worried about making it on time, especially because it was such rotten weather in Galway, but ever since I made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, I've not had any real concerns about going places fast.

The scene at breakfast was a little weird. The place was filled with women, all of whom looked to be in their late 50s/early 60s, all wearing the same outfit-baggy velour sweat bottoms, a sweatshirt with a cutesy design, a rain jacket wrapped around their waist, and some sort of comfortable shoes. They all had the same haircut and all wore glasses too. Hope it wasn't some suicide cult, eating their last breakfast together. There was only one other guy, and he wanted nothing to do with that scene. Maybe he's the one who has to mix the cool aid.

The long haul went ok. I stopped at a prototype new highway services store, which I think should catch on in the US. It was really nice, and very clean. It had a Burger King, an a la carte buffet, a coffee store, a gas station operation, a kids indoor playground, spacious bathrooms with showers too. I really marveled at the place. Hell, I'd have stayed there over some of the other places I stayed in Ireland if they had a bed. 50 times more pleasant than Buccees.

I totally got BOHICA'd at the Aer Lingus counter. I planned to spell out all the details at length, but I'm just too tired and annoyed to talk about it. Suffice to say, the baggage weight allowances aren't what they are in the US, by a long stretch. The airline people seemed incredulous that I didn't want to just dump some of my possessions in the trash to avoid their cattle prod baggage charges. Now, no question, I packed too much stuff. But I had no idea I'd have to pay so much for it.

Sorry to detour, but Martin McGuinness is running for the Presidency of Ireland. This merits something of a mention, though I'm tempted to write more about this later. Martin McGuinness, for those who've forgotten, was a senior military official in the IRA during the 1970s, and spent several years in prison for possession of explosives and ammunition. Then he joined Sinn Fein, and later became Deputy First Minister in the devolved Northern Ireland assembly. Simply put, this guy's a terrorist. The IRA, which he proudly and happily joined, killed hundreds of innocent civilians whose only crime was being in a public area at the wrong time. The IRA, like al Queda or the Red Army Faction, or the Baader-Meinhof gang, or the PLO, or Islamic Jihad, tried to force political change through a terror campaign against civilians. Its one thing to grant pardons or amnesty as part of a deal to end hostilities. Its quite another thing to elect one of them as President of a sovereign nation. It will be a dark day for Ireland, and civilized man, if that guy wins. Its already appalling that he holds a high government post in Northern Ireland.

Back to the story, such that it is for a travel day. I made it into Edinburgh in the late afternoon. I took a cab to my hotel, then ate a very late lunch at a pub around the corner, then took a bus into the city center. It started to clear, and became an absolutely beautiful day. Crystal clear, temperatures in the mid-50s, crisp breeze. A really welcome relief from the non-stop Irish rain.

I could tell right away that Edinburgh just has a lot more going for it than Ireland. Its a much bigger city, and its got more going on. More business, more people, more activity. If Edinburgh were Dallas or Houston, Dublin would be Brenham. Its divided into the "Old Town" on the heights in the city center, with the Georgian "New Town" below and just to the north. The rest of the city radiates out from there, hitting up against the Firth of Forth, which leads out to the North Sea. Edinburgh has a major university and is the capitol of Scotland (the devolved Scottish Parliament meets in Edinburgh). Its noticeably cooler here than in Ireland as well, something that I've noticed in the few days I've been here before writing this post. Oh, and I can't understand anyone here either, but I understand the Scots even less than the Irish. They sound like people speaking in tongues at some Pentecostal holiday service, or someone possessed by Satan, or Gabby Johnson in Blazing Saddles (the guy who spoke "frontier gibberish"). Then again, even at home, I can barely understand most people. If you don't sound like my family or the people I knew growing up, I'm going to need you to speak more clearly and slowly.

After checking out the town center, I went for a run in Holyrood Park. This is an incredible open space very near Holyroodhouse Palace, the Queen's summer residence. Its got lots of trails and other running spots, and I saw a lot of runners. Its basically a circular park, dominated by the Salisbury Crags (basically, very high bluffs looking southeast toward the sea), and "Arthur's Seat" the highest point in Edinburgh. I ran some of these very hilly trails, and though I was huffing and puffing, the reward was incredible views of the city as the sun set. It killed my foot of course. Can't wait to get back for some PT.

Next-Edinburgh, day two.