Stunning views were had today on our drive over to Edinburgh. We left the quaint town of St. Andrews around 1pm after sleeping in yet again. The one and only complaint that I can voice on this trip is the lack of sleep. They tell you, to avoid jet lag, you should stay up the remainder of the day when you arrive even though it is 1 am in the time zone you are accustomed to. I only made it until 4:30 the first day we were here. Not a very valiant effort but once I sat down on our hotel bed when we checked in, I was done! Unfortunately, my body woke me up after it’s little power nap at 8:30 that night. Chris was golfing, Shane was sleeping and try as I might, sleep would not come again. That is the night that I looked out the window and saw the magnificent rainbow. Maybe that is what woke me up…the magic was calling. Anyway, sleep found me again around 1:30 am, then 3:30 am last night. That deviation in sleep was caused by a late night “decaf” cappuccino had in the pub at our hotel. I think the waiter had a smug little smile on his face when after my request, he replied, “Decaf…of course.” The caffeine combined with multiple texts and phone calls at what began at 11:30 pm Scotland time to the kids and the “changing of the guards” back home was a deadly combo for a blissful nights sleep. 

Enough about my lack of sleep. I was fortunate enough the next am that Chris had decided to follow the route that might be his only chance to play the Old Course at St. Andrews and that was to arrive at the “Pro-Shop” (forgive me my ignorance of the game for I do not think that is what it is called here) at 4 am.

So as I was going to bed at 3:30, he was getting up to hopefully be successful in his attempt. He was, and after teeing off at 6:30 am, he returned at 10 am to wake us both up to tell us about his “Jeeves” moment (non golfers…look it up.) Shane and I in our sleep induced haze quickly got it together, ate breakfast and we were on the road.

This is the only shot I was able to get on our much better attempt at our, driving on the other side of the road, journey to Edinburgh. Our late departure caused us to hightail it over to our next destination where the conference was being held. We drove into Edinburgh stunned by the beauty of this city clothed in grey stone. Our heads were on swivels as we tried to find our hotel. Think Philly traffic, with few traffic lights, much more narrow roads, road signs that use few words and the beauty tempting you to take your eye off of where you are going! 

We arrived at our destination and after finding out we were on the 6th floor (top floor), could not wait to see the view out our window of this beautiful city!

Okay…You can’t win them all but if you craned your neck and looked up…

you could see the other side of the clock tower!

We only had a short bit of time before we had to be at a dinner in which Shane was not attending. After looking in the fridge in the room that contained the Honors Bar we deemed that it would cost a small fortune to keep him hydrated ( Shane has to drink close to two gallons of fluids a day.) Off to the concierge I went who kindly directed me to a mall very close to the hotel. Upon entering the mall I walked past a “Pound” Store. It looked vaguely familiar and lo and behold, it turned out to be a Dollar Store! I stocked up on large water bottles and munchies and back to the hotel I went. Of course, I could not resist heading into the Starbucks that I found at the bottom of a flight of stairs heading underground. It was aptly named “Waverley Steps Starbucks”. 

We again ended our night at a pub and in a country famous for it’s Scotch I felt that it would be a betrayal to order a “decaf” coffee so I ordered a vodka and tonic. Sorry, no offense but I just have not been able to acquire a taste for Scotch.  I swear, that if they had this kind of tonic at home…it might become a problem. The most delicious vodka and tonic I have ever had! The bottle stated that it was a botanically brewed tonic with herbal additions. Have you ever heard of that? If you have and know where I can get me some…please give a shout out!

I cannot wait until morning when I can hit the cobblestones of Edinburgh and experience those tales!

Until tomorrow~