Scotland!

(Okay, I know it is strange to have a cup of coffee as the image for an entry titled "Scotland!" But I just liked it so much--the image and the coffee.)

I have finally arrived. After a bit over 24 hours in Scotland, here are my first impressions.

People: Unbelievably nice and friendly. While shopkeepers are ringing you up, they will ask how your day has been--and really seem to want to know the answer! I've had this happen to me twice already. A mundane transaction becomes a nice chat. Last night I was at a little take-out place and the owner's baby started crying, she asked me to hold her while she prepared my food. (I was already playing with the baby to try to calm her down.) So I did! Then when dad arrived, we had a...nice chat.

Accent: Frequently indecipherable. If two Glaswegians are speaking to each other, it is a totally different language! Consonants disappear and it's all vowels. Otherwise, it can be absolutely charming and disarming.

Weather: Sunny and 68 today with the same forecast for tomorrow. I know this surely can't last so am trying to enjoy every minute of it.

City: Very nice what I have seen of it. Lots of trees! Lots of cool 19th-century buildings! Fairly clean and lots of shopping. I have been concentrating on crossing streets correctly. Since traffic runs on the opposite side to what I am used to, everytime I approach a street I think "look right, left, right". So far I have not been run over. Yay! And I even had my first experience driving on the "wrong side"--I rode my bike home from the rental shop and survived that as well.

And last but not least,

Food: Well, I haven't eaten anything terrible yet. Last night was moussaka at a Mediterranean place. That was good, if a little greasy. This morning was a great cup of decaf coffee, eggs scrambled with cheese and onion and a croissant. Tonight was a frozen shepherd's pie from Tesco's. Oh, and a BLT sandwich at Starbucks for lunch. Okay, not the healthiest, but I have not come across anything deep-fried yet!!

Tomorrow is the big Pedal for Scotland 50-mile ride between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Hopefully I will live to blog another day! (And not be too maimed from the ride.)