If you explored the fancy google maps feature David added to the right sidebar, you might have noticed that for our first week we were projected to walk the Great Glen Way, which runs from Fort William to Inverness along a couple of large lochs (lakes), including Loch Ness. We were going to do it "backwards" but whatever--it's the same walk. You should never trust projections, though. At least not ours.

Before leaving for Scotland on Tuesday, we decided to hike half of the Southern Uplands Way (SUW), instead of the Great Glen Way. The SUW is puported to be less trafficked, cover more varied terrain and be more of a challenge. We love hiking and only really seem to get to do it when we travel so this seemed perfect. The Scots, and our feet, however, thought otherwise.

We started Friday morning along the coast at Portpatrick, in blustery weather. Then we turned inland, climbed up and down stiles trying not to distrub shaggy sheep and curious, but shy lambs, and the sun came out. It was lovely. At least until we realized we hadn't sufficiently broken in our new boots and so our feet were aching. We cut the day short, only going eight miles to Stranraer, a cute little port town where we lolled around happily while our feet recovered, though the weather didn't.

While lolling on Saturday, we made the fatal mistake of telling the woman at the Stranraer tourist information center (TIC) about our plans. She promptly said we wouldn't be able to even cover the ground we wanted to, and because halfway along the SUW the terrain is very rural, we wouldn't be able to find transport to Edinburugh in time to meet the family Thursday morning. It turns out she was wrong, but since we didn't know that we ended up restructuring our plans to do a series of smaller hikes in the Dumfries and Galloway area, which we currently doing in Moffat. These have been lovely. Tomorrow we're off for the "long" short walk, thirteen miles on John Buchan Way, which will leave us in Peebles in time to spend the night and then head to Edinburgh Wednesday.

Posted by Leah | Permalink

Our lack of posts before leaving was not because we didn't do things from April 15 to May 15, but rather that we did too much. So, to shorten it up, but still cover some ground, here's a list of things we learned and feel should be passed along.

1) You will receive a 59 out of 60 on your Sanskrit final and feel quite pleased with yourself. Deservedly so.

2) If you're graduating with two graduate degrees, each from a different school, you're guaranteed that both ceremonies will take place at the same time, forcing you to choose one, a decision you will instantly regret when you learn of the speaker for the other ceremony.

3) Five people will fit in a small studio apartment for two days, but only if they're closely related.

4) Two days is not enough time to see a gaggle of "new" relatives. It is, however, more than enough time to learn to detest the humidity of northern Florida.

5) Two hairless chihuahuas do fit in a bird cage. Walking past them in the RV park on your way to the bathroom will excite them into a frenzy, making you glad of the silly birdcage.

6) You will be amused to read a sign at the RV park proclaiming: Do not wash pets in bathroom sinks.

7) After seeing the chihuahuas, you will understand the necessity of the sign.

8) Mudbogging, an activity in which bored teenagers drive their parents' cars through fields of mud after rain, is popular in both rural north Florida and western Pennsylvania.

9) Korean BBQ and coffee with friends are the perfect way to end three years in Pittsburgh.

10) Three hours are not enough to spend with a first cousin once removed you haven't met before. Especially when old family photos are involved.

11) You will cause your sister to have several panic attacks when she sees how much you're leaving with her.

12) She will have several more attacks having five people stay in her one-bedroom apartment for five days.

13) Peace Corps creates such a strong bond, Sharon is willing to drag her unsuspecting boyfriend down from New Jersey by train just to spend the evening with you. And go to the zoo the next day, but that's just for fun.

14) Tours of the capital are most interesting when given by a long-time family friend who works as a legislative assistant for the president pro-tem of the Senate.

15) You will panic, dropping off you passport the day before you're supposed to leave, when the woman at the Madagascar consulate appears to have forgotten that she promised a 24 hour turn around time on your visas.

16) You will be vastly relieved, picking up your passports five minutes after the consulate opens, when the same woman hands them to you with no delay, admonishing you to have a good trip.

17) No matter how hard you try, even knitting at inappropriate times such as while standing in REI talking to Caroline, or starting to bind off using the light of passing cars to see as Irene drives you Dullas for your flight, you will need just half an hour more to finish a baby blanket you started in January, which is already four months late. Damn the thesis, anyway.

18) No matter how much you plan otherwise, packing will always happen at the last minute.

19) You will not have enough time to call everyone you want to before leaving. This will cause guilt and regret.

20) The time to prepare for a long-term trip is finite.

Posted by Leah | Permalink | Comments (4)

Excited to begin our big trip and just hours after landing in London, we spend five hours on a train, alighting in Glasgow in the evening. The skys were grey and spitting, so we bundled up and walked around for supplies and then boarded another train to a campground that we had found in a guide book, which we hastily borrowed from Irene in the drop off zone of the airport in Washington. (Yes, your image of our frantic departure is correct.)

Stepps, a quiet suburb of Glasgow, was only 10 minutes away. Just after setting off from the train station, a nice man (unsolicited) directed us to the campground. He was just the first in a seemingly endless string of pleasant, funny and helpful people we've met so far. He also recommended a "watering hole" called, and I'm not making this up, the Wee Pub and then ambled off to get a refreshment from the same. We continued with his directions and were soon stretched out in our comfortable tent listening to the pattering rain.

Later that evening, and just out of a freshly assembled tent, a huge Great Dane bounded toward me and a man yelled, "Hola!" The dog smelled an offered hand and walked off uninterested. I started talking with the man and discovered that he was Spanish, named Hacho (sp?--the H is silent, right?) and worked in Glasgow, although I was told there was no work that day. His wife, Goi (short for Goiatz), was the manager of the camping section of the caravan park. The dog was named Chaos. Apparently, Hacho thought I was Spanish because there were many of his compatriots in Glasgow for a big football game. Hacho and Goa were pleasant and we chatted for a few mintues before heading off for dinner.

The walk to dinner was drawn out, due to the spread of the town and the scarcity of restaurants. Eventually, with help from two women at the Ironing Basket, we ended up at the Buchaner Inn Cafe or something and had a filling, if generic, meal before returning for a hard sleep.

End of day one.

Posted by David | Permalink

I don't eat meat in the U.S. for sustainable reasons. It takes something like ten times the amount of land to produce one gram of meat protein versus one gram of grain protein and at the current population growth rate, coupled with the industrialization of large countries like China and India and the fact that as people have more money they traditionally consume more meat, not eating meat is a very, very small way for me to stem the tide of overuse of available land.

But I do eat meat when we travel. It's too hard to be a vegetarian in most countries: it doesn't make sense to probably 99% of the world. Plus, it's hideously rude to refuse meat when we're being fed by people for whom meat is really expensive. So, as our friend Helena said, I'm a flexitarian.

All of which is to say that now we're traveling again, despite the fact that I could be a vegetarian in Scotland fairly easily, I'm back to eating meat. The reality of this was brought home by the fact that I tried some of David's haggis and thought it was quite good. Who knew?

Posted by David | Permalink | Comments (1)

And so it is recorded: it's tasty.

Posted by David | Permalink | Comments (2)