Edinburgh and Greenock, Scotland

We had four days in Scotland and I wish I could say we enjoyed those days to the fullest, but at least we started out strong.  We arrived in the small and quaint town of Greenock, Scotland.  Chris commented it seems about the same size of our new home of Potsdam, NY.

The first day, we just wandered around the little town, ate some meals, and stopped by a playground with a great view.  We did try Scotland’s most popular soda, Irn-Bru, which is way better than it looks given it is the color orange.  It is often described as Scotland's "national drink" after Scotch whiskey). For the second day, we signed up for an all day field trip to visit Edinburgh, Scotland.  This is one of my all time favorite destinations from past travels.  During my study abroad experience in Ireland, Natalie Buys visited me and we traveled all around the UK.  I remember the bagpipes upon arrival into Edinburgh, Scotland, almost 20 years ago as it if was yesterday, and I was pleased to hear them again upon our arrival to Greenock.While I can’t remember too many details about our college holiday (except a large hill we hiked, the changing of the guards, and meeting some Australian men J), it sure seemed Edinburgh has gotten significantly larger which is likely a reality. When the tour operator stated it would take us two hours to arrive, Chris and I looked at each other and asked ourselves if we made a mistake.  This is only one of two-day trips we signed up for this entire voyage.  What we didn’t know in that moment is that when we arrived in town, we would continue to tour around in the bus for a total of three hours!  Quinn was insanely antsy, as you could guess.  Once she got a taste for freedom during a quick viewing of a bridge along our way, it was all over.  She wanted off that bus!  Once we arrived, we toured around the beautiful castle, checking out the jeweled crown, the Great Hall, and the war memorial.  It took us a while to find a lunch spot, so by this point, Quinn fell asleep in her stroller.  Hooray, it can be done!  She slept for 45 minutes.  But by this time and then add on a high chair during a loooong lunch, she had had a lot of sitting.   But unfortunately, this is all the time we had and then we were back on the bus back to Greenock.  Thankfully, it only took 1.5 hours on the way home and Quinn sat in her seat the entire time playing.  She was a champ!  

I wish we would have had more time to walk around as we were not super efficient with our lunch plans, but at least we were able to see the beautiful town of Edinburgh and the castle and try the notorious Scottish dish, haggis (see pic).  I was unaware of what Haggis actually is.  Here is the Wikipedia definition: a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours.  Gross!  Anyway, during this trip, we also had the opportunity to spend time with two neat students on the ship, Katie (see pic at top, standing next to me) and Sarah, who are really good with Quinn.

The next few days were a bit gloomier as I have caught a severe cold and Chris felt overwhelmed with all the work he needed to accomplish with his courses.  We still managed to stock up on groceries (go Tesco!) and eat some meals off the ship.  And to reward Quinn for all her boring stroller time, I took her to Fun World, a gymnasium for kids of all ages.  She particularly enjoyed driving the car (see pic), playing in the ball pit (see pic), and jumping with me in the castle.  She cried when it was time to go.  So, we all got our selfish needs fulfilled to some level.  It is give and take, right?!  This same day, I had a phone interview for a position at Clarkson University.   I had already scoped out the library the day before as a quiet place and tested the quality of Internet by calling dad at 5:30 am.  I figured I could get an indication merely hearing his voicemail, but he was already driving to work!   So, thank you, dad for your ridiculous availability.  The interview went fairly well given the circumstances.

So now we are back at sea for only day, and then we arrive in Dublin, Ireland, a favorite destination on the voyage due to my study abroad experience in college and because we have Dubliner friends to show us around!  About 9 years ago, Chris and I took a trip to South America and we met an Irish couple, Linda and Donal, and traveled with them for several weeks due to hitting it off so well.  We have remained in touch and they now have a young child.  I am excited to see them again and meet the new addition to their family.  And let’s be honest.  I am also excited about not having to think too hard about exploring a new travel destination.  J