I realize my descriptions have been fairly thin of recent events, so:
Scotland
Scotland was a wonderful little getaway from Israel - especially as the weather is getting hot and dirty. Yes, dirty, but that's beside the point.
We got in Thursday evening (Friday morning?), and thankfully Nathan met us at the airport. After travelling for quite some time I really didn't feel like trying to figure out where to get money and how to get a taxi to his place. Thanks again, Nae. During our whole stay not once did we leave the house before noon. However, we did do plenty.
On Friday, since Nathan was working and had no desire to visit the castle, Mark and I wound our way up to the castle, looked around, Mark took some pictures and then when it got so cold that even being inside didn't really warm us back up, we headed back down. Friday was the only day it was really cold and bleary. There was a mist up in the castle - we could literally see it moving in front of us - cool, but cold! There was a couple getting married while we were there and I felt so bad for the poor woman - freezing! So, anyway, we headed back down the hill, had some great tea, coffee and sweets and headed back to Nathan's place.
That evening he took us out to Rogue - and the food, of course, was scrumptious. Ahhh ... there just aren't restaurants that good (that I have access to) in Israel. Yum. And the place was cool - a seamless wall led to the bathrooms. It took me a minute to figure out where the door to the toilet was! I felt like I was in a James Bond film or something.
Saturday we went out to the Botanical Gardens, which was endlessly amazing. Nathan and Mark both ran out of space on their cameras for pictures, went home, refilled, got lunch and came back ... I strolled around and took a nap on the hill while waiting for them :-) That evening Nathan made us scallops for dinner - yum! We had numerous adventures with an over-eager smoke alarm.
Sunday we hiked up to Arthur's Seat. This meant about a 3 mile hike through the old city, past Holyrood Palace and then up a hill to where the supposed stone from which the sword was drawn resides. The hike itself is much more interesting than the stone :-) The wind was blowing so much up there that Nathan got a picture of me with my hair, literally, standing on end! We hiked back down, stopped at a pub and got some yummy eats and then headed home again. And then, of course, that evening we went out again and had the amazing Italian food from Bellini's. That place is definitely worth writing home about! I had one of the best apple pie's I've ever eaten there. So many people make it so sweet I can't handle it - but this was near perfection. Of course, we also had veal, crepes, foie gras filled ravioli --- I can't even begin to describe it (ask Nathan, he'll do much better!).
Monday, we strolled out for a bit of shopping and then a picnic lunch at the Meadows (another park). It was only about 60 degrees or so, but you'd have thought it'd just hit 80 by the looks of the Scots - tank tops, shorts, etc. We were a bit chilly in sweaters and a jacket! Then it was back to Nathan's place to head on home to Israel!
Hey, Mara!
I'm so happy you and Mark came to stay with me - it was a wonderful visit! I wish you could have stayed longer, and some day maybe you'll come to stay.
The vibe in Edinburgh is laid back. It's a sleepy little village that has the Best Nightclubs on Earth(tm); we didn't go out at all, although when we ate dinner at Bellini, we were there so long that the chef came out and sat down and had a beer with us! We were the last people to leave, and didn't leave until 1am! Ha ha!
Funny story about the cameras getting full: Mark and I both filled up the memory sticks in our cameras at the same time. So, we wanted to go back and download pics and come back - it was a gorgeous day (Edinburgh, contrary to popular belief, is sunnier than Cleveland). Well, Mara was having none of it. She just gave us both this look that was like, "Boys and their toys."
So Mark and I went home and then were running late, so we RAN back to where Mara was. It's a good mile from my flat to the center of the Botanical Gardens, so we were huffing and puffing by the time we got there.
'Sokay, though, because we brougth some Pecan...um, Quiche with us! Yeah, it was Quiche!
-Nathan
Hahaha! That was the best pecan 'quiche' I've ever eaten!!