Eclipse

I just read that the solar eclipse on Friday will be visible in France, it looks like in the morning. Estimated viewing times for Paris are from around 8:40 to 10 AM, with the peak at 9:20; we'll probably have slightly less than that, according to this map. I hope it will be clear out so we can actually see some of it.

Castles

On Monday the 14th we drove out of Edinburgh en route to Stirling. We stopped in Linlithgow to check out the castle there, the former residence of Scottish kings. Mary Queen of Scots was born in this castle. The fountain in the center was built in 1538 to celebrate the wedding of James V to Mary of Guise-Lorraine.

The roof had long since disappeared.

Edinburgh

I finally made it to Edinburgh last Saturday the 12th, where it was chilly, cloudy, and rainy. Apparently I made photo-taking a low priority, because I have not so many shots. Suffice it to say that I did the tourist 101: the castle, Holyrood house, the Royal Mile, and sitting in pubs having a pint. We also had one of the best Indian meals I have ever had. YUM.

Here was our hotel room at the Mingalar guest house.Here is B pretending to be drunk in front of the Whisky museum. (We did not actually go in.)
We took a walking tour of the downtown, where I took this picture.
B was amused that in the men's bathroom at some random pub we were in, you could buy an inflatable sheep from the condom machine.
This is one of the 10 bajillion monuments to Sir Walter Scott in Scotland. One of the reasons why he is so beloved, I learned, was that he led the group that re-discovered the Scottish crown jewels. It seems that when Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, the Scottish King took elaborate precautions to hide them, because Cromwell had already destroyed the English crown jewels. So the king first sent them to Dunnottar castle, which was then surrounded and they had to be snuck out secretly; how exactly that happened is a matter of dispute. Then they were hidden in a church for 9 years. After the Restoration they were returned to Edinburgh castle, where in 1707 they were padlocked in a box, which was then placed in a room that was bricked over, for fear they may be lost again. After about 100 years the Scottish people had forgotten all this and began to speculate that they had been lost forever. So, Scott led a group that broke down the bricked walls and broke open the box to find them again. At Holyrood house, the Edinburgh home of the royal family, there are the ruins of an old cathedral out back.

Behind there are the gardens; the queen had some plants in her gardens that I had never seen before. This was an unusual type of rhododendron. The queen also has views of the hills in the distance. Serious Scottish walkers were out for their afternoon trek up these hills.

I hate Heathrow

I took the high road (flight to Edinburgh, connecting through Heathrow) and B took the low road (TGV to Paris, flight) and he indeed got to Scotland before me. People have warned me about Heathrow's Terminal 5, and now I am equally on the bandwagon of the Terminal 5 hatred. My flight was late leaving Lyon, and when we got to London we were in a holding pattern-- the phrases 'Heathrow' and 'holding pattern' go together like salt and French fries-- and then after we landed, we had to wait on the tarmac because our gate already had a plane in it-- again, typical. So, I watched my layover evaporate and I missed the connection, which was the last flight of the day. At least the employees know the drill, down cold, so they handed me an overnight pack and put me up in a quite nice hotel overnight. Nicer than I could have afforded myself, for that matter.

I should have been concerned when I looked at my itinerary and saw that I only had a 1-hour layover in Heathrow. At the Lyon airport, the woman at the check-in desk pulled out a purple 'short layover' tag to attach to my bag. It turns out this is standard practice at Heathrow, because they did it to me on the way home when I had a 2 hour layover. What is considered a long layover? Are you always supposed to budget 5 hours?

Oh well.

Long lost friends

Yesterday I got an email from a college friend who found my blog through the miracle of google. That's what I get for placing real names on the blog. note to self: be discreet.

I'm sending a big virtual smooch out there to my friend, the Suburban Gorgon.

Day tripping with Amir and Amy

A few weeks ago Amir and Amy came for a visit. We rented a car and drove down to the town of Grignan to check out the lavender en route. We stopped for this photo op; Grignan is on the hill in the background.


We climbed into town to get up to the castle.
and up.... and up....
We stopped for a drink at a cafe by this statue. This is Madame de Sévigné, who was known for her letter-writing.
The castle had a real Disney-esque entrance.
The castle was built by the Adhémar family, but they ran out of money before they could complete it.

The view from the top.

FARC

I was excited to hear the news of the capture of Ingrid Betancourt, the 3 Americans, and the 11 other hostages freed by the Colombian government. The Colombian army tricked rebels by dressing as other rebels who were supposed to transport hostages. What an amazing operation. It astounds me that there are people who have been held by FARC for upwards of a decade!

The only sadness is that an additional 600 people are still hostages of the FARC. However, the FARC appears to have been in disarray of late, with the deaths of the leader, Manuel Marulanda, and several other leading figures, and the infiltrating by government intelligence. Nonetheless, it is still a fairly large group.

Congrats to President Uribe!