Glasgow

I've just arrived in Glasgow more than a little travel weary. Right now I'm inclined to describe the city, which Lonely Planet euphemistically calls "gritty" as a "bombed-out concrete soviet shit-hole", but that's probably fatigue talking. Like it or not I have 2 nights here, and at least the hostel in nice. Plus I made a less than cheery selection at the EXCELLENT 2nd hand bookstore in Inverness situated in a deconsecrated church, All Quiet On The Western Front. It's gripping but utterly depressing.

The Carbisdale Castle Hostel in Culrain was great, but unfortunately that was the ONLY thing in Culrain, except for midges, which I don't think I've described yet. A Midge is essentially a cross between a mosquito and a gnat. They are small and swarmy and like to fly in eyes, and yet they also suck blood and make itchy bumps. Truly the worst of both worlds. Anyway, I did get plenty of sleep at the castle. I fell asleep on my books at around 7 pm and woke up to catch the train to Inverness at 8am. After more sleep on the train (Ben Nevis really exhausted me), I took a bus from Inverness to Glasgow. The parts of the ride when I wasn't reading about flying shrapnel and limbs were beautiful. I have a few hundred photos from the last few days selections of which I will post later today when I manage to grab the transfer cable from my hostel room.

Oh, and a Happy Fathers' Day to any dads reading this.

*update*
I am in a much better mood after discovering an unsuspecting chinese buffet serving ommelettes for some reason; all I could eat only £7. Glasgow is partially vindicated now that I have eaten a large portion of it. I can't find my transfer cable at the moment but if this persists I will spring for another as they are cheaper than buying new memory cards.

what the highlander eats

I am back from Ben Nevis, having summited successfully. But first I want to talk about the sandwich I saw at the burgerking in the Glasgow train station. It's called the 'Big Breakfast Butty' and has eggs, sausage, bacon, bacon, special sauce, and I don't remember what else. It costs $8, and contains 3785 Calories. I'm still speechless. (no I didn't eat one)

Anyway, back to Ben Nevis. I left my campsite at 6:00 am to make my way to the trail head. I had on 3 upper layers and 3 below, as well as a fanny pack with water, granola bars, a compass and map, an emergency blanket, and my camera. Things I lacked that the info desk recommended: gloves and a jacket. It was about 60 degrees when I set out, and after 2 hours when I reached the first plateau featuring a Loch and many many sheep, that had dropped to around 50. The actual summit is hidden by clouds most of the time, making it impossible for me to judge how far it was and ration energy well. So by the time I was about where I had thought the peak was, there were still around 200 meters to go, through snow and ice and winds much stronger than predicted. The Cairn stones marking the route were frozen on the windfacing sides. I made it to the top after nearly turning around twice due to fog and chill. I spent 5 miserable minutes at the summit then turned around, meeting a nice dutch hiker en route who descended with me to the snowline before speeding up to catch a train. All in all the round trip was a little under 5 hours, which was the minimum time quoted to me. I broke camp, then took a glorious, blazing hot shower, before walking into Ft. William to catch the bus to Inverness.

Inverness is a sort of strip-mall town. Literally 88% of the real estate is shopping. I'm taking it easy tonight, then tomorrow I may make it out to Loch Ness which is 6 miles away, or do some other day trip. I'm exhausted right now, but well fed. Haggis is delicious.

I am posting the rest of the photos on my facebook page, which should be accesible to everyone at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2316459&l=93a47&id=8815627

$8 an hr internet fast post

hey all, Im alive with no time for punctuation at glen nevis in the highlands of scotland. climbing ben nevis tommorrow morning (hiking really) many piictures to poost from innverness. love all.

addendum: Meeting my professor in Edinburgh was excellent. We went out for a pint with one of his phd students then to a quick dinner with his wife at the cafe where Jk Rowling worked on the first Harry Potter.

San Francisco's Red-Headed Cousin

I love Edinburgh. My bus pulled in at 7:30 and despite around 4 hours of upright sleep the sight of the city was exciting enough to give me the energy to climb the tallest thing I could see, Arthur's Seat. Everywhere I look are castles, hills, statues, and pretty snails for some reason. The city is set on a blue bay, dotted with towers, turrets, and green trees.

After descending, I made my way to the Scottish breakfast place recommended by the hostel desk guy. There I consumed my weight in eggs, haggis, ham, toast, beans (served separately). Phenomenal. As I was strolling around the streets I passed a cemetary with a sign saying David Hume is buried there, so I popped in. His tomb was set into a tower with an open metal gate, and inside were two considerably drunk scottish guys probably in the middle of a (minor) drug deal/lunch. They mumbled something at me in a friendly tone so I took a picture and backed out slowly. I cannot for the life of me understand 68% of what scottish people say to me.

Right now I'm running errands trying to get my finances and travel plans set for the next few days. Tomorrow I catch a morning train to Fort William in the Highlands.

day 2

Things I saw today:
Napolean Bonaparte's toothbrush
the Elgin Marbles including the ENTIRE freize of the parthenon
The Rosetta Stone
Charles Darwin's movie villain-ish curved walking cane made of whalebone and topped with a grinning ivory skull with 10 karat rubies set in the eye sockets.
And speaking of Darwin I also say an old toothless man shouting "ee-vo-LU-tion!" at a flyer guy wearing a 'Jews for Jesus' tshirt.

I checked out of my hostel at 10:30 this morning having drooled all over the (former) incredibly clean and suprisingly comfortable little bed. They held on to my bag for me while I wandered around from the British Museum to the National Galley, through Trafalgar Square, over the Westminster Bridge, under the London Eye, and finally into the British equivalent of TGI Fridays for the British equivalent of Fugu, a hamburger. To give an idea of the prices here, things would still be 10% more than NYC prices if you only substituted the little wiggly pound sign (£) to a dollar sign. Factor in the almost 2.25 multiplier and you understand why I only spent one night here.

Right now I'm in an internet cafe waiting for the free hostel dinner at 6:30 before catching my overnight bus to Edinburgh, where I'll be meeting my former philosophy professor from dartmouth for a pint.

Day one -London

subtitled: The English deserve every imperial ounce of their culinary reputation.

I had lunch at a grocery store, which doubled as a cheap source of even cheaper laughs at offerings such as "whole grain yogurt", "mayonaise and prawn sandwiches on oatmeal bread", and yogurt that included whipped cream, lemon juice, and "maize derivative" in its long list of ingredients.

My timeline of the day was more or less as follows: arrive at Heathrow on the redeye at 6:30, clear customs and baggage claim, ride the underground to my hostel- a gutted mansion in a wealthy london neighborhood, wandering to find a pub older than my home country ( i didn't have to wander far), napping for 3 glorious jetlag soaked hours, then taking the tube to the Thames river bank around sunset to walk from the london bridge to the tower bridge. Right now I am sitting at a curry house on the famous Brick Lane, one that features an "off liscence" internet cafe. It's almost 10pm now and only dusk. My energy is wavering so it looks like it's back to my hostel for tonight.

the final countdown

3 days to go, until I go.  Today was more or less routine in a more or less pleasant way. I baked alone from 5am to about 4pm which entails zombie shuffling to the bake house at 5 to rake out the embers from the oven, then mixing dough until around 7:30 when the breakfast meeting happens.  After that it's constant espresso with fresh cream, loud music from my flour saturated ipod player, and an hour of dough division until the oven has cooled enough to begin baking - 765 degrees.  At 4pm I pulled the final 6lb rye loaves from the now 550 degree oven and zombie reshuffled up the hill to the intern house for a nap in the hammock with an anchor steam beer and an open book on my chest.  Around 6 I awoke to mosquitos and thunderclouds. After a small solo dinner I did a (successful) trial pack of my bag for europe.  So here I am with about an hour before I should be sleeping, since I get to sleep in tomorrow (7am!).  2....1...