The passageway on the Caledonia Express train between London & Scotland is so narrow that a man got stuck as we were boarding. He wasn't even particularly fat. It took the engineer & two attendants to push & pull until he popped like a cork into his cabin. I observed this from further down along the car. There was much conversation between the engineer & attendants & I couldn't understand what they said. I attributed this to the distance between us, my hearing, & the fact that it was midnight, the engine was on & the whistles blowing impatiently.
This passageway is made for underfed supermodels
The fields on the way to Edinburgh are green with winter grasses for livestock
When you turn a corner, you never know when you'll spot a mini-castle
It's the darkest-hued city I've seen, yet light & merry in spirit
This did not stop a chilly traveler from going in for an artful bowl of tomato soup
As you wander, Edinburgh is full of interesting sights. This is a street performer whose performance is standing there with his pet owl. Very Harry Potter!
You know you're alive when you get a long, eyeball-to-eyeball look like this
This man had a Houdini act. He wiggled & jiggled his way out of a straight jacket & chains. There was a 2 year old child in the crowd who found this incredibly funny. After each sentence he said, as he paused for breath, she giggled loud & long. Every time he shook his chains or struggled against the straight jacket, she howled with laughter. Hilarity ensued all around.
Scotland wants you to know that it has gorgeous pastries too
You don't often see a church converted to a coffeeshop & marketplace for tourist goods
You do see that Scotland is dead serious about its whiskey
This is Edinburg as seen from a whorl in a Victorian glass window. International travel can be mind-bending!
But that wasn't it. A little later, one of the attendants -- a friendly, busy (very thin) woman -- came in my cabin to tell me about...well, I'm not sure what. She talked for five straight minutes, very fast & animatedly, showing me various elements of the cabin...the tiny built-in sink, the windowshade, etc. I watched her face the entire time, astounded by the fact that, though she was speaking English & just a few inches from me, I couldn't understand a thing! I caught only three words "...nurse my hangover...", which I believe related to a birthday party she was attending the next day. The language barrier was more opaque than Italian, because there at least there I could fathom the occasional word root. Welcome to Wee Bonney Scotland!
Or a major-castle. Scottish castles look exactly like castles in movies & TV shows about medieval times.
Edinburg is dark, but not gloomy, with pointy spires everywhere.
Swank lunch spots are empty in winter
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