Edinburgh

In a bit of amazing luck, I'm typing this right now from a hotel guest computer in Edinburgh, Scotland. I've always wanted to visit Scotland, especially after seeing London. Work is paying for this trip, so I could attend a design review by one of our subcontractors here. The meetings are over as of today, but I'm staying a few extra days on my own dime to do sightseeing.

The city has hills and old stone buildings everywhere. It seems like there are dozens of "small" cathedrals scattered around. I saw Rembrandts and Van Gohs in the National Gallery a few hours ago. The scotch whisky selection at the pubs is encyclopedic - one coworker who grew up in this area helped me choose a few to try the last two nights. I'm taking notes of which ones I've got to get from Binny's once I'm back home.

Yes, the exchange rate sucks. (It is pretty close to 2, so at least the math is easy.) The weather has been rainy, but at least my eyeballs aren't freezing like they were in Chicagoland this past weekend. I don't have the giant camera with me, but I did buy a new Nikon S200 for the trip last week so I'd be able to take snapshots. I'll even be here for Burn's night on Friday, so I'll let you know what I think of real haggis. (I've had the Aramark riff on haggis in Terre Haute. This WILL be better than that.)

My flight back is Saturday morning. I'm avoiding reality until then.