A glorious day

How sweet was that? 12 of my 17 kids were home sick. It was luxurious. Each kid got a lot of individual time and we even took a walk in the woods. I can’t believe I stay as healthy as I do, considering all the snotty little noses I wipe everyday. We’re doong lessons now celebrating Santa Claus and the winter holidays. Santa Claus is a big thing here now, but still the big holiday is New Year’s Day.
Monday I get to take off for a German language seminar about teaching kids about sustainable energy and the environment. It’s something which Claudia arranger through institute and invited me to. Am looking forward to spending a day using the German language. I don’t want to use too much of it.
Cross your fingers that a whole bunch of kids are sick again tomorrow. I could use another day like today.

So much for the Mother’s Day tea

Yesterday was Mother’s Day here. We were going to have a tea for the moms today but over half of our kids were sick, so we postponed it for two weeks. What an unusual feeling to teach a class with only 8 kids in it. We made Christmas trees by pasting different lengths of drinking straw pieces on paper and putting a star on the top. Only problem is, the drinking straws don’t stay glued for long. Plus, the fact that they are damaging to the environment.
I ran into our friend Emma from the public market yesterday. She had been sick, which was why she hadn’t been in touch. I’m looking to attend a seminar in German on Monday about teaching kids about the environment and sustainability. The boss says I can go, I just want her to tell my how she’s planning on covering my class. I can’t leave 17 kids with one aide for 11 hours.

Van Gogh and the flat tire

So, Paul and I hop on the bus to go to Mega mall to meet Sonia and Klaudia and see a Van Gogh “multimedia” exhibit there. Paul and I got there early and went into IKEA to get him a mattress cover. The mattress on the bed in his apartment is so dirty, he is getting sinus infections from all the dust. We find one  and then walk over to the Van Gogh exhibit. Sonia and Klaudia show up. Klaudia is German, works for a German agency here and drove her car here from Germany. Very daring.
We buy our tickets for the exhibit and go in. It consists of multiple screens and a lot of beanbag chairs. Von Gogh paintings are projected on the screens, nice music is playing in the background, and every once in awhile a voice comes on and explains something about VAn Gogh in Russian. Sonia and Paul dozed off. It was actually very relaxing. We sat through it twice.
We left the exhibit and were thinking of getting something to eat when Klaudia explained that she had gotten a flat tire on her 22-year-old Opel when she pulled into the parking lot. Can we help her change it? We can! We go outside, pull everything we need out of the trunk, Paul jacks up the car, and I hold my handy dandy bicycle light, which I always carry with me, so that Paul can see what he’s doing. Paul tries to take the lug nuts off and the lug wrench is the wrong size. Car down and off the jack, everything back in the trunk, walk back into the Obi store at the shopping mall to buy the right-sized lug wrench. Lug wrench bought, back outside, car jacked up, bicycle light held (I considered myself tech support.), old tire off, new tire on. And this all in below-freezing temperatures. back into the mall to a tea place where Klaudia treated us all for the assistance. Actually, we had lots of fun laughing and talking about the tire and life in Russia in general.
Sonia, Paul and I took the bus back home and I studied a little bit of Russian. Now it’s time to call it quits.

Rich Family

No, I’m not going to describe the people whose children attend my class. This is the name of a new store in our district which could be best described as the Russian version of toys are us. Holy crap, it has everything thing from baby furniture, to sleds, to toys and games. Sonia and I went over this morning because I was looking for a large pair of dice to play some games with the kids and work on their numbers and counting. I didn’t find the dice, but I did find some good-sized plastic blocks that I’m going to paint some dots on. I also found English alphabet puzzles and magnets. A lot of the stuff was cheap plastic junk, but the prices are much cheaper than most of the other retails kids’ stores here.
I headed home after I bought what I wanted and Sonia headed out to go shopping with Fouad. He needs some new duds. I. Brought the stuff home then went out again to make a deposit ant the bank and get some groceries. I was in The mood for another pizza and I’ve got it In The oven now. After I finish eating, I’m going to meet Paul at the bus stop and we’re going to meet Sonia and Claudia, a girl from Germany, at one of th3 malls where there’s a Van Gogh exhibit. Should be interesting.

Thanksgiving pizza

It’s been a busy week. One of my aides has been pulled to help out in another class which is a total mess because they keep losing the aides there. So why does my class have to suffer because of that? It would be nice if they would found better solutions and do some long term planning instead of all the piece me crap they throw together. Speaking of crap, one kid pooped his pants today. Oh lord, spare me!
But the one nice thing today was that I celebrated an impromptu Thanksgiving with Sonia, Ravil and Fouad. Ravil and I have been watching BBC documentaries and discussing them so he can improve his English. I suggested he come to my place with his laptop tonight and I would make a pizza. Then we could watch the documentary. Sonia and Fouad joined us. The pizza turned out great and the documentary was excellent. It was about astronomical discoveries in the Islamic world that influenced Copernicus. Very interesting. We ended up just sitting around and yakking after that. Sonia was wondering if we should celebrate Thanksgiving and I said I didn’t feel like going to the trouble of making sauerbraten again on a school day.
Since we had such a good time together tonight, I said we would call it Thanksgiving. That’s what it’s all about.

Nizhnekamsk

Yesterday was an interesting day. The guy from the Rotary Club who just completed the “around the world” bike trip in October asked me to go along with him to the opening of a bike park followed by a bike conference in Nizhnekamsk. He wanted me to show my presentation of how we started our school bike club. I was game. But boy, do I hate getting up before 6. We had to be on the road before 6 because it was a 4-hour drive. I was glad there was no snow on the ground.

Ildus picked me up, then we swung around and picked up Aigul. She was going to do a presentation on the bike collection and refurbishing project. It was an interesting ride through a part of Tatarstan that I had never seen before. There is barrenness for miles, then you see the smokestacks of chemical factories rising in the distance. This is where a lot of Tatarstans’s wealth comes from. Unfortunately, this is also where a lot of its pollution comes from.
When we arrived, we went to the youth center where the presentations would take place. We hung around there, all the hosts came to greet us and we got a bite to eat before we were whisked away to the new bicycle park which they were dedicating. I was even asked to say a few words. Then we got shown around the park, which has a whole “street” set-up for bike riders so kids can learn how to ride correctly on the roads. Then we had a bike parade back to the conference center. And, surprise, surprise, the bike they had for me was too big. Meanwhile, as I’m trying to get going with the bike, all these school kids start coming up and asking me to be in a selfie with them because they’ve never seen an American. The hosts are trying to pull me away from the kids and get me on the bike because the police escort is waiting for us. It was an uncomfortable ride, but I made it back without falling on my face.
When we got in the building, first we were given tea and sweets before we did our presentations. I gave my PowerPoint about starting the bike program at the school. Later, I got to talk with the guys who rode the bikes over in the parade. They are all teenagers who are enthusiastic cyclists. In general, the whole city is excited about making  hangers in the infrastructure to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.
Afterwards we went for a very nice lunch served in the guest room of city hall. We got to continue our conversation with our hosts there before we had to start out for the long ride home. It was a tiring day.
Today I hung around all morning, then went to see Bohemian Rhapsody and out to dinner with Anna. The movie is good and the guy who plays Freddy Mercury is great.

The long flight back.

Wow, that was a long two days. My flight left at 10 to 5 on Sunday morning. That means I had to be at the airport latest at 4. That means I would have had to take off for the airport at 3, so I figured it made no sense to get a hotel room for that night. So Saturday evening I just took the tram to the airport and stretched out on a bench when I got tired. I was actually going to take the bus to the airport. But after walking up and down the street and asking people for directions several times, I just said screw it, and caught the tram. I big rugby match had just let out so it was difficult walking down the sidewalk and pulling my suitcase. But I made it. I went to the KLM counter at 4 a.m. and the guy couldn’t find my ticket because I had changed  my flight date. Oh crap. After doing some checking, I finally got my boarding pass. It was all three flights on one card. I’m thinking it’s convenient. Land in Amsterdam,  no problem. Land in Moscow, no problem. Try to go through security in Moscow, problem. The compute4 won’t accept my boarding pass. The lady sends me back to the counter to get a new, individual boarding pass for this last flight to Kazan only. What a pain. Fortunately, I had plenty of time. I get reading done, texting done, and just generally killed time.  I arrived in Kazan at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning. Sonia had a taxi waiting for me and I was home by two. I was in school at 8. I managed to catch up with my sleep Monday and Tuesday so I’m back in the groove again. We’re preparing for Mother Day, which is November 25 here. We’re going to host a Mother’s Day tea in class and act out the story, The Little Red Hen. Then on Saturday, I have another bicycle gig. The guy that rode around the world is doing a bike presentation in another city in Tatarstan and is taking me along to show my PowerPoint presentation of what the school’s bike program looks like. It’s a 3.5 hour drive there. It will be a long day. But it should be interesting and I will get to see another part of Tatarstan.

Let me retry that picture

That's better.

Edinburgh pictures

The last line from previous entry

But it totally reflects the Scottish national character and reflects their toughness and resilience.

Saturday in Edinburgh

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the end of WWI. It’s being commemorated all of Scotland this weekend because Scotland played such an important role within the Allied forces and suffered terrible losses. Everyone has decorated with poppies, a symbol of WWI.
When I got up this morning, I showered in my quarter-sized shower, got ready, left my luggage at the reception and went back to Black Medicine Coffee Co. for my scone  and tea. It was worth the wait. Then I walked down to Holyrood Castle, where the Queen stays when she is in Edinburgh. I took the tour and was very impressed. You got a free audio guide when you went in, and this one actually worked well. It told you exactly when to push the buttons for what room. And the castle was lovely. I checked out the Abbey ruins and the garden before I headed back into town. But wait! What’s this modern-looking building standing across the road from Hollyrood? Why, it’s the Scottish parliament building! I’ll have to go in! I didn’t know what to expect. The architecture was interesting, the displays were OK. But what impressed me was the film the was running which showed the opening of the building in the 1990s with the Queen in attendance was absolutely fabulous. It was one of the most inspiring political speeches I’ve ever heard. Very touching.
I left Parliament and walked up the street in the bright sunshine to Oink. It’s a little restaurant that only serves pulled pork sandwiches. It was just what I needed to get me through the afternoon. I spent the afternoon taking a free walking tour (And many of the museums in Scotland are also free, by the way.) that gave me a lot more insight into the city. There was a Spanish lady on the tour whom I talked with quite a bit. Very pleasant. It was only about 3:30 now, so I headed for the National Museum. I didn’t stay long because I was really getting burned out. So I walked back to the bookstore next to my hotel and purchased a book about Glasgow which I had learned about here. I’ll have some reading material for the airport.
I went to the hotel,picked up my luggage, and headed for the bus stop. The trouble was, I couldn’t find the bus stop for the airport bus. And a million people were walking down tHe street because a big rugby match had just let out. So I’m pulling my suitcase up and down the street and trying not to run people over, it’s starting to rain, and I STILL can’t find the right bus stop. I even asked two or three times. So screw that. I got on the tram which goes to the airport. And here’s and interesting thing with the trains and trams here. When you get off and exit the stations, you have to give up your tickets. Not a bad idea. Just glad I didn’t toss anything or crumble it up in my pockets. So now I’m just waiting in the airport until my early morning flight. I figure I will sleep well on the plane. It’s been a great visit. And here’s what I learned about Scotland and the Scots.
They are intrepid bike riders. They mix it up in traffic with no fear. I saw one young lady riding slowly in a roundabout, with a bus and other traffic moving patiently behind her.  That’s the way it should be. The road is for everyone.
They also have great bookstores. I could have spent the week just sitting in them.
I had great weather almost the whole time. Only on a couple of afternoons did we get some light  showers.
And Scotland is very multi-cultural. It was phone to see so many different types of people speaking with a Scottish accent and kids from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds headed for school in their uniforms. Scotland is truly part of Europe.      
Scotland has a great motto. If you get in my face, I’ll kick you in the nuts! This is a rough translation from the Latin. But

Edinburgh and Armistice Day

Wanda, Sheila’s friend, recommended that I take the train  to Edinburgh instead of the train. She told me to sit on the left side of the train. And I’m glad I took her advice. The view along the coast was breath-taking,plus I saw a ring-necked pheasant and herons. I didn’t get in until after 11, so I walked done to my hotel before I I got something to eat. My room is the size of a postage stamp and the when I sit on the toilet, my feet are in the shower. This is no exaggeration. But the price is right for one night.
I couldn’t get into my room until 3, so I deposited my bag at the reception and started heading up the hill towards the castle. Halfway up the hill, there was a nice little cafe where I had a BLT (It had. no mayonnaise on it.) and some curry chicken soup. It was a pleasant lunch. So, I finished walking up the hill and paid to get into the castle. I first took a guided tour and then spent another 1.5 hours looking around. It was bitter cold and the wind was blowing like crazy. By the time I was finished, I was wishing I had taking my warm hat and scarf out of my suitcase. So I hustled back to the hotel and got under the covers for while. I turned on the Telly and watched some of the normal afternoon fare of gameshows and talk shows about who’s the father of my baby, and if you don’t give me back my rugby tickets I’ll knock your face in. What was the name of that guy in American TV who did the show like that? Jerry something.
After I got warm, I wanted to get something light to eat. I had been dreaming of a scone. So his time I dressed better for the weather and walked around the city. I stopped at the Black Medicine Coffee Co. It was a nice little place so I went in and asked.  But they wouldn’t have scones until tomorrow morning again. That’s when I walked down the street and found the Tesco grocery store with all the fine products for my dinner featured in the blog before this. Irn Bru is actually quite tasty. Not as much carbonation as American beverages. I couldn’t resist one Krispy Kreme and I wanted a healthy component to the meal so I went with the smoked salmon ring. I consumed it all back on my bed in the postage-stamp sized room while watching “Have I Got News For You.” It’s a news show with a comical take to it.  It’s pretty skin to the monologues of most late night comedians or like “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR radio. Just before 10 I fell asleep and slept like a log until 8.

Irn Bru, Krispy Kreme, and smoked salmon ring

This was my supper. A lady I met at the conference told me I should try the national soft drink, Irn Bru. I don't like pop, but it's not too bad. And, there was no way I was going to resist a Krispy Kreme donut. I haven't seen one in years. The healthy portion of the meal was a smoked salmon ring. It came with a folding plastic fork. 

I forgot the exciting part

I almost forgot. I kept hearing German all over town today and seeing guys with German soccer team scarves around their necks . It turns out that Leipzig was playing Celtics Glasgow tonight. When I headed back to the train station, maybe 150 German fans were gathered in George Square. Many were already drunk and some were trying to get songs started. There were copes all over the place and 6 mounted officers. It’s easy to see how something like this can get out of hand.

A day in Glasgow

So, I’m up nice and early to make sure I get my train. At 7:15 the loudspeaker announces that there is a fire between Dundee and Perth so there will be bus transportation between those two cities. Please don’t let it be my train! Please don’t let it be my train!  It’s my train. Poop. But it worked well and in Perth the train to Glasgow waited for us. When I arrived in Glasgow, I went to the tourist office, picked up a map and got directions to some places. The first thing I did was have a great pancake breakfast at a place the tourist lady recommended. The waiter gave me additional advice about some things to see. I headed up to St. Mungo’s Cathedral and only viewed it from the outside because I walked right past it into the Necroplis, the cemetery that makes Mt. Hope seem absolutely level! And there were some very ostentatious grave markers. We’s talking here about a lot of rich merchants from a couple of centuries. Then I walked over to the Provands Lordship, supposedly the oldest house in Glasgow and where the church hierarchy used to live. Besides being impressively preserved,   It has a neat herbal garden in the back with an explanation of what ailments all the herbs are supposed to cure.
After that, I walked all the way down High Street where the People’s Palace is located. It has a fabulous conservatory much larger than Lamberton and in the museum part there’s an interesting exhibit of earlier life in Glasgow. Most of the exhibit was concerned with the two world wars. When I was done there, I walked along the Clyde to St. andrew’s Cathedral and peeked in before walking up the very toney Buchanan Street pedestrian zone. Did you ever notice that the cities with pedestrian zones never have Walmart or Dolar Store on them. It’s always Gucci and Victoria’s Secret. I turned off and went into the Lighthouse, which has different art exhibits. But all I actually did was climb to the top and look at the view of the city. Then I still had time to kill and, since the Police Museum was closing soon, I went into the Gallery of Modern Art. It wasn’t my first choice, but I wanted to kill some time. Then I just moseyed back to the train station only to hear that they were still working on the equipment where the fire was and we would be bused again. No problem. It worked so well the first time. Not! This time the bus arrived at Dundee too late for me to make my connection. I ran up the street to try and catch a bus and watched as it pulled away before I could catch it. Back to the station. My next connection would be for an hour. So the station master called a cab for me and had me delivered to my doorstep. Thank you, ScotRail.

Carnoustie sunrise

Glasgow pictures

Conference day and museum day

Yesterday was conference day. The presentations were excellent. I met a lot of great people and got lots of new ideas. Dundee (and Scotland in general) is moving aggressively towards a more equitable traffic infrastructure.  They have a lot of dedicated people working on it.
Today I got ready at a leisurely pace and took the bus to the Museum of Transport. It was like a hobby shop for a bunch of old guys. There were guys with museum t-shirts on having a wonderful time just polishing the cars and talking to visitors. The even had guys put in the back refurbishing old cars right in the museum. This place was really. Labor of love. And I don’t have to ask for the senior discount in the museums here. The clerks give it to me before I even ask.
Then I hopped on the bus to go the rest of the way into town. I went in and took my seat, expecting the conductor to come by and collect my money. All of a sudden the bus drivers asks me very politely if I wouldn’t like to buy a ticket! I told him I was sorry , but I thought there was a conductor. He lamented that his bus line WISHED that they would get conductors. So I paid and rode to the next museum, the RRS Discovery Museum. This is the museum attached to the ship Discovery, which I visited yesterday. I got in for free because the guy gave me the free year’s pass yesterday. This museum told the story of the shop, emphasizing the journeys it took to explore the Antarctic. I spent a lot of time in there. I sat down in the little theater inside the museum to watch the movie about the ship. It didn’t start for another 19 minutes so I took a quick catnap! How refreshing. After the museum, I went to the train station and got my ticket for Glasgow tomorrow. They give you seat reservations and everything. I’m sure I’ll be taking naps on the train again tomorrow too.
On the bike ride  onday, one of the guides mentioned the Dundee was famous for jam, jute and journalists. I had already heard that the museum about the jute industry was fantastic, so I got directions from the ticket master at the train station and took off for Verdant Mills Museum. By now the day was a little dreary and drizzling and I had to walk about 20 minutes. I was glad I had on my warm sweater underneath my jacket. The old stone factory building and the machinery itself is all well preserved. Previous owners were clever enough not to destroy the inventory. Some of the machines are 200 years old and still function. A guy and a lady  came and gave us a demonstration of the machines. You could tell they were really passionate about it. And this was all such a big part of Dundee’s history.
 After I was done there, I stopped at Lidl to pick up some tea and cupcakes for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll need something in my stomach before I take off for Glasgow. Then I can get a proper breakfast when I get there. After Lidl, I was going to head to the bookstore and then across the street to the Mexican restaurant where I wanted to have dinner. But, since McManus art and history museum was on the way, I said, why not? I took a quick look at everything then went quickly to the bookstore and over to the Mexican.
I know that Mexican is interpreted differently in every country so I didn’t know what to expect. What was surprising was that the spicy sauce on my enchiladas was made with chocolate. I had to adjust to the unexpected taste and pour a lot of hot sauce on the chocolate sauce. I had a side of refried beans which was excellent.
So, I walk out of the restaurant just in time to see my bus pull away from the bus stop. I wait 15 minutes for the next one and get one. The conductor comes to collect my ticket and tells me this bus doesn’t stop at Carnoustie. So I had to hop out at the next stop and wait another 15 minutes before the right bus came.
So now it’s about time for me to get to bed because I have to get up early for Glasgow tomorrow.

McManus Museum and another great stone building

My busy day

I’m still fighting with the time difference so first woke up at 4. I managed to fall back asleep until 6:30, which was acceptable. I ate a banana and puttered around before working up the street to the bus stop. I got the 8:05 bus and was glad that I was on of the first stops, because that bus fills up might fast on a Monday morning. The buses here also have conductors who collect the money, just like in Kazan. And they’re all double-deckers. It is fun to go up top and see a bit more. I find a great restaurant called The Market, which served that lovely breakfast I already posted a picture of. I was the only customer. The place was gigantic and I sat in a great big booth. There was a bar in there that had to be 30 feet long and it had beautiful wooden floors. And the workmen were in there fixing some of the furniture while I was eating. One of the guys was even whistling songs from The Wizard of Oz”! After breakfast, I discovered a bookstore which had lots of good stuff and bought a book by Scotland’s comedian Billy Connelly. Paul, the colleague from Ireland was telling me about him, and I’m glad he did. I’m enjoying the book. After the bookstore I went to the new V&A Design Museum. The building itself is very cleverly conducted to look like a ship. The exhibits were not anything to write home about. So I cut that visit a little short and went right next door to the Discovery Museum. This was a ship which went on several Antarctic Expeditions. When I was in Ireland a couple of years ago, I was in a town where one of the seamen from the Discovery was born. It was exciting to make the connection. I paid my entry fee and knew that I wouldn’t have as much time as I liked to look around. All of a sudden , the cashier asked me if I would be back within a year. He would give me a card which was good for free admission within a year! Perfect! I’m going to spend the whole day in Dundee on Wednesday doing nothing but sightseeing. That will be my golden opportunity.
After I went all through the ship, I walked up to the conference center where we were to meet for the bike ride. There was quite a crowd gathered. They were also offering walking tours and many people were participating. We had to sign in, sign waivers, and get our bikes. When we finally got going, it was 1 and it gets dark a 4:30! There was have been between 25 and 30 of us on our tour. And we went all the way out to the town where I am staying, Carnoustie. It’s about 12 miles one way. Of course we stopped frequently on the way out to listen to different pieces of information. When we stopped at Carnoustie, we took a break at a cafe. I met some very nice people and we got some great conversations going. But then we had to scoot back because it was getting dark. And wouldn’t you know it, two people had flat tires on the way back. It was dark when we got in. Although it was perfect riding weather and the path is relatively flat, I was beat because I hadn’t eaten any lunch since we were supposed to meet at 12 and I had eaten such a big breakfast.  So on the trip out, one of the guys gave me a granola bar and at the cafe I had a smoothie. But I was starved when I got back, so Carola, who is the bicycle officer at her college(!) and I went to a fish and chips shop. I had told myself I wanted to eat fish and chips before I left, and this was the perfect opportunity. It was a takeaway place, so we got our meals and went and sat on a stone wall and stuffed ourselves. Delicious! Then Carola went back to her hotel to change for the reception and I want back to the conference center because I had brought clean clothes with me in my backpack. At the reception, I got into a great conversation with a guy there who tries to get businesses to reward their employees for using alternative means of transportation. Shortly before 7 I hit a wall and thought I would fall asleep on the spot. So I went out, caught the bus and came back to the apartment. Everything worked well and I did a load of wash. Tomorrow will be a day full of nothing but seminars. Let’s see what I learn there.

More pictures

Port of Dundee, Broughty Castle, on the bike ride.

Scottish breakfast

NOT PORRIDGE!

Landed in the rain, woke up in sunshine.

Let me say, first of all, that I’m glad I had the presence of mind to bring my plug converters for British electrical outlets. I would have been in a bad way if I had forgotten them. The first leg of my trip was to Moscow. The immigration officer there inquired about my profession, although it’s right there in my visa. He wanted to know where I teach. When I told him I teach 3- and 4-year-olds, he didn’t want to believe me. He wanted me to explain to him I I could teach English to kids that young. He wasn’t being a jerk. He was genuinely curious. Next stop, Amsterdam. I was a little late landing there so I always worry about making the connection. But there were no long lines at security and everything worked out well.
I landed, got some pounds from the ATM, and caught the shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn near the airport. It was so nice to lie in bed and watch TV. What a treat. Everyone was unfailingly polite and helpful. And it’s interesting that I really do have difficulty understanding some of the people who speak with a heavy dialect. I have to really pay attention. And the 3-hour time difference is throwing me off my sleep pattern.
It was raining when I arrived, but when I woke up this the sun was shining. You could see the surrounding mountain range and the air was absolutely clear. After a really good breakfast for scrambled eggs, toast, cereal (but no beans, as is the British custom), I got back on the shuttle and went to the airport. There I caught a bus for downtown. They have a videotape on the bus of a person signing the recorded information about stops and hotels. What an innovative idea! Downtown at the bus station I caught the bus for Dundee. The ride took an hour and a half. I was amazed at how much the landscape reminded me of the foothills of the Adirondacks. The foliage was sill very colorful and, once out in the countryside, there were a lot of sheep. We got served cake and tea on the bus ride. When I told the guy I wanted weak tea, he should only just dip my teabag in once, he said, “So, you just want hot water?” Smartass Scot! But everyone here is quick with a joke and has a great sense of humor. Nobody seems angry about anything. (I know, I know. It’s not like that at the soccer stadiums.) It’s such a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere.
When I got on the local bus to Carnoustie and asked the bus driver what it cost, he told me 75£! (It was only 3£.)  They’re all a bunch of comedians. And this guy made sure I got off at the right bus stop and headed in the right direction.
I found Sheila’s apartment and just as I was about to ring one neighbor’s doorbell, another neighbor came out and said hello to me before she had to drive away. Wanda, the  neighbor with the apartment keys let me in and showed me the apartment. Oh my god, it’s lovely. And what a location. It overlooks the golf course and in the distance you can see the sea. What a sweetheart Wanda is. She even made soup for me because she wasn’t sure if I had gotten anything to eat. I had picked up a little something to microwave at the store by the bus stop, but the soup was delicious. After I ate the soup and settled in, I went walking along the golf course along the sea, then came back again through the center of town. It’s not a large town and, of course, everything is closed on Sunday. But the shop windows were interesting and the place has a lot of charm. Plus, a humongous golf course. That’s Scotland for you.
Tomorrow the Bikeability Scotland starts in the afternoon with some breakout sessions. I chose(What else?) the bike ride. And where do you think it goes? From Dundee to Carnoustie! So the stretch I covered with the bus today, I’ll do with the bike tomorrow. Boy, would it be great if the sun shines tomorrow, too. But I’m not going to hold my breath. I’ll have my rain jacket with me.

Golf hotel picture

First impressions of Scotland

Impressions of Carnoustie. Golf hotel, shoreline, iconic red mailboxes.