Poor planning is still planning.

Whoops. I hit the wrong button on our last post and it didn't get published, so there is a bonus post below this one. :)

We are in Scotland now. The ferry ride was nice. We took a bus from Stranraur to Ayr that almost made me sick. The roads were just as curvy, hilly, and narrow, and the bus was going so fast that we were almost being thrown around. We took the train to Glasgow and got in after dark. It is another big city and it was over run with lots of drunk youth. The hostels have been full everwhere we've gone. We had to break down and stay at a real hotel last night. None of us felt very safe sleeping outside in a big city like this. A fellow American traveller informed us that Scottish law allows camping almost anywhere. We are going to see if we can pick up a cheap tent somewhere. It will be a little heavy to carry but we just cleared a bunch of unnecessary junk from our backpacks. We had planned to mail it home, but it would have been much too expensive. We ditched the stuff at the hostel. It has been neat to see how our values have changed in just a few short days. Luxuries mean very little compared to a loaf of fresh bread and a few pieces of fruit. The one luxury we all appreciated very much was the shower we had this morning in our hotel. It was our first in 3 days. We spent 2 nights sleeping in the car.

The rest of today will probably be spent securing lodging for the next week or two. The problem is that all the hostels are completely booked. There seems to be festivals and events everywhere we go. I think our tent will most likely be our home till we get to Italy.

We will be off to Edinburgh either tonite or tomorrow morning depending on how things go. The Edinbugh Fringe Festival is going on right now and it is supposed to be a lot of fun. http://www.edfringe.com/

Angela

Hello hello,

Here we are in Glasgow. A big crazy loud busy city. We're hoping to check out Fringe Fest in Edinburgh tomorrow. That should be wild. We're on foot now, which is a little scary, but I'm sure we'll get used to hauling these packs and build some muscles. There have been some interesting things I never thought I'd miss about America. Being able to find a drinking fountain almost anywhere, ordering an ice water, walking into the public library and getting online for free if I need to, and ordering a large mug of coffee with refills for a buck or two. But on the other hand, we are seeing amazing sights, meeting interesting people along the way, and learning to be quite self-sufficient. I just talked to a guy for half an hour about politics and world economy and learned amazing things about Poland, which is where he's from. I complain about our minimum wage all the time, but minimum wage in Poland is about 1$ an hour. Doctors and engineers leave Poland every day to come to Europe to work as dishwashers at McDonalds for more money. Sad state of affairs, that. What's cool is that almost everyone we speak to understands and is sympathetic to the fact that most Americans do not support Bush or the war. They hate Bush and his policies but still like Americans themselves. Good to know. Well, enough about world affairs. We're here to have fun. I hope things are good back home and send some sun our way, cuz it's COLD here! I think when we get to Rome, we're just gonna go swimming in the first fountain we see, we'll be so happy its warmer there. Although, then we're gonna be pissed that its so hot when we're hiking everywhere! But, its give and take here. Have a good summer. We'll likely check in again when we hit Amsterdam. If we can find the motivation to reach a computer..... just kidding mom. Love ya all. When I get back, I'm switching to espresso since coffee is so freakin' string here! Ta ta for now.

Love and Hugs, Heidi

Hey gang,

How are things across the pond. Its so weird to be over here. In the last few days I've tripled the number of countries I've been to. I'm up to three now. I've also ridden a jet for the first time now. I've just been on my first train ride, my first bus ride between multiple cities, and I've stayed at a hostel for the first time. I like the Hostel atmosphere, but the hostel we stayed at was awful. I'm really looking forward to Edinburgh. The fringe fest atmosphere should be what I was hoping for at the hostel. And camping afterwards should be a blast. It'll be our first real time out of a city setting. Angela debates me on this point as we've been to small towns and what not. She, however, doesn't know a damn thing. :p Now she is reading over my shoulder. What a prat. :) Anyway, What I'm really looking forward to is getting out of Scotland. Its a beautiful country, but the exchange rate is killing us. Scottish sterling is even stronger against the dollar than Euros. I can't wait to see Italy. Maybe see the Sun again. Did you know it rains on average every other day in Ireland. I can't imagine its much different in Scotland.

Well, I've blathered on long enough. 'til next time,
Ogre