19 November

I'm in Edinburgh....got here Saturday afternoon. Still looking for a job, hopefully will have one by tonight, altho it's already 6pm now. Otherwise, will have to scrape up enough money for another night's stay. I do have some options, but they're out of the city, and back towards the west coast of Scotland, and I so want to stay here a while. There are some medical trials going on in Edinburgh, that I'd like to try out for. I'm told they pay rather well.

I can't explain how wonderful it is to walk up and down Prince's Street and look up to see Edinburgh Castle looming on the hill. So much history. I really want to explore this town. Was I here before, in another life? I like to think so. But then I've also read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and she goes into so much detail about this city.

Hopefully will be able to update this a little more often in the future. Don't want people to quit looking at it!

20 November

I'm heading for Gair Loch tomorrow, a tiny village on the west coast, about 60 miles from Inverness. Find Ullapool on the map, and it's below that, but just barely above the top of Skye. Don't know what kind of internet access I'll have there, so don't worry if you don't hear from me right away.

I'm going to work at the Gair Loch Hotel, as a chambermaid/housekeeper. They're only open M-F, closed weekends, and I'll only be working about 30 hours per week, at 3.60/hour live-in. Should net about 80/wk. Couldn't find work in and around Edinburgh. Bummer. Major bummer. But I'll be back!

Sharon and Morne(accent the e) are going to Harrogate in Yorkshire to work at a hotel. I'd go with them, but the bus costs 31, and I only have 20. As it is, I can get to Inverness (14) but the hotel will have to pay my bus fare from Inverness to Gair Loch when I arrive. Only in Scotland can you tell the bus driver that you'll pay him upon arrival, like a taxi! At least the little local buses, which this is.

The phone number at the hotel is 0144 1445 712 001, just in case you need it (hint hint).

I walked part of the Royal Mile today. Then we caught a bus to supposedly take us up to the castle, so we could walk down. Wrong! We ended up 6 miles outside of Edinburgh at Heriot University! Took over an hour, and by then we were tired, so we went to make more phone calls about jobs. Oh, well.

Oh, if anyone knows Edinburgh, the Tartan Gift Shop is owned by the husband of the woman who runs the b&b we stayed at for 3 nights. The price kept coming down! We started at 18 the 1st night, 15 the 2nd, and bargained her down to 10 the last night, no breakfast, and we had to share a big room, but it had its own bathroom, so that was great. Ardgowan House. Nice people. Mediocre breakfast. I miss Tarbert and Lesley and Martin's "full cooked!"

21 November

Just came in from the cold. Spent the night in Waverly Station, till midnight, when we were evicted, cuz they close the station till 4am. Then we walked a bit, used a public toilet all 3 together, cuz it costs 20p and it was so warm, but then had to vacate it cuz someone else actually wanted to use it...the nerve!

After that, we went 1/2way down the steps to Waverly Station, and down the few steps to the entrance to Princes Mall, and huddled there till 4am. Damn, it's cold out there! At 4am, we went back into the station, but it wasn't much warmer there, except when we went to the toilet and used the hot water and air dryers to warm up.

What an adventure! Easyeverything opened back up at 7am, and so here we are. Much warmer, but my fingers haven't caught up yet. I'll catch the 10:30am bus to Inverness, then have 2-1/2 hrs till the bus to Gairloch (think this is the correct spelling).

Talksoon.....