- Pretty sure it was a blood sausage that was served with breakfast. I've got nothing against blood, I just don't think of it as food. I'll leave that to vampires and mosquitoes.
- Durham Castle is actually used as a college dormitory now; the group that did the semester long trip got to stay there.
- I've never really understood the whole veneration of the saints thing. Yeah, they were people who did great things for God. But if you can pray directly to God via the Holy Spirit, why add an extra middle man? On the bright side, all of the saints means lots of bake sales at the Catholic Church in Waterville, and those ladies make some darn good bread.
- This actually applies to every day of the tour: I need to go back with a better camera. My photography skills have improved a bit, and I've got a much better camera now, which should make for less blurry/messed up pictures.
- Picked up a couple tubes of Cadbury eggs for mom; she really likes them, and they're only available around Easter in our area.
- Sadly, I don't remember how Emily gimped her knee in the first place.
- I still have paint on my backpack from a railing at the train station in Durham. [ed: It's still there, and the backpack itself is in better shape than the much newer one I took on my last trip]
- Another advantage of my new camera: it runs on AA batteries, so replacements will be much easier to come by.
- I've started to develop a taste for wine since then, but haven't been able to find any mead around Waterville.
- I also forgot what Alyssa and Geanna knighted me for... I'll have to ask. [Asked tonight; current guesses are getting in the stone coffin at Yorkminster, and walking Geanna back to our B&B one of the nights there, so she didn't have to walk it alone]
26 May 2004 (02 April 2008)
- Our place in Edinburgh actually ended up being my favorite B&B/hostel/hotel of the trip. It was located somewhere along Dalkeith Road (I think)... near a swimming pool, but not near any of the historical sights that I was after.
- Edinburgh is also where I finally found a replacement battery for my camera. The old one wasn't completely dead, but it wouldn't keep the camera running for more than a few pictures before it needed a rest.
- The only original building remaining in the castle is St. Margaret's Chapel, constructed sometime in the 1200s.
- The castle also contains the Scottish Crown Jewels. While not as sparkley as their English counterparts, they were much older, since Cromwell never got a hold of them.
- The kilt I ended up buying was in the colors of the MacKenzie clan. To the best of my knowledge I have no connection to them (being of German & Irish heritage), but I liked the colors. At some point I may go with a Blackwatch (military) kilt, and avoid the clan thing altogether. [ed: or possibly a utilikilt]
- Along with securing a projector for our dorm room, Dave had managed to get a hold of the first seven seasons of Stargate SG-1, which was enough to get me hooked; I now own all 10 seasons of it.
- I never confirmed this, but I heard later that the reason Cuban cigars aren't what they used to be is because all the good cigar makers moved to Nicaragua to get around the trade embargo. Or maybe they've always sucked, and that was just an excuse.
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