Long Day of Travel!

It was a long day of travel but we finally made it to our B&B in Stirling, Scotland. The first 10 hour flight featured 3 movies and a crying baby the whole way. Dad and I watched Mission Impossible and then tried our very best to fall asleep but it truly was a mission impossible with that baby. We only got about 2 or 3 hours. Also, I don't think I have ever been fed so much food on an airplane before - 3 meals! Once we got to France, we had a 2 hour layover to get some coffee before our next hour and a half flight. Of course by the time we were landing in Edinburgh, we were both just getting sleepy...once the screaming, ranting toddler got settled into his crayons. After 12 hours of flying, we still had to figure out the bus to the train, the hour long train ride to Stirling, and another bus to the B&B. Luckily everyone speaks English and they are all very nice. Some accents are MUCH harder than others and you just say "yeah, uh huh"...and go with it. At the train station, I was joking to Dad saying we have to find platform 9 and 3/4 (Harry Potter of course, which I actually don't even know if it's in Edinburgh or not) and then I saw two absolutely perfect kids wearing their Harry Potter scarves! Amazing.

We were trying to pay for a bus ticket and Dad literally stuck out his hand with a bunch of coins and said, "here take what you need". The guy just laughed and took away. Someone behind us was laughing too...we aren't very good at hiding that we are tourists. Though OUR accents kind of give it away. Once we finally made it to the B&B, Allan gave us a very useful map of the area that shows roads much better than any other map I've been trying to use. We were sick of buses/trains so we took our map along and walked to the Bridge of Allan about a mile away. On the way, I got to see Beaconhurst School, where I will be teaching, and it is literally right next to the University of Stirling. Such a cute private school and I can't wait to meet my teacher on Saturday.


Once we got to Bridge of Allan we went straight to the first house for viewing. The lady was about 90 years old. She opened the door very confused and said she was sleeping in her chair. She had no idea who I was until I said my name. The place was definitely old....and yeah....old! That's pretty much all I have to say about that one. There is another girl staying there right now in another room and will be there until early June. All three of us would be sharing one bathroom, and a tiny refrigerator, kitchen, and living space. After seeing the place, Dad and I went to get some food. On our way to food we saw a sign for beer tasting....wellll okay!! Why not? The beers were definitely original and even the girl said that they simply like to experiment. Marmalade, lavendar, chili flakes, you name it and they've probably done it with their brews.

We finally found a place to eat, although they didn't open until 5 and it was only 4. The bar, however was open so we decided we would sit down and have a beer or two before eating. The bartender was VERY hard to understand when I asked her what she would recommend to drink (since all their beers are different). I could catch a few words and I'm definitely better than Dad is. We were chatting with her as she asked us why we were here and where we've come from. We told her we've just come from looking at a house and we've still got another to look at tomorrow. As we were sitting and had just ordered a second round, she came up to me and said something about the man in the red coat over to the right and that I should go talk to him (I honestly have no idea what she said her accent is so strong). I turned to Dad with a blank stare...what am I supposed to do? She came around the bar and said, "would you like me to introduce you?" The man and his wife were regulars and come in for a drink almost every evening. I went outside with them and they started talking about a flat that they have available for rent. They weren't planning to rent it to anyone, in fact they were planning to re-model it soon. But the bartender came up to them and said, "this girl over there is working at Beaconhurst for 3 months and needs a place to stay...." And so It began. They briefly told me about the room then asked me if I wanted to look at it right then and there. So we left our beers behind at the bar, walked to their place about 2 minutes away, then came back for our beers later!

Needless to say, the flat is very nice! I would have my own living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and even part of the backyard. Living in Bridge of Allan is walking distance to the school, train station, and there are buses all around to get into the city. They are a very nice couple, as is everybody so far in Scotland. On the walk to the house, he said that I have a very strong accent! This is funny to hear...in fact I've never heard it before. But it is good to keep in mind while teaching. After eating dinner, Dad and I were practically falling asleep at the table waiting for our check (I literally was). We tried to catch a bus back to Causewayhead where our B&B is, but no such luck...they only come every hour past 7:30ish. So I turned my UK phone on for the first time, we called a cab home, and went to bed at 8pm. Today we look at a place in Alva, which so far the universal view seems to be that the best road there is, "the road out". It's a more "rough and dense" area whereas "you can't go wrong with the Bridge of Allan". I will see for myself later today.