Travels with a Backpack (no donkeys!)

After 2 weeks in the UK, I'm finally getting used to doing things the British way. I have stopped saying, "How's it going?" or smiling at passersby. The first couple of days I wasn't sure if people in the UK greeted strangers like in America but apparently the brits are too taciturn. It is just not done. Now if only I could rid myself of the pesky "like" in every other sentence. How mortifying that I now speak American with ease!

Wee little me had to suddenly get used to the Scottish accent this week, having spent the last few days in Glasgow, Edinburgh and somewhere along the various lochs in western Scotland. The tour guides ham up the accent even more! I thought it was a stereotype- the wee and puir- but I actually heard it! And then there were those incomprehensible train station announcements in Edinburgh. The accent was so thick I didnt get any of it. Worse than the Hindi announcements in Chennai Central where the emphasis and pauses are always off.

Nevertheless, I had a good time wandering around Glasgow and Edinburgh. Edinburgh has this hill on the outskirts which was asking to be climbed, so I did. The view was, as we say in American, LIKE AWESOME! I could see across the Firth of Forth. I have always liked that name. Has a nice ring to it. Unfortunately I had to squint at the view as the stiff winds kept blowing grit into my eyes. Then I had lunch at Deacon Brodie's cafe where they have a rather ugly plaster of Paris Brodie beckoning you into the cafe. Brodie is part of Edinburgh legend. Apparently he was a fine upstanding pillar of society by day, and a burglar by night. Nowadays we elect such people to be our heads of state.

I was unpleasantly taken aback to see Starbucks, KFC, McDonalds etc all over the place. Actually I wasnt too unhappy to see Starbucks as I thought here was something familiar. It was comforting as I was very skeptical of British coffee (if such a thing exists). Sadly, Starbucks in UK tastes even worse (their coffee was never great to start with) than in the US. The latte is basically milk with a smidgeon of coffee. Terrible! The excellent single malt I had earlier today made for the trials and tribulations though!