arghhhh.

i'm a pirate.but not necessarily in the skulls & crossbones sense.


After being informed that we would CERTAINLY have wi-fi access at our new timeshare,  mackenzie and i were very disappointed to discover.....WE WERE LIED TO.
(not really.)


anyways, the only place at our "resort" that we can access wi-fi is at the main hotel's lobby.
and then we're paying 6 pounds for an hour (12 american dollars.)
so, of course, when gran, gramps, mackenzie, and i wnt into to town today and just happened to stumble across a hotel that was generous enough to provide FREE wi-fi access to their patrons,
mackenzie and i quickly decided to take advantage of it.
(plugs and kudos to The Cairngorm Hotel in Avienmore)

Anyways, updates since yesterday:
We have quickly discovered that the Scottish are much friendlier than the Brittish.   I don't believe there was a single dull moment on our train rides yesterday.

After leaving the Edinburgh Station,  the only people in our carriage were our family and a nice Indian couple visiting Inverness for the first time.  Grandma quickly got into a nice conversation with them (of course) and before long they were talking about marriage.  Apparently, their marriage was an arranged marriage (which they are VERY happy with) and have been wondering whether or not to arrange the marriage for their 19 year-old son.

Well, about five minutes after this conversation, they asked my help with their new camcorder, while explaining different parts to it, the husband says out of nowhere, "How would you like to marry my son?"
(ummmm?)
"hahahahah?"


but, no.
didn't end there.
they took a picture of me.
they gave me their e-mail address.
and their PHONE NUMBER.
and THEN made me promise to keep in touch........


when they left, another scottish couple soon came and took their place.
they were very interesting and just BURSTING with advice about where to go and what to see.
they also shared their starBURSTS with us.
which is also selling point for me.


When we finally arrived in Aviemore,
we visited the visitor's center to discover more about our Scottish Heritage.
or, in Mackenzie's case, her first name.

I learned that my last name Thomas is actually derived from the Scottish clans of
MacTavish and (you guessed it) MacThomas.
go figure.
However, I also learned what my tartan pattern is,
so i'm hoping to pick up a nice cashmere scarf with it while i'm here.


(which reminds me- my current want is a pair of "willies" -americans call them rain boots- with a matching deep umbrella.  i'll be posting pictures of them once i get over my pounds-dollar conversion rate annoyance.)

Mackenzie and I have also decided that with the pound and dollar rate being what it is, we will most likely be coming back next summer with a student work program.

oh, joy!

I have much more to say, but with now having a reliable access to internet, i'll leave you with this in hopes of another update soon.

i hope you're enjoying not doubling prices (and what i'm sure is less rainy weather),
savannnah

P.S.  hopefully i'll be attending a Manchester United game in the next couple weeks and also, hopefully, a cricket game - so there will be pictures of those soon.