09/01/05 - London was a busy place. I saw the tower, saw the ravens. I had a very nice taxi driver who took me around a bit. I saw big Ben and Buckingham palace. The flag was up so the Queen was in residence. I never made it to the abbey, I had a miserable flight and was so tired I just found the station, food and hung around a nearby park.09/08/05- I am at the castle! The boat trip was fantastic. I had GREAT time. I have had very good weather and am having a lot of fun. We had a fellow on the boat that played the pipes, keyboards, and flute and did very well on a didgeridoo. We had a lot of music. The food was great and the company could not have been better. One of the men (Bill) knew some monologues and told them, I really enjoyed that. Picks later. Oh and Ian if you see this I have your key. I am going to try and swing by Inverness and get it to you but if not I will mail it from Edinburgh. I have hiked lots and my legs are complaining but it has been great. Skye was beautiful but I had a crotchety driver. Every time I said I would like to go here and see this he would start arguing that I didn't want to see that. Instead we sat by the road for half an hour while he explained all about stuff I couldn't see because of the rain and mist. BLAH! Oh well. Met a guy from Memphis in ft William. He lives here now and has made a boat that he lives on but it looks like a giant rock. It really is something. I bought some wool and yarns in Skye so I will have some weaving to do this winter, also Vicki can have some to knit. The castle has been wonderful; I have met some very nice people and will be hooking up with a couple of them in Edinburgh. Just waiting for my train, I will hike down the hill to the station soon. We walked to a pub last night, it’s a great walk but too dark to photograph. Lucky for us someone had a pen light coming back, it was very dark and we had all had a few. Fun night though, glad I am hanging about reading today! more later bye.09/14/2005 I don not even know where to begin to describe the shit hole I am staying in. and might I add it is an expensive shit hole. At first I thought hey everybody has a bad day. Then I thought hey do I want to pay the penalty for switching? Now I think I hope I get out alive. From the world's lumpiest bed to the crap in the toilet when I checked in to the dangerous girl eating tub, it blows. The links hotel is a bar company that has a hotel as a side line. The worst was this morning, suffice to say I am missing a strip of skin down my forearm and having a percentage of my bill comped. And the pleasure of bleeding all over the lobby. Bet the f***ers clean it up now..... actually most of the staff have been very nice, the cleaning staff should be fired and possibly beaten, at this moment I have dirty towels and linen on the floor of my room that are not from my room. I am also right next to the supply closet for the 24 hour bar and while they have signs everywhere telling guests to be quiet coming and going for the consideration of their neighbors , they have no problem banging about in that closet all flipping night. I think the hotel knows I hate it and it is trying to kill me. As for the city, you can do Edinburgh in a day and a half, unless you are a shopper. If you like to shop, there is plenty to be had. The castle is cool; saw the honors that are crown jewels to you and me. The best thing here was the night tour under the city. Lots of fun. It is a good jumping off point though I would recommend stay in sterling and take the train to Edinburgh. Sterling was also fab, loved the castle, and the Wallace monument. The university grounds were great. Also went to Glasgow, I am in a hurry, paying per minute....ill correct the spellings later...anyway saw the science place; it was great but mainly for kids. Saw some art. Today I hung out at a Gauguin exhibit, saw and yet another Van Gogh. Always a good thing for me. I am going to sign off now, go get really drunk, and hope they get me up for my flight; there are no phones in the rooms so I guess they bang on the door. Hopefully they want me gone as much as I want to go and I will not miss my flight. I am a wee bit pissy. Since I have not been at the hotel most of my time here it has mostly been really great. The busses are easy to figure out.