Greetings from Edinburgh

Greetings from Edinburgh, Scotland, whose name apparently means "city of beautiful old stone buildings and little tiny cars that drive on the wrong side of the street." It's Day 1 of a 12-day trip that will take us from this lovely Scottish capital to Belfast, Northern Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; and Falmouth, Dartmouth, Portland, Alderney, and London, England. There are about 140 travelers altogether, all traveling with Alumni Holidays International, and of those, 16 of us are from the Penn State Alumni Association -- the largest contingent in the bunch. Other schools represented here include Pitt, William & Mary, Emory, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, and many more.

We arrived today from all over -- one couple came all the way from Hawaii -- and, once settled into the hotel, had the day on our own. Some of the travelers toured beautiful Edinburgh Castle, others went to the National Gallery, and still others engaged in intensive "retail therapy," buying woolens and kilts, among other items. I wandered with my camera around the gardens just below the castle (they have roses the size of grapefruit!), then climbed the Scott Tower, a huge monument to Sir Walter Scott. The trek to the top is 287 steps, I'm told, though I didn't count -- I was too busy focusing on breathing. The reward is a panoramic view of this beautiful city. I also strolled the Royal Mile, a street chock-full of shops, museums, and pubs.

By the way, Edinburgh is pronounced by the locals as "EDD in burra" or an even shorter version: "EDD in bruh."

AHI treated us to a welcome reception this evening and outlined the game plan for tomorrow. Originally the schedule called for a tour of the city, but it turns out that the G8 economic summit will take place here next week, and in conjunction with that, there will be a massive march tomorrow called "Make Poverty History." Organizers are predicting anywhere from 100,000 to half a million people will take part in the march, so almost all of the stores will be closed and traffic will be a zoo. So the AHI folks have put together an out-of-town excursion: They're taking us to Stirling Castle and Bannockburn, two crucial sites in Scotland's long history. Quite a few of the travelers are especially delighted at the prospect of a visit to Stirling.

Our hotel is in a section called New Town -- around here, "new" means the 1700s! The Old Town, by contrast, dates to the 11th century. New Town is characterized by Georgian-style architecture, and in fact Edinburgh is said to be the largest Georgian city in the world.

I'll try to report again tomorrow.