We started our journey at around eight o’clock China time on Wednesday, January 26. Fortunately, the flight from Anqing to Shanghai was only delayed about an hour. (We did have to wait for the Beijing-bound plane to leave before us, though we were ready first.) After the flight, we rode the Shanghai subway for about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach Pudong airport; we had arrived at Hongquio, which is the domestic airport and our flight to Scotland left from Pudong, the international one. We spend about nine hours at Pudong waiting to board our flight to Amsterdam; during our time there, we ate two meals, I read, and finished a pair of socks.
The flight from Shanghai to Amsterdam was uneventful. I was so exhausted that I managed to sleep a fair amount on the plane. I drifted off for about hour-long periods of time, so by the time we arrived in the Netherlands, I was sleepy, but not in the zombie-like-state I would have experienced if I hadn’t caught some z’s on the flight.
Now here’s a story that’s stranger than fiction -- I’ve got the pictures/video to prove it occurred. As I was buying breakfast in the Amsterdam airport, Jean-Jacques Skyped with Isabelle and discovered that Kurtis was going through Amsterdam on his way to Finland. After a bit of research, we were able to locate his arrival gate and greet him when he deplaned. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked to see us, but we spent an enjoyable hour together chatting before he had to catch his flight to Helsinki.
Thankfully, the flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh was short and sweet. After we got off the airplane and went through customs (it was the best border crossing I’ve ever experienced), we caught a double-decker bus from the airport to our hotel. We were a bit lost after we disembarked the bus, but quickly got our bearings and found our lodging without much trouble.
We got an amazing deal on our hotel and man are we lucky! It’s a boutique hotel that has a fully equipped kitchen (I think we’re going to use it to make some haggis); a living room with an electric fire place; a beautiful bedroom with a large, cushy bed; and a bathroom with heated floors, heated towel racks, and a mirror that defogs itself. We’re going to be extremely comfortable for the couple of weeks!
I managed to stay awake until seven thirty last night (most of the day was spent being exhausted, though we did eat a delicious lunch at a small shop called Bread and Olives and we grabbed some fish and chips from a nearby restaurant) and was able to sleep the entire night until around seven o’clock this morning. I feel a bit discombobulated at times, but I don’t think that we’re going to suffer much from jet lag.
We ate breakfast at a hamburger joint and I throughly enjoyed my meal of a fried egg, fried tomato, beans, bacon, whole wheat bread, sauteed mushrooms, tea, and potato cake. During the meal (and while eating last night’s order of fish and chips), I realized how much I’ve missed salty food. Anqingeese cuisine doesn’t have much salt in it, but it’s a taste I really enjoy.
After breakfast we walked to a grocery store and bought some breakfast foods, drinks, apples, carrots, and a ready-made pizza we’re going to eat for dinner. We made a quick run back to our hotel room so we could put away the goods before heading to our haircut appointments.
Once we looked presentable again, and after a couple of showers to rinse off the stray hairs, we headed out on the town and walked down Princes Street. I took a number of photos, Jean-Jacques bought a coat, and we visited a cheese shop and a yarn shop. We had a wonderful time walking around the city, absorbing all the beautiful sights (it’s one of the most scenic cities I’ve ever visited). The people are extremely friendly -- we even chatted with two sets of people as we ate a lunch of potatoes with curry and a Greek salad. Yummy!
Well, I’m about out of energy, so I’ll sign off. Hopefully, I’ll be able to process my photos this evening so I can post some of them tomorrow.
