A Scottish Day

We had an absolutely superb Scottish day! We started by going to the castle that overlooks the city (and also has incredible "breezes"), met William Wallace on the street, heard bagpipes play and then rounded out the afternoon by having hot chocolate at The Elephant House where JK Rowling sat, sipping coffee and creating the character we have all fallen in love with. I even enjoyed a trip into the bathrooms here where I could read messages of praise and admiration, quotes from the book and "inside" jokes that only we fans of that famous wizard would appreciate. Such as the writing above the toilet that said "Way to the Ministry of Magic."

This evening we met up with several other Fulbrighters and their families. Some of them are living near here and others were just here for the festivities. It was so wonderful to get to catch up with them all, and I was thrilled that my parents got to meet some of my new friends, too!

After dinner, we joined in with the procession of the torches: an incredible parade of people (tonight's estimates were 40,000) carrying huge torches. The city was all a glow with the torches, and everyone was in wonderful spirits. At the end of the parade, we watched a brilliant fireworks display and it just so happened that we ended up in the exact right spot to have fireworks going off from two different sides and sparkling straight above us.

It was a glorious night-a great way to round out an incredible 2012!









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