Day 7 ... highlights

… highlights City of Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-DIN-burrrrr-[roll the Rs]-AH) and the Military Tattoo

… as with all bus tours we had an early start today and basically made our way to Edinburgh. Along the way at our quick lunch stop our tour guide, Peter, procured a bottle of Scottish single malt scotch whisky {Speyburn} and we were each given a "dram" to sample … my seating partner today (Pat) didn't like whisky so I got her portion … it was quite good with a smooth finish and excellent bouquet - hints of lemon and vanilla .

Around 2:30 p.m. we arrived in Edinburgh, we are fortunate enough to be here right in the middle of "Festival" which brings 10s of 1,000s of tourists to the city to display their music, arts, plays, drama, comedy, & you name it … they're doin' it. And, as well the Military Tattoo is well underway and only runs August 1-23 each year. We spent the afternoon walking around the "old city" ... getting lost ... finding our way ... sampling amazing food from around the world ... learning about our new short-term location. This city is teeming with history, teeming with life … so much to see and not quite enough time … we walked around for five hours - was also able to get more shopping in .

The Tattoo was an amazing 2-hour spectacle of worldwide diversity in drums/brass/bagpipes/marching and showmanship - it was followed by fireworks, and all of us holding hands and singing Auld Lang Syne … great experience and worth the trip up to Edinburgh Castle where it is housed. It was great to watch Sabine's reaction to the show - utter joy and lots of laughter - she thoroughly enjoyed it. She is travelling really well and always up for a challenge - in fact she and I scaled yet another spiralling staircase to the top of the Sir Walter Scott memorial to see spectacular views of the city … well worth all 289 steps!!

Shopping & New Person Story: I purchased some clothing today that actually fits me … and one of the "must" purchases was an original Scottish 100% cashmere sweater … the shop gal that was trying to give me space but also trying to assist me was, in a word, awesome. Her name is Elena - she has a very thick Russian accent but speaks very good English and had a great but very direct way about her. I was trying to find a style and size of sweater that I liked and she casually came over and said,

• "is that really what you want? that big? and bulky? like a grandma would wear?"
• … of course my reaction was … ummmm, no … and she back-tracked right away and said "this is okay - if this is what you like?"
• … of course I said … no, no I really need advice so please advise me
• … so she got me into a much smaller size commenting "you look good - you must show this, not hide this [nodding in agreement at her own advice she was satisfied with a job well done]".

After this exchange I felt the need to understand her better … asking questions … name, where was she from, etc. - and what followed was more lively conversation - truly a highlight of my day. Elena is from Russia but is Bulgarian/Greek/Russian and is completely hilarious, full of life, loves what she does and is truly great at it … which of course drew me in right away. She was definitely one of those people I would have loved to have taken for coffee and just gotten to know her for a while …

I'll close today's blog with two things … the photo and a great quote I encountered in a book I'm reading:

1. Photo: old city area where The Fringe is occurring … wall to wall people!!

2. Quote's Context: negative energy a character/person embodied and how the same seemed to fall into alignment with many of those who came forth to be part of their sphere ...

"… couldn't help but wonder if this was further proof of synchronicity and how negative or positive energies seemed to connect with its own level of vibratory energy."

… boy, does this quote ever remind me of a person that recently entered my sphere and how positivity seems to emanate and expand beyond … 'tis truly catchy ...

Cheerio - RGR