Currently in Glasgow - as we weren't able to go to Loch Ness we stayed with Rory in Edinburgh (pronounced, for some reason, "E-din-bur") for four nights before coming here (watching 7 of the 10 episodes season four of their equivalent of 24, 'Spooks'), where we're spending two nights with his parents and younger brother.

I loved Edinburgh. Smaller than Albany, it has retained more of it's old charm than any other city I've been to. It felt like it was an old castle town that simply aged into the modern world - the buildings looked old but grand, the castle dominated the views, cobblestone streets were the rule rather than the exception. Dulet tones of bagpipes floated everywhere, and anytime you were near the center of town you could hear it in the background. The Royal Mile was full of shops and museums, including the famous black cathedral that looked like it could have come right out of a fantasy epic dark lord's kingdom. Visited a fascinating museum - the camera obscura - and saw the earliest form of camera ever invented in action, giving us a full 360 view of edinburgh. Also had tons of amazing opitical tricks and illusions, including incredible kalediescopes of light and color.

It was also cheap, and small enough to walk everywhere, which helped a lot. Also interesting was the way the city just stops - from Rory's flat we could we the cliff and the end of the city, and it was nothing but nature from there to the next town over. Few cities have such defined borders.

Glasglow we aren't going to see much of, just the science museum with Rory's mom and his brother, Gaberiel. Gabe is 11, and a great kid who loves to talk about just about everything. Over dinner he asked us all about America (does America have money? does America have ice cream?), after dinner we played monopoly, his favorite game, for a few hours. Interesting the different strategies - the Americans there bought everything they could, while the Scots only bought highly expensive properties in small quantities. Gaberiel has tourette's syndrome, but it doesn't show too much - he's a completely normal kid.

We're heading into the city soon, after Sean gets up, and then we're back here for one more night. Tomorrow we fly to Dublin at 10:45am our time (5:45am yours), arrving an hour later. After a five hour layover there (giving me a chance to read Stardust - Jason, go watch the trailer for the movie, it looks like the next Princess Bride) we leave for JFK at around 5:30, and arrive two hours - or is it seven hours - later, at 7:30 EST. Sean's mom is meeting us there, and we'll be back in Loudonville by about 11. Home by 12 tomorrow, then Tuesday I pack for a short trip to New Hampshire. Don't know how much traveling I'll do the rest of the year - touring European cities has made me realize I know almost nothing about American cities, so I plan on visiting Boston and NYC a few times in the few months.