Sunday 31 March 2002
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Said our goodbyes to Evelyn and Frank, after they brought us to the airport.
I guess I like travelling - I never want to go back. It helps that this is a wonderful city, we had great weather, and Evelyn and Frank were wonderful hosts.
The Edinburgh mini-Rough Guide was great. I'll definitely look for them in future.
I wonder if my interest in whisky is just a passing fancy. Probably - like my collecting fads, or more like my attempts to understand and like beer in the last 18 years. At first I tried to like it. Eventually I gave up on that, but thought I could at least understand it and appreciate the differences. But you need to like it to do that, so I've pretty much given that up too. There are a few beers I like, but not many. Do I like whisky? I'll tell you in a few months. Evelyn said it's good to know something about the subject, and know what you like. Frank said (in the pub yesterday) that I shouldn't turn into too much of a whisky snob. They're both right.
Food. I wanted to talk about food. Haggis. Crumpets. Fish and chips. It's a strong reminder of growing up with my grandmother, and even just childhood in Canada. You don't see these things in the U.S. My mother still eats hot cross buns, and Evelyn bought some of those. I didn't have any, but I still love crumpets.
The duty free store in the airport was stocked with 1.0 liter bottles instead of the 750 ml sizes we got. Would have been nice to max out the customs limits (2 l) but they didn't have our brands. They had a decent selection - particularly Glenmorangie, in which they seemed to have all the wood finishes.
We had a nasty sprint through Charles de Gaulle airport - our boarding time was ten minutes after we deplaned, and in a different terminal. When we arrived, there was a huge line, and then after we got on the plane we sat for about an hour, evidently waiting for luggage (possibly ours).
I hope my pictures turn out. I was a little sloppy at times. I'm picturing a website like the India one, although obviously smaller.
I am so looking forward to drinking the whisky in my bag. I wonder if I can find Glenmorangie easily at home? What about the wood finishes, or the older vintages? How about Lagavulin or Talisker?
It takees 7.5 hours to get from Atlanta to Paris, but 9.5 to get back. Apparently the wind blows toward Europe ...
I suppose I wanted to find a homeland in Scotland. In a way I almost did, as foolish as that hope may have been. The impending visit had even brought on an interest in family genealogy. I didn't really follow up on it, but I guess that fed the "homeland" hope.
Ah, the wonders of modern air travel ... My check-in bag arrived fine, Catherine's was lost. So with that and the late arrival of the plane, Ralph nearly gave up on us and left. I think we were supposed to arrive 1515 or 1600 - we didn't drive out of the airport until 1900.
I'm Exhausted.
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