Bonnie Scotland

I'm trying to type with a qwerty keyboard, I haven't done that in over 5 years... It's the little differences, right?
Well, talking about the little differences, forget all that crap you've been told about driving on the other side of the road. That's simple. The way their traffic lights work, now that's complicated... And there are all the little details.
Just imagine you're on holiday, you're thinking of enjoying a long lie-in, and revelling in the non-too-christian thought that your friend might be going to work at the crack of dawn in the morning, but you'll be snuggling in the sofa waiting for... nothing really, but just because it's this: nice. And then karma turns around and bites you where it hurts. At 6 a.m., the sun's shining like it's 10:00 in any other NORMAL country. But you don't really care, because it's shining, and gorgeous, and you just want to embrace the world and it looks like just the day to do it...
Then, at 9:30, it starts clouding up. At 10, it's spitting. It doesn't stop ALL day. Save for the occasional bona fide shower. Actually, it looks like it's not going to stop for the whole time you're there...
Which turns out to be a good thing, because you finally get around to buying the umbrella you've been direly missing. And it's very pretty too. And it was cheap because there's always a sale on somewhere.
You walk 2 1/2 hours in the spitting rain, looking at stuff, but let's face it, in the spitting rain, you're just looking for a nice place to have a cuppa or something and given that most of your addresses and telephone numbers are in your e-mail, you're desperate for an internet cafe. Well let me tell you right out. You don't find one. So if you're thinking of going cold turkey on this sweet blogging addiction, I suggest you pay a visit to lovely Caledonia*.
You finally get to see Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Before everybody else at home obviously. It's very good. Maybe not quite as good as the book, but it's well worth a giggle or ten.
You forget that there are indeed other countries in the world, because they just never mention them on the news.
You look for bins on the street. Because they're cracking down on litter big time in Edinburgh. But you don't really find that many. Once more, you think of giving up another addiction, cigarettes. But...
You see smokers. Lots of smokers. You feel like there are a lot more smokers in Scotland than there are in France. Which is a bit strange considering the absolutely amazingly shockingly high prices of cigarettes.
You also see pubs. Nice pubs. Pubs mean liquor. Liquor makes you feel warm. You forget about the cold and the spitting rain. You really enjoy - again - the whole Scottish experience. You're happy you're back for yet another tan-free holiday. Even though you fear you might have caught pneumonia.

*It's true, I'm at my friend Lilith's place right now. She's like my own Internet cafe, and she's offered me a bargain price. She's ace.