The View from Here

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Apologies for not being more regular. I arrived in Scotland Sept. 1, surprisingly solid on sleep. My friend Amelia spent the night watching movies that are hard to find in the States, so she crashed while I wandered around my new old home place.

The view from our flat window is lovely in every time of day and every type of weather. I only had a few days to enjoy this as we arrived on Tuesday and headed to Edinburgh to start the tour on Sunday, but it was enough to get some exploring done.

The town has two sections: the working market square (four thrift shops! :] ) and the Old Town down by the harbor.

Once Amelia revived we explored the Old Town portion, stopping to admire the statues that line the walkway to the harbor. More about these later as they deserve their own post.

If you look closely in the picture of the town, at the far back right, that’s where our flat sits, right next to the North Sea. But comfortably protected from tidal surges. :]

We hiked to the War Memorial, which is a nearly-vertical climb, but in its desperate need to be ever-improving, WordPress is now using AI to insert photos “the best way” so they are mostly coming out sideways. I will have a serious chat with them about this and hopefully be able to post those later. The War Memorial has eleven columns, each with the name of a significant battle on it. It was meant to be for World War I, but by the time they had the land and the architect, World War II was upon the world. So they waited and did both.

Incidentally, the house of the architect who created the memorial is for sale now , for 710pounds and commanding glorious views of the harbor. It’s called Haamar House, in case you’re interested. :]

Talk soon, tour group is waking up and I must get my best extrovert self on.

Operation Trixie Flight

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It’s been on-again, off-again figuring out how to get the dog to Scotland. Her name is Trixie, and she is the princess that sounds like. She’s a pom who weighs 12.5 pounds, and she stands 14 inches high.

The United Kingdom doesn’t let people fly their pets in the cabin of a commercial airliner, aside from service dogs and active military. A lot of people go to Ireland, which is in the European Union, and then take the ferry across to the UK.

Only one airline flies dogs internationally to Dublin: KLM. Which is a Dutch airline, so globalization does actually appear to be saving the world after all. Go figger.

There are the requisite paperwork pieces that have to be filled out not only in triplicate but in a timely manner and in order. Microchip, rabies, tapeworm, health certificate, clearance to travel, within 10 days of travel. No pressure, kids.

Then there’s the fact that the average underseat clearance on a KLM aircraft is 11 inches. My friend Amelia and I went to Petco and held a lengthy consultation with our phones and Google search dogs-flying-to-Ireland before selecting a carrier that is exactly 6 centimeters too long for a perfect regulation match, but conforms in all other ways.

I’m throwing dog treats into the back of the carrier and we can just get Trixie in. It’s cramped, but it’s better than flying cargo. Nobody puts Trixie in steerage.

I hear that the “strict” regulation about dogs not being allowed out of their carriers at all, ever, not no way, nohow is entirely dependent on the flight attendants on your flight and the person sitting next to you, once you’re airborne.

So we shall see. I have visions of Trixie in a smart little coat and tam (Royal Stewart tartan, of course) prancing on the end of her lead along the boardwalk that runs past the North Sea. She will greet the neighbors graciously. Once we get here there.

I’m flying back from Scotland in October to fetch her; she’s staying September with her first mum. Fingers and paws crossed, everybody.