From Deb's Desk: Travel Day to Edinburgh

June 21, 2017 - Today started quite early when I saw my seven traveling companions off at 3:30 am. they were going to see the standing stones at sunrise and I went back to bed for two more hours sleep! Chris, the kind young man that runs the lodge in Uig has agreed to drive me to Stornoway to pick up my flight to Edinburgh. Little do I know what an interesting conversation I will have with Chris as we drive to the airport.

Chris tells me that the lodge is mainly a fishing lodge for salmon fishermen. The B & B part of it that we utilized is kind of a sideline to fill in the off season when it is not salmon season. Salmon season begins soon and Chris is eager because his main job is as the salmon fisher for the lodge. He has been hired to catch salmon for the lodge's use. I am intrigued and he tell me more. The season is about to begin and he plans to go out today and see if there are any bites. The most he has caught in a single day is nine. We discussed the salmon's life and how some will be second year salmon but most die after the first time back inland from the ocean. What an interesting job to be a 25 year old man and be responsible for the salmon for the lodge for the year! We talk fishing a bit more and I promise him I will send him some of Dan's lures to try and he is pretty excited about that.

Chris also tells me that he saw Dana and company this morning at the stones at sunrise! Quite a bunch of early birds around here! We chat more about our families and I brag about my sons a bit and of course my granddaughter! He tells me that he does things around the lodge during the off season when he isn't fishing for salmon and I have seen him at work - he does a wonderful job!

Then Chris tells me that he is a peat cutter! A peat cutter! I am intrigued! He explains that they use peat at the lodge in the fireplace and this very afternoon he is going to go cut some. He tells me that he peels back the top layer of turf first. Then saws a layer of peat into the right size blocks which then are stacked for air to get around them so they can dry. I comment that it sounds like it is really hard work and he assures me that it is! He said that where he cuts he will do two layers and another man will help him by stacking it. If I had a couple of days here he said I could go with and watch and I surely would! I looked up peat cutting to learn more and if you are interested here is a link. https://www.virtualheb.co.uk/peat-cutting-western-isles-history-of-peat/

I tell Chris I am a florist and he asks me what my favorite flower is and I reply orchids. He said that they have wild orchids nearby and if I were there longer he would take me to see them. If I ever get back into this neck of the woods again I am coming back to this magical place and finding Chris! Thankfully, now with Facebook we can stay connected!

Chris drops me off at the airport and soon I am flying a propeller plane to Edinburgh. When I arrive I do not know anything about how to get to my flat except an address so I grab a taxi and head to my home for the next several days. I arrive at an apartment building that looks just like all the other apartment buildings in the area and my #16 has a green door. I have been instructed to go to the top floor and it is the door on the left. Little did I know that it was on the fourth floor!!! And no lift!!! So I haul my suitcases up the stairs and find the key under the mat and enter the flat.

It had really high ceilings, huge windows, and a beautiful skylight allowing tons of natural light into the flat. My room faced another apartment building across the street but looking out the kitchen window I can see the Edinburgh Castle! Wow! What a view! I settle in and am ready for supper so start walking and explore the neighborhood where I find a tiny Italian restaurant and sit down. The man who worked there is older and speaks broken English but we figure things out. I eat a delicious meal of a cheesy rice mixture with broccoli and shrimp and garlic bread. I loved it except that the big shrimp were not peeled and I had to do that to eat them and I don't like that messy part but I was hungry and did it anyway! Yum!

I stopped in a tiny neighborhood market and bought a roll for breakfast and some orange juice and headed home. My first day of Edinburgh adventures on my own begins tomorrow and I can't wait!