Day #128 - London, England

Tuesday, July 20th



Today was a business day for me. I caught up on the blogs (which I apologize about the delay) and got my finances in order. I'm staying at a new place just outside Gatwick Airport - it's working out nicely. I transferred here from my expensive place that I stayed last night at the airport.



My next couple weeks will be spent in Wales and Scotland primarily as I await the return of my Russian Visa. I do have a few things I want to see in southern England first. I also have some friends near Manchester that I want to hook up with as well.



After the UK, I will be spending the month of August in Scandanavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland). I'm really excited about this area. These countries are always listed at the very top of the happiest places to live in the world. In a 2008 poll, the most 'happy' countries in the world were: (1) Denmark (2) Switzerland (3) Austria (4) Iceland (5) Finland (6) Australia (7) Sweden. 4 of the 5 Scandanavian countries made the list. I like happy - my goal is to figure out what they have - and try to bottle it up.



I can't think too far ahead so my concentration at this time is coming up with a plan for these 5 countries and trying to figure out the differences between England, Scotland, and Wales. I can say one thing - I don't think they like each other very much.


Tomorrow I'll be headed to the southern coast of England for further exploration.


I've been listening to my Ipod alot lately. Not sure why - I guess I was into the music. 'Chicken Fried' - this is not a new song. I liked it alot when it came out - but listening to the verses more -- it's a great song. Now, folks have commented to me that they are using my travels as a way to see Europe through my eyes. Well, there's things about the US and summertime that I miss as well. Do me a favor and make this scenario happen this weekend and tell me about it.

"A barbecue with friends, under the cover of some tall oak trees with a breeze coming through, some old country music playing in the background, a game of horseshoes contested around the corner, a rolling stream or pool to cool off in, some late night fishing under the stars, all topped off with an ice-cold beverage of your choice"

Now - go make this happen.

Day#127 - Edinburgh to London

Monday, July 19th

This morning came quickly. We were out of the hotel and down by the bus stop at 5:45am. I said farewell to Randy and then made my way to the train station for a 6am departure to London. It was a crazy 8 days with Randy in town. I think things turned out really well. We pulled off everything logistically and had a really good time in the process.

I wanted to get to London today before 3pm so I could visit the Visa Company that will help me get my Russian Visa for later in the trip. Getting this Visa requires that I give them my passport so they can send it off. I will need to wait a period of 10-14 days for processing. I'm a little uneasy about being in a foreign country without my passport; however, I do have several copies.

I arrived in London around 11am. I took the metro to the area where the Visa company was located. I then walked over and made the transaction. I hope this move will turn out for me. I asked numerous questions and talked to several people here. I was very clear on my position and I think they could see/feel the urgency in my voice when I stated: "Is there anything else I need to do at this point to make certain this goes through?"

After completing the forms, I grabbed another metro and headed to Victoria Station. I then took a 30 minute train to Gatwick Airport (I didn't realize it was that far south). I had reserved a hotel about 2 miles from the airport. I ended up having to go 1 station south of Gatwick, then walked to my hotel.

This was actually a bed & breakfast - run by an older couple. I asked right off the bat if they indeed had internet service. They said: "No, sorry, we do not." This made me angry as I had booked this hotel because of price and internet. It clearly stated on their internet site as well as in the window of the hotel that internet was available. I mentioned this to the guy. His response: "Yes, I know. We have thought about taking it down". Now, I was really angry. I said: "You can't do that sir. That is false advertising. You can't bold-face lie on your internet site". This guy was basically disinterested in what I had to say. I told them that I would not stay here and would not pay even though I was within the 24-hr cancellation window. They were OK with it. I guess I was a little harsh. But, I had just spent $15 on train fees and 30 minutes of research last night to get this spot - and now I needed to do the same again to find another place. Normally I would have been OK with it but my plans for today included lounging in a hotel and catching up on some emails and blogs.

I made it back to the Gatwick Airport and just stayed at a hotel within walking distance. I paid way too much but will make it up later. I needed some down time. I've just finished one of the most ballistic 3 weeks of the trip. From Belgium to Netherlands to Venice to Pamplona to Geneva to Paris to Edinburgh.

I worked on the computer a couple hours. Got some food at the airport grocery store and basically passed-out around 8pm. I would wake up on Tuesday around 9am - ready for battle once again.

Day #126 - St. Andrews - British Open Golf Championship

Louis Oosthuizen - 2010 British Open Champion

Louis Oosthuizen - 7 shot victory

Sunday, July 18th

Pictures from internet again today - I had to put a picture of the winner in my blog, if not, I would never remember this guy's name.

Today we actually left Edinburgh a little later - around 10am. We got to the course about 11:30am after our bus transfer. My goal today was just enjoying the scenery and taking it all in. I fully expected a runaway - the day's events would play out just like I expected.

I'm a big competition guy - I just can't help it sometimes. It's hard for me just to enjoy things for what they are at times. I discussed this with Randy. He's similar. I always want to see a particular person or team win. I start getting passionate about it - then I get let down if it doesn't go my way. Why am I like this? It's not something I can control. It's crazy. I can be completely devastated if I lose a game of pool to somebody at a bar. I can get frustrated playing horseshoes if I don't win. If I play my little nieces and nephews in a game - I want to win. Oh well - I use this fire the best I can to do the right things.

With this being said, I enjoyed the golf today. These guys are impressive. We stood and watched the 17th green for a long while. It's generally the most difficult hole at St. Andrews. Today was no different. We watched about 6 groups come through - and only saw a couple pars, with many single bogeys and a couple doubles sprinkled in.

Hole #7 and hole #11 criss-cross each other. Weird. I've never seen anything like it. Hole #11 is a par 3. Golfers are hitting their tee shots over the heads of the golfers standing in the #7 fairway ready to hit their approach shot to the green. The wind was blowing hard most of today. Not quite as bad as Saturday, but steady winds nonetheless. It seemed like the winds were strongest on the backside of the course - with Holes #11-14 seeing the most fierce cross winds.

We walked around and appreciated more of the holes we hadn't watched on Saturday. We spent some time in the merchandise tent. I really haven't bought anything on my trip to date other than tickets to get places. I did buy a picture today. I had to do it. I like to put pictures up in my house from places I've visited. I will always remember St. Andrews - so I bought a really nice picture of the 18th hole - showing the Swilcan Bridge. It was worth it to me. They are sending the picture back to the states for me (mom/dad - should be coming to your place within a week or so)

By the time the leaders got to the 13th hole, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. 'Oosy' was running away with this thing. Good for him. His first major. He seems like a good guy. We didn't actually stay to the very end to see the trophy presentation. We left a couple holes before this to get a jump on the crowd.

A great, great weekend (actually 4 days) of golf. I'm going to try and get back to St. Andrews over the next 2 weeks to get some pictures myself. Sometimes things get better with time. As I look back in the future over the past week - I think I'll be able to appreciate the sites I was lucky enough to see even more than I do right now.

A train to Edinburgh - late dinner - and we called it a day. I would be leaving by train to London tomorrow morning and Randy would be leaving by plane for his return trip to the states.

Day #125 - St. Andrews - British Open Golf Championship

Swilcan Bridge - 18th Hole at St. Andrews

St. Andrews - 18th Hole

Saturday, July 17th

The pictures posted today were taken from the internet. These are the only pictures posted to date that I have not taken personally. Cameras were not allowed in the course - bummer. I couldn't just write the entry today like it was a travel day. St. Andrews demands respect - and I am trying to give it due justice.

Fired up for today. We get to go to the 'Home of Golf" - St. Andrews. The Old Course - the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th, the Road Hole on the 17th, the connecting greens, links golf. Jack Niclaus won here. Tiger Woods won the last 2 times the Open was played here.

A little background on the British Open. There are 14 courses in the UK that have hosted the British Open Championship in the past. There are currently 9 of these courses that still fall in the rotation. These are: Scotland (St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Troon, Turnberry, Muirfield), England (Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), Litham & St. Annes, Birkdale, and St. George's (Sandwich)).

The 5 courses no longer used in the rotation are: Prestwich (the first 12 Opens), Deal, Royal Portrush (Northern Ireland), Musselburgh, and Prince's Sandwich. Many of these are great courses, but for logistic purposes or because the courses are not long enough - they have fallen off.

We took a train from Edinburgh to St. Andrews about 9am. It's a 1 hour, 10 minute train ride. We chose to commute from Edinburgh because the hotels in St. Andrews were either booked or too expensive. It worked out great from Eindburgh - a ton of other people were doing the same thing as us. On arrival at Luechars train station in St. Andrews, we took a shuttle bus to the course. They had things well organized. There were a number of buses lined up. We were immediately shuttled to the course. It was probably the most efficiently run course setup and transporation system that I have seen.

On arrival, we just started walking. We came out on the 16th fariway. We walked about 50 yards and were standing near the 17th tee. We could look out and see the Old Course Hotel and how the players must hit their tee shots over the hotel into the 17th fairway. Outstanding! I can't believe I'm standing here looking the Road Hole at St. Andrews!

We were early - so the contenders weren't teeing off for several hours. There had been a wind delay on Friday as well; therefore, the leaders were only set to go off at 4:40pm. We decided to walk the course.

Now, St. Andrews is not necessarily the greatest course for viewing a golf event. It's old and wasn't setup for such a thing. It's a simple layout. 7 holes out on 1 side, a circle turn with Holes 8-11, then the remaining holes come back on the other side. 14 of the holes share a green. There are only 4 holes with their own separate greens (Hole #1, #18, #9, #17). On most courses, spectators can stand on both sides of the fairway and surround the green. At St. Andrews, spectators can only view from the outside loop (called the Red Route). Often times, the greens are pretty far away as you watch from the side. They do let spectators cross the fairways to get to the other side, but they cannot stand between the fairways.

But, just the fact that we were at St. Andrews, we were able to get over the viewing angles pretty quickly. The weather was overcast. We experienced a couple bouts of rain showers. They were brief however. We followed Rory McIlroy for a little while. He's an up and coming star on the tour. The crowds were heavy - but I didn't feel like it was quite as bad as other tournaments I've attended. We found a great spot near the 7th green where we could see about 4 holes. We stayed here for quite a while. My favorite place on any golf course is watching at the greens or taking a position at a Par 3 so you can view the entire hole. Our position near the 7th green allowed us to do both. We could see the Par 3 - 11th, the green on #7, the green on #10, and the tee shot on #8.

Tiger teed off around 2:30pm. We followed him for several holes. As I mentioned to Randy, Tiger's ability to focus and his sheer mental approach to the game is the reason I enjoy watching him. Unfortunately, he would play very average today. It was frustrating to know he would not figure in the outcome. This always makes things more exciting for me.

The leader going into today was something called - Louis Oosthuizen. I've never heard of the guy. A South African golfer - that I later found out was ranked 45th in the world coming into the tourney. Randy and I both expected this guy to fade. But - he didn't. 'Oosy' as we called him - was solid as a rock. This guy played a 3 under third round to bring his score to -15 going into the final round. He led Paul Casey by 4 shots going into Sunday. The next golfer was at -8 (he was 7 shots clear of the 3rd place golfer).

I was a little disappointed going into Saturday evening just because we were likely to miss the drama of a major championship. Still - we're at the British Open in St. Andrews - things could be worse. We stayed until the last twosome made it through Hole #17 and took a train back into Edinburgh.

Another quick night and we would be back at the course on Sunday.

Day #124 - Golfing at Turnberry

Signature Hole at Turnberry

Looking down the fairway

View of the lighthouse from #9 fairway

Players had to hit over the ocean in the British Open

Looking back at the tee box

Friday, July 16th

Today we took a train from Carnoustie, departing at 7:30am, to Turnberry. This was a long ride. Turnberry is located on the other side of Scotland - the westen side of the country. It's also much further south than Carnoustie. We had to change trains a couple times. Once, in Glascow, we had to change stations as well. We had 15 minutes. We literally ran out of the terminal, grabbed a taxi, and made it to the next station with 2 minutes to spare. It made the day a little more exciting.

We arrived at 11:15am at the Maybole train station. We had set up a transfer to the course at 11:30am. Turnberry is logistically difficult to get to without a car. It's a 15 minute car ride from either of 2 train stations (Maybole or Girvan). Our ride arrived a little late - but we were just thankful they showed at all. We arrived at the course around noon - our tee time was 3:10pm.

Turnberry was the location for last years British Open Championship - won by Stewart Cink. It is often times referred to as the "Pebble Beach of Scotland". Whenver we talked to anyone who had been to Turnberry or played there, their first comment was always: "It's a beautiful place". We weren't disappointed. We were not staying here tonight, so we checked our bags into the locker room and walked around the clubhouse. Turnberry has hosted 4 British Open Championships. Winners include: Stewart Cink (2009), Nick Price (1994), Greg Norman (1986), and Tom Watson (1977).

We sat in the lounge area and had a couple drinks and ate lunch while waiting for our tee time. I again rented clubs. Today was a totally different set than yesterday - I had to relearn things again. Keeping it interesting.

I went to the driving range and hit some balls. Today, it was an actual driving range. Not great. I got to see where the balls where going. That direction was far to the right. I couldn't reign it in. I hit ball after ball and finally was getting things straightened out before I had to get going to the putting green.

We then headed to the first tee. We met our playing partners. A couple guys from England - Andy and Terry?. Randy and I went without caddies today while the other 2 both had them. The weather was pretty nice as we teed off. It was mild teperatures with slight winds at first. I wasn't as nervous as yesterday. I put a good tee ball onto the first fairway. I would again play up and down today - but score about 20 shots better than yesterday - ending somewhere around 120.

The winds came strong toward the late holes making conditions more difficult. No rain today. It was sunny with great clouds. The scenery was spectacular. Awesome. Several of the holes in the middle part of the round ran parallel to the ocean. I have never played in a more scenic location. At the ninth hole, the signature light house made for incredible pictures. The course didn't play as difficult as Carnoustie (few would). I lost another 3 balls today - but was still pleased with this performance.

The round was really enjoyable. I didn't have a single par today but I did have 4-5 single bogeys. Randy and the other guys we played with all were pretty impressive. Randy scoring a 93 - solid on a championship course.

We completed the round at 7:45pm. Today - there was no time for beers in the clubhouse. We had an 8:50pm train leaving Maybole for Edinburgh. We gathered all our gear and waited for our transfer. Things went smoothly - we arrived at the station at 8:30pm. We met up with a guy at the station who had played Turnberry today as well. He was also from Canada. He had went to St. Andrews earlier in the week. He was similar to us - interesting to hear his perspective.

A long train ride to Edinburgh got us there after 11pm. We checked into a new hotel and crashed for the night We will be going to St. Andrews tomorrow morning -- how awesome is that going to be!

Day #123 - Golfing at Carnoustie

Carnoustie - stands for Senior British Open

On 1st tee box looking back into clubhouse

Hitting out of the Spectacles Bunker on the 14th

Par 3, Hole #16 - prepared for Senior Open

Barry Burn on the 18th

Thursday, July 15th

Carnoustie (or Car-nasty as it's sometimes referred) is arguably the toughest golf course in the world. Today, my buddy and I played this course.

"Fear causes hesitation, hesitation causes your worst of fears to come true. So, it's simple. You project strength to avoid conflict, if you project weakness, you draw aggression, and that's how people get hurt". This quote from the movie 'Point Break' was in my mind today.

Now, what I'm about to say is staggering but true considering today's events. ----- I have not played golf for 7 years. Not once. And, one step further, I have not even swung a golf club in the last 7 years. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. Why? My time in Minnesota, where the ground was snow covered 6 months out of the year, was very busy and I rarely had enough time to devote to golf.

When I decided to come to Europe this year, golfing in Scotland was high on my priority list. I would figure a way to get it done. Am I nuts? Maybe. But, I'm just really passionate about the game. I'm not a good golfer - even when I played. I just enjoy doing it. I will have attended all 4 major golf championships (Masters - 2002, US Open - 2003 Olympia Fields, British Open - 2010 St. Andrews, PGA Championship - 2009 Hazeltine) in a couple days. I've played in a golf fantasy league for several years with my buddies. I volunteered at the 2001 Amex Championship at Bellreve in St. Louis until it was cancelled because of 9-11. I know the players, I know the lingo -- generally speaking - I love the game.

This brief intro brings me to today. We left Edinburgh via train for Carnoustie at 7:30am - arriving at 9:15am. Our tee time was 1:30pm. We walked to the Carnoustie Hotel from the train - by the 1st tee box - this is where we were staying for tonight. In order to get a teetime, we had to stay a night at the hotel as well. We checked in and had our bags stored as our room was not ready. We walked around the clubhouse. Pictures of all the former Open Champions from this venue were displayed (with Padraig Harrington (2007), and Paul Lawrie (1999) being the most recent). Amazing! Am I really here? You could look out the window and see the 18th green. Did Jean Van de Velde really get a triple bogey here in '99' to lose the Championship to Paul Lawrie? Good stuff.

We sat in the clubhouse, ate some lunch, and watched the British Open on the big screen as we waited for our tee time. We then dumped our bags into our room and prepared ourselves. I had to rent clubs, as Randy had brought his own. About 45 minutes before our tee time, I went over to the driving range (just a couple nets) to hit balls for the first time in 7 years. It's probably best that I couldn't see where the balls were going. I was able to get them off the ground - I was happy with this.

We walked over to the 1st tee. We met our playing pair for the day - a couple from Toronto, Canada (Lori and Bill). Randy, as well as these two, got a caddie for the day. I chose to go it alone as I didn't think a caddie could aid my game too much today. We got a yardage book, a few tees, and a scorecard. Pretty cool stuff - I'll keep these as souvenoirs.

Now, playing golf may be the exact opposite of the saying "it's like riding a bike". If professionals go a month without playing, they will be rusty and could score high. Going 7 years without playing - not so good. There were about 10 people standing on the 1st tee box. Golf can be a mentally challenging and nerve-racking game on an average day. Today, as I strolled up to place my ball on the tee, nervous wasn't quite the word for it. I went last. Luckily, a few of the shots before me were shanked. I went through a preshot routine - trying to make it look as if I knew what I was doing. Then - club back - I addressed the ball. Wow - there it goes. I had hit it about 180-200 yards, skirting the right side of the fairway, coming to rest in the short rough. Do you believe in miracles?

My second shot brought me back to reality very quickly. I topped the ball - it rolled about 20 yards in front of me into a huge fairway bunker. These bunkers were enormous. You could get lost in them. This could be interesting. I jumped down into the sand and swung at the ball. It went 2 foot - still in the bunker. I hit it again, 1 foot this time - still in the bunker. I swung again, this time the ball comes to a stop under the bunker lip. 3 swings later - after all these people were looking at me fall apart - I pick up the ball and walk it out of the bunker. I would not complete the first hole. I walked to the green and watched the others finish.

A million things were going through my mind. It's embarrassing what just happened. That's OK. I need to shake it off. How can I expect to hit out of a huge bunker with zero sand experience. Let me just say that the reason I enjoy golf so much is the fact that it's such a mentally challenging game. Your focus and sheer determination can make all the difference. I can do this -- just stick in there.

The second hole - I hit a pretty good drive once again. I rolled my second shot somewhere up near the green and then hit a couple wedges to get on the green. I putted out - I think I scored something like an 8. Third hole - this is when it happened. I pulled my 3 wood (using clubs I had never played with in my entire life). It was a par 3 - playing about 190-200 yards. I swung. There goes the ball. It's perfect. A long, high shot - heading straight for the pin. The ball bounces on the green and comes to a stop about 20 feet from the hole. This was the shot. The shot that will keep me coming back. Easily my best of the day. Not just the result, it felt perfect. It was like Rocky had just cut the Russian. I swelled with confidence - I can do this. I had gone last again. The others all stared at me for a second - doing a double take. Really - did you just hit that shot? It was awesome. I missed the putt and ended up making par - but I'll take it.

The rest of the round was filled with ups and downs. The course is brutally hard. Danger everywhere. I think I ended up with a 140+. Randy had shot about 25 shots better than me. He is a really good golfer. Even those who normally would be a single digit handicap, scoring under 100 here is an accomplishment. I didn't care about my score. I was able to play Carnoustie and complete the course. I had to throw my ball out of another bunker later in the round - but was able to complete the other holes. I lost 4 balls - which was good in my mind. We expereinced the full Scottish weather cycle during the round. It started out overcast, warm, with little wind. It turned colder and the wind started to blow. It downpoured for about 4 holes in the middle of the round. We all had on our rain gear and were just getting through it.

I enjoyed it immensely. The last couple holes, I could remember the 2007 and 1999 Opens. It was really cool to be playing here. On the 18th hole, the Barry Burn (a serpentine water channel passing through the fairway) brought back the memories of Van de Velde taking off his shoes - thinking about hitting his shot from the water. Carnoustie lived up to its billing. The fairways are extremely narrow and there are bunkers everywhere. If you hit it into the rough, you're lucky just to get it out.

After the round, we went into the clubohouse and had a couple beers and watched the Open from St. Andrews. This was my favoitie time of the day. The stress and nerves were gone. I felt great. Sitting down at a bar with buddies after a tough day of snow-skiing or 18 holes of golf - it doesn't get much better than this.

We had a great dinner - making our reservation at 8:15pm. A couple more adult frosties - we ended a great day.

Day #122 - Paris to Edinburgh

Early morning at the Lourve

Mona Lisa - drawing card at the Lourve

Venus de Milo

2000 people wrapped around the free Lourve entrance on Bastille Day

Military parade on Bastille Day in Paris

Wednesday, July 14th

We started early today - leaving the hotel at 7:30am for our first destination - the Lourve. We learned yesterday that the Lourve has free entry on Bastille Day. Very nice - might as well take advantage of this. We counted on a big line before the 9am opening - so we arrived at 8:15am.

Neither Randy nor I have much of an artisitc mind (as we both are engineers). We decided to give it a chance. By the time the gate was ready to open at 9am - the line was wrapped around the glass pyramidal-shaped entrance. I'd guess there were 2000 people in line. We were near the front and passed through the gate within about 10 minutes.

What we saw first was predictable and amusing at the same time. There was a mass convoy headed straight for the Mona Lisa. You didn't even need to look at the map - just follow the crowd. People had heads down and were power walking, elbowing others out of the way, to get the mornings first glances of the 1 treasure the Lourve is most famous for.

We walked around a couple hours. Wow - big, vast. It was like going through a maze. At no point did I really know where I was. You could spend a week here if art was your thing. The bulk of the displays were paintings, drawings, and sculptures. We took in some of the more famous artists. It's impressive but overwhelming at the same time.

10:30am - we left the Lourve and headed out to walk the distance to the Champs-Elysees. Today was Bastille Day in Paris. July 14 - the celebration of French Independence. Why is this date honored? The Bastille was built in the 14th century to defend the royal city. It was an 8-towered fortress. However, the city quickly expanded and the Bastille lost its military role. It became a prison - the cells symbolised the arbitrary nature of royal power. On July 14, 1789, 600 rioters stormed the Bastille. At the cost of 100 deaths, they were able to free 6 prisoners. This marked the starting point of the French Revolution. The Bastille was destroyed but a huge column remains today at the site in recognition of the July 14th event.

When we entered the courtyard outside the Lourve, there was an airshow going on. Planes and fighter jets were passing overhead. We walked for about 30 minutes - then the rains came. I've been extraordinarily lucky most of this trip with weather. Today - I had memories of Ireland.

There was a military parade going on between the hours of 10:00-11:45am. We caught the last part of this. Very respectful, quiet atmosphere. The parade consisted solely of the many troops walking arm in arm.

We wanted to walk the rest of the area to the Champs-Elysees, but we just couldn't get around the barricades from the parade route. We did see one of the famous hotels in Paris - the Hotel de Crillon. This was listed in my 1000 Things book. Really impressive. Royalty-type figures were entering/leaving the guarded doorways.

It was nearing 1pm - we had a late checkout from our hotel at 2pm. We needed to get back. The nearest metro was closed. People were jamming into each other on the streets. We almost got ran over by a guy pushing his bike and nearly elbowed to the floor while waiting in line to purchase our metro tickets. With the rain and parade conclusion - there was total chaos.

We finally got our train back to the hotel where we had to run 1/2 mile in downpour conditions to reach the entrance. We were drenched head to toe. A quick change and then some lunch. What do we do? Get a taxi to the airport or roll our bags through tropical storms. Since the streets were experiencing flash flooding, we bit the bullet and took a taxi. We were told 50 euro would do the trick - not too bad split by 2.

We get the taxi - 1 hour into it - we're at a dead stop. Traffic jam. The streets are flooded - we're not moving anywhere. Our taxi driver takes a diversion which added another 40 euro to our bill. Tough luck for sure - but this move probably saved us from missing our flight and being stranded in Paris.

Once at the airport, we had about 30 minutes. The flight to London Heathrow went well - no issues. We arrived around 7:30pm. We grabbed some dinner and relaxed. Our next flight to Edinburgh was delayed. We got on the plane around 9:30pm and then sat on the tarmac an additional 45 minutes. These delays added up to a 11:30pm arrival in Edinburgh.

We took a bus to the Waverly train station (close to our hotel) and then a taxi the final 1/2 mile. We could have walked - but dragging all our baggage without knowing positively where we were going wasn't a great idea at midnight. We checked in and next decided to walk over to our 2 hotels booked for Friday-Sunday. We originally had to book 2 separate places because Friday was not available at our weekend spot. Our goal was to see if there were any cancellations so we could stay at the same place all 3 nights. This didn't end up working out - but we now knew where the places were located - good for our late check-ins later in the week.

Night ends at 1:30am. Tomorrow we go to Carnoustie. Does the words Barry Burn or Jean Van de Velde ring a bell? We talked to a few guys on our bus transfer tonight. They were avid golfers - played all over the world. Their comment: "Carnoustie sticks out like a sore thumb. It's easily the hardest course I've ever played". Excellent - I can't wait!