Getting There

The downside of doing home exchanges across the pond is getting there.  Here are the many steps it took before arriving in our first home exchange in Cluny, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:

Sunday 11:15 a.m. - taxi to San Miguel bus station
Sunday 12:00 p.m. - Bus to Mexico City Norte bus station
Sunday 3:30 p.m. - Taxi from bus station to Mexico City airport
Sunday 9:45 p.m. - Flight on KLM non-stop to Amsterdam - 10 hr flight
Monday - Arrive Amsterdam around 3:00 p.m. their time - Hang out in airport
Monday - 9:40 p.m. - 1 1/2 hr flight on Easy Jet to Edinburgh
Monday -  10:10 p.m. - Hilton Hotel shuttle from airport to hotel - 5 min. - Collapse into bed.
Tuesday - late morning shuttle back to airport.
Tuesday - Airlink bus to Edinburgh Waverly Train Station
Tuesday - 12: 45 p.m. First ScotRail train to Aberdeen - 2 hrs
Tuesday - 3:15 p.m. Taxi to home exchange - 30 min.

Not surprisingly, we were very happy to arrive at our "home away from home" and really, we had no problems along the way.  We had a little sleep on the plane but it is very difficult to sleep in those tiny airline seats.  We had the opportunity to upgrade at a hefty price but decided it was not worth it - plenty of time to recover upon arriving at our final destination.

Our home "Broomhead"  is a very old granite "cottage" with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, open kitchen, dining and living room plus a lovely bright solarium overlooking lush gardens with no neighbors within view.  The sound of a babbling brook across the road is soothing.  The house has been completely modernized and we felt quite at home from the first day.  Our hosts had left us enough food to get started and a nice bottle of wine.

WEDNESDAY,  August 22

Unfortunately, John experienced some problems with his dental implants just before we left Mexico and while his Mexican dentist made some temporary adjustments, we knew there could be problems on the trip. Well, the first evening, the dentist's adjustment loosened so we knew he'd have to find a local dentist.  We received a recommendation just a few miles from the house, called and got right in to see him.  144 lbs (that's British Pounds Sterling) later, he went home thinking all would be well for the duration of the trip.  Wrong.  The cement fell out during dinner.  Bummer.  No sightseeing yet, but we did buy a couple  few things at Costco (lamb chops and wine) after visiting the dentist.

THURSDAY, August 23

Another call to the dentist to see if he had a Plan B.  Again he got right in to see a dentist (different one in the same office) who admitted that he did not have the right tool to tighten the implant but he phoned a dental surgeon in Aberdeen that he knew and drove us there.  This time, it is looking good so far.  We took a taxi back to our car at the other dental clinic and then did some shopping at Marks & Spenser - a wonderful store - lots of high quality food - many items partially prepared in servings for two - just pop them in the oven. Wonderful items that don't require a lot of preparation but taste home cooked - perfect for vacation.

By the time we finished all the above, it was too late to do any sightseeing other than a little walk down the road.  However, the roads are very narrow in the country (we are definitely in the country) - so it requires much caution - especially on curves.  There are no shoulders - you just have to step into the abundant greenery.

I prepared a simple dinner from Marks and Spencer ingredients and along with a nice bottle of Australian wine and no more dental disasters, we are optimistic about tomorrow.

Weather:  So far, the weather has been pretty decent for Scotland.  We were prepared for cool, cloudy and rainy so have not been disappointed.  However, we have actually had more sunshine than we expected - a bonus.  The weather seems to change in a matter of minutes.  During the day it is in the 60's - just right for a light jacket.

Taxi Drivers:  We had nice experiences with the taxis.  The driver who brought us here from Aberdeen was very talkative and well versed in many topics:  history, geography, politics, etc. and had lots of questions for us - quite entertaining.  Our other taxi driver was also talkative and had many side trip recommendations.  Both taxis had meters - not cheap but certainly good service and very pleasant.

It is now Friday morning and we have made our first sightseeing plans:  Castle Fraser - I will report in the next blog post.  Unfortunately, no pictures to post yet - my memory card reader isn't working and I'll have to find another before I can download pictures to my computer.  Stay tuned.