Vitamen C me

A little bit of sunshine goes a long way. My smiles are now returned with smiles instead of a British constapaited face. I am so thrilled with the warmth of the people and the climate that I will let the cat calls and hissing slide.

Now that I am recharged I am ready to go back to Scotland and rebuild my crumbled financial empire.

Surfing Safari

I am officially a surfer babe....and by surfer babe I mean that I had a surfing lesson and now have bruises all over my body. I now understand why it is a sport dominated by men because it took so much upper body strength. Not to mention we had to lug the boards from the shop to the car from the car to the beach and over these rocks, get my squaty body into a wet suit, paddle out to the wave, paddle away from the wave and push myself up-by the end of that drama I was, as the Brits say, knackered. Our instruction consisted on this guy saying »Stay away from the rocks...donºt hit your head on the board....this sport is really dangerous...have fun out there»»

I might be an excellent surfer if I were to have a caddy.

The beach was located near Sagres...a city which is accompanied by a wonderful beer named Sagres which I suggest in you ever have the oppertunity you try. It was also semi nude which I have come to learn in always a loaded term like an all you can eat buffet...which sounds like a dynomite deal but more often than not only has the food you do not want to eat.

And I saw the oldest man naked that I have ever seen.

My
Eyes
Are
Scorned.

There are no words. Well there are words but they are not nice. And I think I just got post traumatic stress disorder writing that statement. Hopefully the next time I will have to see a naked man that old will be when I am REALLY old as well and so blind that I wonºt know the difference between him and saw a lumpy sack of potatoes. The future is so bright I need sunglasses.

Cock a doodle doo

Bom Dia and happy Portuguese Independence Day from Largos, Portugal and more specifically the house of the rising cock, the hostel we are staying in. Yup, you heard me right...ladies and gentleman these jokes write themselves sommetimes.

I would have been thrilled to visit Lindsay Mac even if it meant going to a pile of cow dung but the fact that I happen to be in a affordable for Europe paradise has been a god send. It's as if I have never seen the sun shine because in Scotland...well I hadn't. I plan on posting my pics and describing my trip in that lazy way because it puts everything in chronological order and...well my vacation isn't over god dammit and I don't want to take away from it. Port wine, fantastic seafood, bad teeth, sunburns and more...stay tuned folks!

Everything's in its Right Place.

You can officially call us flat renters!!! We found us a home!! It's so perfect in every way that it's worth all the time we've spent bumming around in this summer camp/prison of a hostel just because it'll be all the sweeter when we do have a proper kitchen, noise control, space to ourselves. Never before has sharing a room with another person seemed like an upgrade...but oh it is!!! It's right by the meadows (Edinburgh's central park) and the posh area. How strange is it that the place I will be living will be older than my country? The move in starts when I get back from Portugal which reminds me I WILL BE IN PORTUGAL IN A DAY...yipppeeeeeeee

Macro and Micro

This sign to me seems very British...I can't put my finger on as to why but it's as if I can almost imagine a British voice narrating this and going,

"Not to worry...this evacuation chair is not anything to get too excited about...we will just pop down these stairs and sort you out"

Lately I have been categorizing things I see as exclusively British, Scottish, American, or universal- perhaps for no other reason except they are all starting to blur in my head.

Overheard conversation at gym: This workout has me knackered...I could really go fira pint after this.

British.

Ordering a half pint to save money and then requesting it to be put in a whole pint glass out of fear that others might question your sexuality.

Scottish

"I'll have a 1/2 pint of your local beer and water...TAP WATER...not the bottled fizzy kind for the whole table....Thanks so much."

American.

And I, Brenna, do take European coffee to have and to hold- in hangovers and in health 'till it robs me of every cent I have- AMEN.

Crammond

Another day off another day trip

This time to Crammond, a little fishermans town outside of Edinburgh where I had the freshest mussels of my entire life.

Let There be Light- indeed!

Welcome to Spring in Scotland...rainy at times but on the whole it kind of rules. This sign is outside of the library and anytime I pass it it makes me smile- either out of ironey or joy depending on my mood or the weather.

Sculptural Landscape Outside of Dean Gallery, Edinburgh

What to do with an abundance of churches and a lack of believers?

Convert them into casinos, naturally!

The Countryside is Overgrown

You're in my shot Bamberg.

G.O.L.F.

It's a accronym for Gentleman Only Ladies Forbidden..so I think that if I ever play it here I should wear a fake mustashe and a top hat...out of respect to it's history that is.

I love rust.

Leith Walking

On our walk we stumbled upon these houses by the canal that looked like they belonged in Deutch land!

Leith Walk

Birdhouse in Stockbridge

Can I move in?

tick tock

Officially leaving for Portugal in 2 weeks with Lindsay Mac!!!! Bought the train tix to London. It couldn't come sooner because I am so pale that it borders tranperancy....seriously folks- turn off the lights and I might glow in the dark. But I have to admit working 5 hours a day 6 days a week isn't bad- it's actually an ideal scheduale- not too early to work (12) and not too late to get out (5...or 1700 I should say). I'm afraid I've been in a bit of a writing rut as you can see by the blog because through routine mototony has taken a temporary hold. In an attempt to stir imagination I have gotten back into reading poetry (some Wallace Stevens and Theodore Roethke) and pretty soon the countdown will begin when the Pow Wow Clan takes Edinburgh by storm whooo hooo

BUzzzzzz

I am reading this book called: The Omnivores Dilema. It goes through the food chain starting with corn and rips it to shreds from the bottom up. Quite frankly it makes me afraid to eat anything. It also makes me alot more sympathetic to the struggle that farmers have who don't try to hurry nature. On the subject of hippie topics- I have been researching and am especially nervous about is the mysterious diappearance of north american and european honey bees...yikes! Colony collapse disorder or CCD. I would write more about it but it scares me, honestly. I want to volunteer as a beekeeper- can I do that? That might make a great story one day....."Listen up kiddies...gramma used to worke as a bee keeper...when we had bees..honey...and flowers...and fruit...oh those were the days."

Menacing Clouds over Stockbridge