Tara and I have been talking a lot about what we want from our trip. We discuss things like how much we want to bike, what kind of biking we want to do and why we are both here. We did this more times than I can count as we prepared, but perspectives have a way of changing drastically when you pepper in some real-world experience. We vacillate almost hourly between loving this idea (bicycling around the world) and wondering what the hell we’ve done. It has been so long in the planning that I think we both thought we would just come here and do it like it was no big deal. Hah.

We awoke around 9am and enjoyed another delicious meal courtesy of our Beecraigs friends. We had tasty sausages and pancakes cooked by Harry and Adam. Tara and I both had a bit of a laugh as Harry exclaimed that he was going to make a MONSTER pancake; a few minutes later he handed over a pancake that any American would call medium sized at best. It was good, though!

When we left, the kids chased us on foot to the gates of the campground, laughing and cheering us on. It was a touching start to a wonderful day, which again owes credit to our Beecraig’s friends.

Scott had told us about a bike path along the Union Canal that goes directly into Edinburgh. It was an absolutely beautiful ride. We enjoyed ourselves, riding at a leisurely pace, taking photos and marveling at how vibrantly green the plants along the path were. This was more like the bike trip we had been envisioning!

We coasted into Edinburgh around 5pm to meet up with Tara’s brother’s friend Jennifer who lives on Lothian Road. She was kind enough to give us a bed for the evening and a bowl of tomato soup. Afterwards we wandered around town a bit taking photos of the city as the sun was setting.

We received our first incoming phone call on our world cellular plan as Tara’s brother Lian called us via Skype on his iPhone using the wireless internet connection in his apartment. So cool! Afterwards we headed to Doctor’s Pub for dinner and a pint: Tara tried the steak and eel pie while I stuck with the safety of spicy chicken kebabs. We left, took a few more photos and headed ‘home’ for the evening.

I feel a bit like a freeloader lately and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has been eager to help us along our way but I find myself looking forward to being a bit more self-sufficient as we get further into the country and start camping regularly.