Great day, not so great late night news

Past two days:

Places:
Edinburgh Castle - Cold. Very cold. You get to see the Scotland Honours though (Crown Jewels).
Real Mary King Close - Underground tour of original Old Town Scotland. Conditions were pretty horrible back in the day.
National Museum of Scotland - Is huge. Very cool insect exhibit.
Palace of Hollyrood House - Where Mary, Queen of Scots lived.
The Salisbury Craggs ... I thought I climbed Arthur's Seat, but alas, no dice. I had no clue which one was the right path but I kept going up until I reached some kind of peak. It was like 7:30 and it was freezing and raining by the time I got to the top.
Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands - THIS is what Scotland is all about, folks. The Highlands are where Scotland's beauty really shines. And you got the Highlander from it. Played by a French guy. Trained by (supposedly) a Spanish guy, played by a Scotsman, Sean Connery.

Food:
Scottish Breakfast - Same as Irish breakfast. Just this time it has HAGGIS!

What is haggis, you ask? It's basically all the parts from a sheep that you don't want to think about mixed with oats, onion, spices and salt. It sounds disgusting. Oh ho ho, but how does it taste?

In a word? Heavenly.

While at a mill in the highlands, I stopped by a whiskey shop for some free tasting (woot woot). Bought some fantastic single malt Scottish whiskey.

Got home. Reading email. My host for Paris had her heart broken from her first day (crap apartment, expectations destroyed), and will be going home in a few days.

I have lost my host for Paris =(

Having trouble buying a ticket to China. Paper ticket only? $45 to ship? WTF.

I'm afraid to even look at my photos. I don't want shit to blow up there.

(later)

Figured out how to fix ticket buying issues. Had to look up tickets at kayak.co.uk instead of kayak.com, silly internets.

It's like Ryan said, some days are ups, others are downs. I was just feeling so at home here, lost among the Old World with new faces, new friends, new locations. Got shaken up a bit, and feeling a bit lost but in a different way.

Anyway, I'm pretty bummed. I was so looking forward to having a travel buddy in Paris.

Time to call in the backups.