Buses...

One of the most interesting things here is the double decker buses. To Americans, it's a really cool thing. We don't really have them in the U.S. But in Scotland, they are as common as regular buses. The bus system we have been using has both single and double decker buses. My favorite part is that you can tell who's a regular and who's a tourist. The tourists are almost always on top, and looking out the window like they've never seen anything more majestic in their gosh-darned life. I can admit to doing this the first couple of times on a double decker. Getting carsick on the top level of a double decker also really makes you appreciate it way less.

The regulars also have their own cards that they scan instead of having to pay cash every time. I have one, too. The cards have little pictures of the owner on them. In mine, the dude taking pictures didn't tell me when to smile. So I smiled for a good 30 seconds in front of the camera, and he managed to get the 5 seconds when I stopped smiling and just stood there uncertainly. 

I look very mad in the picture.

I look very menacing in the picture.

I do not like the picture.

The other thing is the actual bus drivers. They like to go fast, and there are also a billion stops all within 3 feet of each other, so you never actually drive, it's just go a little and then you stop- and then you go a little and then stop- go....stop- go...... stop- and all of a sudden you're where you need to go and you're pretty nauseous as well. A bonus side effect, being sick on city buses. It's a really cool addition to being in a foreign city. 

The other day, we went to a play with a lot of other people and to be nice, the organizers got us a cab. I didn't realize how close we were to the city until it took us 20 minutes to get home via cab. It takes us 50 minutes to get home on the bus, so I kind of just assumed that we lived 50 minutes away from the city.

I was very wrong.

The taxi was a blessing from the motion sickness gods, and their sacrifice will not go unnoticed. But seriously, It was crazy how much faster it was. If you're interested, you can check out the bus routes Here. We take the 33 and the 49 most often.

So young
So innocent
Yet to be nauseated