We continue to be busy...

We have had a couple of busy weeks.  We have been working in Alloa (about 45 minutes northwest out of Edinburgh) and also in Edinburgh.  We went to Church a fortnight ago in Livingston (about ½ hour to the west).  We have had 10 candidates come into the Employment Center this week and nearly half of them have been “friends of the Church”.  We do not limit our work to only LDS Church members.  We have been writing, editing, and re-editing CVs hoping to draft them in a way to catch the eye of prospective employers. 

In between all of this we have had some time to visit some places of interest in the area.  The weather has been fairly good…mostly sunshine in the morning and clouds, and some rain in the afternoon.  We carry our umbrella with us to ward off the rain.  So far it has worked pretty well.

Last week on our way to Alloa we stopped in Linlithgow to tour the castle/palace.  This was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and was built in about 1050 A.D.  Last Saturday we visited Dunfermline.  We saw the Abby and also the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie.  He was born in Dunfermline and his family left for America when he about 15 years old.  There was a museum in the cottage where he was born that told about his life.  He was a very ambitious man.  It stated in the museum that in 1901 he sold US Steel for $400 million and was listed as the richest man in the world.

We received our bus pass this week.  All seniors over the age of 60 are able to ride the bus – all over Scotland – without charge.  Last night we decided to test out the new cards and rode the bus into Edinburgh.  We walked around for a while and then came home.  We took the express bus so we saved £15 (about $23.50) on this one bus ride.

We drive most places, but there is limited parking in Edinburgh.  Our car uses diesel fuel at £1.37 per liter.  This is about $8.15 per gallon.  Driving on the left is becoming more natural every day.  I am studying to take the drivers license test.  My US license is valid for one year so I need to get a UK drivers license or we will be walking.  I have taken a few practice test of the written portion and definitely need to study some more.  Some of the senior missionaries don’t get their UK license so after one year they are transferred from Scotland to the Republic of Ireland (or the other way around) so they can still drive.  The couple in Aberdeen were in Ireland for one year and they will finish their mission in Scotland.  We can’t do that because we must work out of Edinburgh…so I must study!!

Today we went to the little village of Queensferry.  It was a neat little village.  I failed to take a picture of the narrow streets so you will need to wait until our next visit for the street…but I did take a picture of the bridge and the harbor.

This is the entrance to the Linlithgow Palace...the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots

The inner court

The fountain.  Each Sunday in July they turn on the fountain so we are going back to see it in operation.

This is the Great Hall

This is the Abbey in Dunfermline

The mother of William Wallace is buried under this tree.  There are 8 Kings of Scotland buried in the abbey.

Aye, that is me...

The bridge on the right is a train bridge and on the left is for cars.  The bridges cross the Firth of Forth to reach Dundee, Perth, Dunfermline, and points north.

This is the harbor at Queensferry.  The tide is out (obviously)  There is an inlet at the end of the dock where the water will return when the tide comes in and the boats will rise.  One must manage the tide to maximize the use of ones boat and the harbor.  ;)