My first real trip to Europe

I am heading off to Europe. No, not the romantic Europe of Canaletto or someone of that calibre. I am going to Scotland; where whisky and haggis are king. I will be there for 2 weeks hopefully seeing the place and getting immersed in the culture. Why Scotland? Why not? The reason I am going to Scotland is because I have a fascination with bagpipes mostly. There is this _tiny_ show held in Edinburgh every Summer called the Edinburgh Tattoo. No one gets tattooed for this. But the bands of the Scottish regiments (usually from the Commonwealth) end up putting a spectacular show every time. I have seen pictures and videos of it. I want to be there for the real deal.

I fly out of Vancouver on a British Airways flight (one of 2 daily direct ones) for London Heathrow. I'll be in the air for about 8 hours and then I will be in the United Kingdom. I've heard great things about BA. I usually fly Singapore Airlines. BA better deliver.

My MEC backpack is packed. I hope I survive this trip. I am staying in hostels and god knows what else. I have never done any of this before. I am travelling alone. Never done that before (well, never like this). I have done trips for things (like work etc) but never had to spend 2 weeks in a place I know little about by myself. At least they speak English (I hope...). We'll see how this goes.

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