Scotland to Nashville and now a sore back

A summary of my trip to Scotland, UK and then Nashville, Tennessee.  Two weird cities to put together, but they were both for work events.

I was in Scotland for a customer event we coordinated in Edinburgh, while there I was able to do a little bit of sight-seeing including a tour of the city, the undergroung "closes", a hike up Arthur's Seat.  I also spent some time at the Scotch Heritage Whiskey Center sampling and learning about scotch. 

Then it was off to Nashville for our annual customer event of the year, then back home, where I am now busy catching up on work, and mending my back, and catching up on everything I missed in town.

SCOTLAND - The town of Edinburgh was lovely, and even though we spent most of the time ensconsed in the hotel, I did get part of an afternoon to walk around town.  The big bonus was that it was even somewhat sunny that afternoon (it rained all week). 

History, comes so much more alive for me when I travel, then when I read it in books.  Having a chance to take a quick tour of the Edinburgh and experience some of the town's history was a real treat for me.  I only wish I had more time to explore Scotland.  I learned a lot about the town's history, from the new stories(Edinburgh is the place where JK Rowling, started writing her Harry Potter series, and also the town that inspired Jekyll and Hyde), to the world of Robert of Bruce and Scottish Royalty at the Edinburgh castle, and the underground "closes" (See Mary King's Close) which seemed like a gruesome place to live if you actually survived the plaque and walking amongst all the gaurdyloo (feces, bath water, and etc, that was thrown into the street each morning or night - GROSS!). 

Even though it was brief, I managed a quick juant to the top of Arthur's Seat (at only 251 meters (823 feet), I knew I could make the hike (in heels non-the-less), and get back for our evening dinner event.  It was a great walk, and I only wish I had pictures from the top.  It felt great to get in some exercise, and breath in some outside air. I would have loved to have hiked more of Scotland's country side. 

Instead, I was found wearing a kilt and Tam o' Shanter (tartan hat with a pom pom) at our scotch tasting/casino event.  It was a huge success, and I was lucky to get such a fantastic crew to work with .  Besides learning more about scotch and tasting a variety of new ones, I had some of the best Thai food I've ever had at the Thai Orchid.  The restaurant was in the shadows of the castle, and the food was absolutely nummy, so much so, that I still want some green curry.

NASHVILLE
I flew from Scotland to Nashville to start set-up on our big annual customer event.  We had such a good crew to work with this year, that the event, although huge, and with about a thousand last minute changes from everyone, went incredibly smoothly.  For that I can thank my coworkers (we have been working so hard on this event all year, and they are an incredible team) who worked their butts off, the volunteers who were absolutely amazing (Tim and Barb are rock stars, and may never be willing to volunteer for me again, but I am forever in their debt), and even the hotel staff were fantastic.  This ended up being our biggest year ever, and it went so well, you kind of wonder if you should find a new job, because how could it ever go so well again.  I have a great job, but it was so clear to me this weekend, that its the people who make this job so worthwhile. 

Needless to say we worked a lot of hours this weekend, and never got a chance to really get outside of Gaylord (which I like to call the biosphere), except for a couple of dinners with co-workers.  As a result, I've acquired a very bad low back ache, which I attribute to over exertion over the course of the last two weeks.  Hopefully, with some good muscle relaxants and some  R-&-R it will all be better soon.

AUSTIN
While I was gone, a lot was going on here in Austin.  I finally had the house reroofed (it was suffering hail damage from last summer). I had a landscaper come and reroute my sprinklers to better accomodate my landscaping.  And I had my car fixed (new timing belt and water pump) so now it doesn't sound loud and scary when you start it.   It felt good to get all those things checked off the list.  Unfortunatley, I missed Tina and Greg's wedding, but hopefully, I can help them celebrate at their shower that Jodi and Rafi are throwing them later this month.

Comments

[Skye (Ashley)]

Hey deanna whats up nice work on your site or blog what ever it is. Miss you lots when you comin up to see us?