June 30, 2025
A Family Day in St. Andrews
We had a great family day today in St.Andrews, along with completing some chores. We were due at a cocktail party in the evening so we were able to sleep in, which was great except we were sleeping in what is termed a “three quarter bed” which means it isn’t designed for two people. Good thing we like each other. (I wonder now how they marketed the unit - I will have to go back and check. All I remember is that things were super expensive so I picked more or less the least expensive unit)
Student housing isn’t what it used to be, which is a good thing if you are a student today. While we found the suite a bit claustrophobic, and felt like we were shacked up in a single-wide furnished by IKEA, it was wildly nicer than anything I remember from 40 years ago. The huge flat screen tv was a boon as we could watch the start of the Wimbledon tournament and hear BBC do the announcing.
Plus the public rooms were really nice. I could imagine myself studying there. In addition, there was a laundry room and Dave spent a couple of hours taking care of that while I worked on the journal and watched Wimbledon
We duly made our way at 6 pm to meet the family and walk over to the first event, a cocktail party hosted by the mother of one of Electa’s friends. It was fun to meet Electa’s friends who appear to be smart, young women excited to start careers, in exotic places. Britian has a “graduate visa” program that allows Americans to stay for two years after graduation and find a job and get established. Very cool. Electa is planning to go back the US and start a program at Columbia in order to get into medical school. She struggled with the rainy weather in Scotland. She is very focused, did well in University and I have a high level of confidence she will achieve her goals.
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Her sister Bodil isn’t exactly a slouch either. She graduated from high school and is working on obtaining her pilot’s license this summer with the thought becoming a commercial pilot.
We had a fun cocktail hour in a very warm flat and besides visiting with Electa’s friends and their families, we had a chance to visit with Christl’s siblings and their husbands. They were staying the whole week for all the graduation activities - and there were a lot of them planned. Eventually we made our way to the Steak Barn for dinner. It's a little bit out of town so Dave and I rode our bikes over. It’s interesting to see the response from our relatives about our trip. It’s pretty much (1) It's so cool you are riding your bikes around Europe for six months, with: (2) It is insane that you are riding your bikes around Europe for six months!
We had a wonderful dinner - thank you Eric and Christl for hosting —followed by a family photo:
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Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 2,108 km (1,309 miles)
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