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I’m writing on board the Amtrak #4 train bound for Chicago, traveling into the city for New Year’s Eve. Despite the fact that the train arrived in Princeton an hour and a half late, it’s still definitely the way to travel. And hey, during the delay I chatted with a cute young lady named Desiree, so even running late isn’t all bad.

NYE should be a blast. Makeshift, a band composed of a bunch of guys with whom I went to college, is played at Goose Island, and a bunch of my fraternity brothers will be in attendance. I haven’t seen a lot of these guys in a while, so I’m really looking forward to catching up. We’re staying at a hotel for the first night in the city, and should be crashing at a buddy’s condo later on, while we recover from NYE and wait for the Illinois–Gonzaga game on Saturday. 

While I still need to blog about Christmas, and potentially a couple of other things about this year, this will probably be the last post of 2009. I know it’s been a tough year for much of the world, and lots of people are ready to forget and move on to the second decade of the millennium, but on balance, 2009 treated me pretty well. I spent the first half in India, came home to a promotion, and bought a new house. So, while I’m looking forward to 2010, let’s celebrate the close of the year with gusto.

So last Saturday Martin and I headed to Edinburgh at 9:30 a.m. The train ride over was very comfortable and easy. There were probably six or seven stops on the way, including three in Edinburgh. We got off at last one. The train station is actually a little below what is street level in the city, and to get out of it you just had to walk up a street that runs through the station. It was a busy place full of people who looked like they knew what they were doing. We didn’t. I was reading my guide book the whole day looking like an idiot. It was great.