Day 11 - 14 Aug. Today we bid adieu to the hotel Panmure
and Monifieth. We left early for the airport to drop off everyone but
Bill, Kim, Beanie, and me. Sad to see everyone leave, but looking forward
to the second portion of our trip. We check into the Edinburgh Residence
Inn after some considerable effort in locating it. There is a lot of
construction going on in Edinburgh and it appears many of the streets start and
stop – like the valley.
The room seems like the
royal palace after Panmure Hotel in Monifieth. It’s a great location with
a huge park just to the south and the Royal Mile just up the road. The
Royal Mile is High Street and it runs from the Edinburgh Castle to the Queens
Summer Palace, where the queen hangs out when she vacations in Scotland.
Nice place if you like that kind of thing. August is festival month in
Edinburgh so a large portion of the Royal Mile is closed off for the Fringe
Festival. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, https://www.edfringe.com/, is billed as the single biggest celebration of
arts and culture on the planet, which kind of makes you wonder why we’re
here. The Fringe began in 1947 when eight groups arrived in Edinburgh
hoping to perform at the newly formed Edinburgh International Festival but were
refused entry. Rather than being discouraged from performing, they went ahead
and performed on the fringe of the Festival and so the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe was born. It’s kind of like Mardi Gras meets the Renaissance
Festival. There are lots of street performers, vendors, and food.
 |
Entrance to the Fringe Festival - Note the classy splotch from cleaning curry sauce off my Pat's shirt!
|
 |
| One of the many street performers - he's balancing on a ladder |
 |
| The Grand Finale - Juggling knives on a ladder in his underwear . . .and it's 50 degrees!! |
 |
| A very scary looking marionette on a music box |
We had a real nice dinner at an Italian restaurant called Divino Enoteca. Food and whole dining experience was really good, except we ran into our first rudie (rude person). Unfortunately, it was our waitress which kind of made things a little uncomfortable. She was from Italy and seemed a bit put off when we asked for things like time, food, or drinks. Other than that, she was a real joy to be around. Maybe it our fault for taking a couple of hours to eat. Food prices seem in line with the states and when you consider tipping is less, it may be better.
Kathy: Had a nice, easy day. After a good (included) breakfast in the
hotel lobby, we got settled into our hotel rooms and then headed out to explore
the city a bit and hopefully find an interesting looking restaurant for dinner. The hotel is in a great
location, next to a beautiful park and not in the middle of the craziness of
the city this time of year but just a few blocks away. The hotel upgraded us to a two room suite with
a kitchen and it was very roomy and comfortable.
 |
| Living Room at the Residence Inn before we trashed it |
 |
| Bedroom - interesting note, few of the hotels have air conditioning, just open the slider! |
RC. Humorous (and maybe not) side note. Bobby is a dog, famous for his loyalty to his
master, John Gray, a night watchman on the Edinburgh Police Force. When we were looking for the statue of the dog,
we got a bit turned around in the Kirkyard.
Finally Bill says, “Where’s the f*@king dog?” We all kind of fell out. Come to find out, the statue was on the main
drag and we ended up passing it every time we went anywhere. The catch phrase of the walkabouts became,
“There’s the f*@king dog!” every time we passed it.
 |
| The F#@king Dog (the one on the right!) You can see how his nose has been rubbed back to its original color |
 |
| Greyfriars Kirk |
 |
| Greyfriars Kirk |
 |
| Wished we could've heard the organ being played but only on Sundays |
 |
| Looked like a nice place to live and talk about a great location in downtown Edinburgh, close to everything |
 |
| The veteran apartments looked very nice |
 |
| These beautiful flower baskets were all over the city - yes, they're real! |
 |
| You have to love Scottish Wisdom! |
Kathy: As Randy said, we did
find an excellent restaurant for dinner, Divino Enoteca, where the four of us celebrated the guys’ golfing portion
of the trip, did a bit of planning for our remaining days in Scotland and
looked forward to more fun times ahead.
Day 12 – 15 Aug. We started off a little slow this morning
– perhaps too much vino??? Nah!!!! After a leisurely
breakfast at the hotel, we joined up with Bill and Kim to find the train
station and get tickets for Thursday’s train ride to Inverness. Yep,
we’re going to see Nessie whether she likes it or not. The train station was
only about 30 minutes away so along the way we weaved our way through the midday
crowds at the Fringe Festival, stopping to watch some of the street performers.
We stopped at St Giles Cathedral, for a piano recital that Kim had heard
about. It was some Swedish guy named Julian Layn (who reminded me of
David Feherty), a regular for the Fringe Festival.
 |
| Julian Layne |
 |
| Julian and Kim |
He played 4 or 5
pieces, all original compositions, and it lasted about an hour. All of
them were good, but the short sample below was exceptional. Wish I had captured much more.
Kathy: St Giles Cathedral is beautiful and Julian
Layn was wonderful. Kim went up and
talked to him a bit after his performance.
We (Kim and I) both agreed that he’s not too hard on the eyes either!
 |
| St Giles Cathedral |
 |
| St Giles set up for a music performance |
 |
| Beautiful Architecture |
 |
| Flags and Stained Glass Windows |
Randy: In the afternoon Beanie & I walked to the
local Harley Davidson dealership to pick up tee shirts, etc. for our Harley
friends. It was a couple miles south of where we were staying so it gave
us a chance to see some new sites. We went thru Meadows Park, which is
just a hundred yards or so south of our hotel. The park was packed,
weather was great, August is holiday month in Scotland, so everyone was just
kind of hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. Navigating the roads in
Edinburgh can be a bit challenging. There is no “standard” for street
signs, one street can have multiple names depending on how old it is, and the
names on the maps often don’t match the names on the street. You asked
did we get lost, of course we did, but just a little bit and as fate often
does, good things happened. We decided on a light, late lunch and stopped
into a local pub called No. 1, The Grange, about a mile from the hotel. It was a great little neighborhood pub, not at all touristy.
 |
| No 1 The Grange |
 |
| No 1 The Grange and more flowers |
 |
| Not your typical pub menu |
We met Danny the
bartender, who after seeing my Titleist hat, quickly made us aware he was an
avid golf fan. We chatted quite a bit about the various courses in
Scotland. He hadn’t played the Old Course so he was really interested in
what Beanie and I thought about it. He also had a great sense of humor.
We just finished ordering lunch (Carrot orange curry soup with chips) and I slipped
out our somewhat useless map and asked him where we were. He quickly
replied “Scotland!” After a cold pint and good lunch, we continued on to
the HD dealership, bought a couple of tee shirts and a poker chip, and walked
back to the hotel. It was kind of another long day on top of many long
days so we decided to just hang at the hotel for the evening. I think
Beanie had chocolate cake for dinner and I had mixed nuts. Yep, we know
quality cuisine when we see it. Beanie grabbed a pillow and conked out on the
sofa for a short 2-hour nap before she went to bed.
Kathy: Another nice day, except for that pesky
blister I got during the afternoon walk. It was fun exploring a less touristy portion
of the city and having lunch in a neighborhood pub. We put in quite a few miles
this day!
Day 13 – 16 Aug. We slept in a little, about 0800,
had breakfast at the hotel, and caught a city bus to see the Royal Yacht
Britannia. It was a bit rainy and breezy so we got a little wet.
Thankfully most of the tour was inside. This was the yacht of the royal family
until it was decommissioned in 1997. It’s a very classic, old-school design yet
in some ways is very luxurious and in some ways not so much. There is
only one double bed, all the rest are twins.
Kathy: I loved seeing this historic, grand old ship. I doubt that any royals would
enjoy traveling by ship today; too slow, too boring. But Queen Elizabeth loved it and relaxed more
on that ship than anywhere else. There
was nothing even remotely fancy about it, which probably says a lot about Queen
Elizabeth, but it was homey and comfortable.
 |
| The Royal Britannia |
 |
| State of the art bridge technology and the bean |
 |
| The Bell |
 |
| More state of the art ship technology |
 |
| Queen Elizabeth's bedroom |
 |
| Officer's Mess |
 |
| Royal Dining Room |
 |
| The main living area |
Randy: After we finished touring the ship we had a light lunch at a little restaurant next to the ship. Of course, a local IPA was
included. Even the girls are catching onto this beer thing. We had a good view of the harbor and saw a couple
of interesting special purpose ships. One was a tug/tender for the oil
platforms. Another was a Border Force
cutter. Border Force probably best parallels with the US ICE mission,
security of the borders.
 |
| Oil Platform tug/tenders - actually two ship with opposing bridges |
 |
| Border Security |
After lunch, we caught a bus back to the
hotel. We did a walk about in the city on the way back to the hotel and
stumbled across a small (and I do mean small - about the size of a walk-in closet)
crepe stand near the northern part of Meadows Park. Beanie had read about
it and its 5-star rating on Trip Advisor, but we had no plans to go
there. Glad we did. It’s called Tupiniquim, and it’s a fine
purveyor of Brazilian crepes, http://tupiniquim.co.uk/. I had the steak with the butternut squash and avocado,
Beanie had the margarita tata with spinach, goat and mozzarella cheese, and Kim
had Release the Chicken which was also really good. Bill elected to run
across the street for a slice of pizza. It was good fun to watch the
whole process, from making the crepes to the creative "packaging".
We're planning to stop by again to try the dessert crepes, mixed dark and light
chocolate, peanut butter and bananas".
Kathy: I knew I wanted to try this place but it was pure
luck we stumbled across it and were hungry.
Yummy. Best crepes ever.
 |
| Yum |
 |
| Would loved to have tried everything on the menu |
Randy: Later that night we headed off to the Royal
Edinburgh Military Tattoo, www.edintattoo.co.uk at 9:00 PM. It was touch and go WRT the weather,
windy, bit chilly, and 50% chance of rain but we came well equipped with
ponchos, raincoats, and multiple layers of clothes. As it turned out we had
dressed perfectly for it and were comfortable for the whole show. It was
probably about a 1 mile walk to Edinburgh Castle (just follow the crowds) and
it took about 20 minutes to clear security, not too bad, and we were in. Bleachers
are set up on either side of the esplanade (think football field) in front of
the castle. The first thing we see is a
bunch of soldiers in kilts and various ceremonial dress. Next there is a
full size static display of the F35 hanging from overhead. I chatted with
a Navy Captain about it and he advised me that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
are both slated to receive the F35, though they are not very pleased with the
production delay.
 |
| F-35 Static Display |
 |
| Stylin' - maybe not! We may look cold but we were warm and toasty with our layers. |
We made our way to our
seats (Beanie did well, four seats on the end of the row) and the festivities
began almost as soon as we sat down. The reason for the heightened security quickly
became evident when a Jaguar limo drove onto the parade grounds and Prince
Charles and Prince William got out of the back seat. Evidently it was the
first time they’ve both attended and for either of them to attend is pretty
rare. The crowd went crazy and I have to admit, it was pretty cool.
Here’s a couple of pics I took from 100 yards away.
 |
| Prince Charles (military uniform and hat) and Prince William (tux, no hat, minimal hair) |
 |
| Prince Charles with head down on left and Prince William |
Pretty weird as I never
thought I could get that stoked listening to bagpipes, but it was a colossal
show. There was about 10,000 people in the audience and performers from
all around the globe to include first time attendees from the Japanese Defense
Forces and India. The US Navy Europe had a small team (40-50) that did a
really cute number, kind of a mini musical, dance, and band composition.
Hopefully they were going for cute!! Here’s a few more pics and one of our videos to give you the flavor.
Kathy: The Edinburgh Military Tattoo was spectacular. What an extravaganza from the lights, music,
dancers, costumes, everything was great.
It was military but it was also whimsical and fun at times. The Indians even had a bit of Bollywood in
it! There was a Viking ship that was set
on fire (the traditional way Viking warriors were cremated); at one point the
whole field was set up to represent an aircraft carrier flight line and they
rolled out a helicopter with all the sounds and sights of an actual helicopter
carrier landing (very cool); lots of bagpipes of course and Scottish/Irish
dancers; the Japanese had an incredible drum routine and an excellent female
singer; it was all just excellent. Did
some research on military tattoos and there are actually several in the United
States. Future road trip?! Definitely.
Day 14 – 17 Aug. Today we’re off on our train ride to
Inverness. It’s about a 20 minute walk to the train station. The train
ride is just short of four hours and the coach seats we had were firm, but just
fine. It’s a very smooth operation and whisper quiet train for about $75
RT and reasonably good Wi-Fi. From what we’ve learned, it used to be a
government run operation, but it was privatized a few years back. Now
that the private company is turning a bit of a profit and has requested a fare
increase, people are calling for the government to resume ownership and
operation. Like the government has ever done something (other than the
military) better than the private sector. Anyway, Inverness is the city in the
highlands of Scotland where the Ness River flows into the sea. The area is
better known as the home of the Loch Ness monster, or as I prefer to call her,
Nessie. Been a long time since there were any sightings. Inverness
is a blue-collar town with lots of shops and historical buildings. We did
a pretty good walk about, had a nice lunch, and did a little shopping.
Shopping for other than golf stuff and fine beverages just seems so
blasé’. The train ride back was pretty quiet, though we did manage to
choke down some wine and nuts.
Kathy: I think we were all ready for a bit of a down
day so the train ride fit the bill. We
saw some beautiful countryside and interesting train stations. Inverness is a much smaller town than
Edinburgh and we enjoyed walking around, having lunch and doing a bit of
shopping. The Ness River is very pretty
and based on the signs about the upcoming Salmon Festival I’m guessing has good
salmon fishing. No sign of Nessie though. Randy worked on the blog
during the ride home and I enjoyed the scenery.
On the way back to the hotel from the train station we stopped at a pub
for a beer and a late snack. Another
full, fun day.
 |
| Waverley Train Station |
 |
| Wayverley Train Station |
 |
| Bill and Kim relaxing on the train |
 |
| Beautiful purple heather on the hillsides |
 |
| The River Ness - does this look like a good salmon river or what? |
 |
| Cavell Gardens - see below |
 |
| The River Ness - but no Nessie |
 |
| Peruvian Pan Pipes in Inverness - Peru, maybe next year! |
Day 15 – 18 Aug. Today was the day I got my fat butt out of bed and hiked Arthur’s Seat, a high plateau that overlooks Edinburgh. Well, okay, that didn’t actually happen. It was raining, windy, whaaaaaaa and a couple other excuses if you give me a minute. We spent a good deal of the day prepping for the trip home. It takes some time and effort to strategically pack 150+ pounds of crap into two suitcases and a golf bag without risking and explosion!! For lunch we went back up to Tupiniquim, the crepe place, man that stuff is good. We hooked up with Bill & Kim for dinner. We had to find a place to blow the vast majority of our remaining pounds. Beanie found a nice Turkish, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, fusion restaurant – McDonalds. Just kidding! It was quite good and we got to walk a part of Edinburgh we hadn’t spent much time exploring. Little wine, little beer, little more, and some good food and company. Good way to spend our last night and bid farewell to Edinburgh and all of Scotland.
Kathy: I think we all enjoyed sleeping in
today. In between a few drizzles, Randy
and I did a short walk about in a different direction from the hotel than we
usually go, then returned to the hotel to do a leisurely pack up (after getting
one last crepe fix). We were all a bit
pub food and fish and chipped out at this point so celebrated our last dinner
in Scotland at a Turkish/Lebanese restaurant which was quite good. Saw a beautiful double rainbow on the walk
back to the hotel; a nice end to a wonderful trip.
Day 16 – 19 Aug. We’re up at 4:00 to catch a 6:00 cab to the airport. It’s Saturday and everything should be quiet at that time of day, but we’ve found a little bit of paranoia can go a long way to keeping things on track. Everything goes pretty well, security looks like a huge bottleneck, but in less than an hour we’re ticketed, bags checked, through security, and comfortable in the lounge . . . . . for 2 ½ hours. The plane is on time and 90 minutes later we’re in Dublin. Dublin provides a preclearance service so when you land in the states, you’re already through customs and immigration. It’s a really nice service, especially if you have a tight connection. The flight to LAX is smooth, though it is a little weird to have it light all the way. We get into LAX pretty much on time and our 3+ hour layover doesn’t look too bad until . . . . “American Airlines regrets to inform you FLT 3086 from LAX to PHX is delayed from its 10:00 PM scheduled departure time to 12:30 AM”. Well, this sucks! We’ve been up for about 25 hours at this point, perhaps a bit grumpy (dopey, sneezy, and pretty much all the dwarfs) and just ready to head home. American sends us an update about every 8 minutes with difference departure times for each. Maybe just trying to keep us informed, but it made it look like they had no idea where the hell the plane was, where it was going, and what time it was going to get there. We spend about 5 hours in the lounge and then headed to the gate. The gate for American Express service is at gate 52 which is a small stand along terminal with 10-12 gates. We were the last flight out for the night so there were few folks there, though it was entertaining to watch a half dozen young Japanese men with a grocery bag full of beer get pretty well pissed (yes, I am soooo European!!) We finally got boarded and headed to PHX. I knew I had been up a while when I dozed off for a couple of minutes, woke up (somewhat), looked out the window and was amazed at all the ships below between Scotland and Ireland – yep, that was my way of thinking. We landed in PHX around 3:00 AM, got a cab and made our way home. The kitties were very happy to see Beanie and what’s his name. The bed felt great and we slept well over 5 hours. Time to get up and get to it. A nice day of recovery, visiting Mom and Dad and laundry.
Great trip to a great place with great people and terrific company. Would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Kathy: Not to complain (well just a little bit), but it
ended up being a 31 hour trip home because of a very long flight delay in Los
Angeles. But up until then the flights
were great. We enjoyed business class on
Aer Lingus and their lounges – nice service and good food. For you plane and food geeks out there, here’s a
few photos of our seats and lunch flying from Dublin to Los Angeles.
Photos:
No comments:
Post a Comment