September 30, 2012

Today we traveled to Edinburgh.  We didn't want to have to drive in the city and find a place to park so we stopped in at the TI in Lanark and asked about train service.  Being Sunday, train service is lousy from the small stations, one train and if you miss it you are hooped.  Next was can we park somewhere and get a bus.  Yes of course you can and there is good service.  The guy at the TI spent at least 1/2 hour trying to confirm that the busses run from the Park and Ride at Herminston and which bus to take to get to city centre.  It didn't matter which site he went into, it directed him to the same site which gave no information.  Finally he found a painful way get the information and confirmed we could get buses in and out.  Next he printed us directions to the park and ride which was really helpful because the GPS would only accept the town nearby.  We did put in the nearby town for the GPS and of course it was different than the ones the TI gave us.  It was pouring rain when we left, but the weather report told us it would clear up in Edinburgh by 10 AM.  Part way the road was closed due to flooding.  Divert onto the road which the TI gave us and carried on.  Fortunately the diversion put us right to the Park and ride.  Walked over to the bus stop and met a nice older couple and had quite a chat about Canada and the west coast.  A bus comes not ours and they told us we were at the wrong bus stop, oh well, we only hadto cross the street..  Really glad we didn't plan on driving into Edinburgh.  A lot of the streets are torn up with construction, it would have been a nightmare for us.  Got off the bus and walked to the Royal Mile and picked out a resturant for lunch.  It was almost empty when we went in but it started raining cats and dogs and the resturant quite quickly filled up.  After lunch we decided to hit the main attraction for us, the Scottish National Museum.  We planned on a couple of hours there.  Its another one of these places which takes days to give it justice.  Its also free.  There are two buildings, one has Scottish heritage and the other has the rest of the world.  We went into the Scottish heritage side and found out there were 5 floors, starting at the bottom for the beginning.  Looking confuse, a nice enthustactic young man told us all about the museum and its history and what we absolutely must see.  First floor took over 1/2 hour and we didn't spend too much time at each area.  By the time we had done 3 floors we had spent over 2 hours and felt we needed a lot more time on each floor.  We decided to do one more floor and leave the rest for next time.  On the way out it was almost time for the milleniun clock to do its thing so we decided to wait.  It was quiite a sight to see this clock built from pieces found in scrap yards to do its thing.

.It is hard to see, but inside there are gears, wheels and objects which move to music played to represent all the people killed all over the world in the 20th century

 

  The air was getting stale and we were getting tired, it was time to leave.  Once outside we needed a drink, which spells pub.  Greyfriers Bobby pub was on the corner, as was the statue of Grey Friars Bobby, so in we went for a glass of water and a swift half.  Refreshed we headed out to the royal Mile for a stroll. 



 There wasn't anything particular we wanted to do or shop for but it is a nice stroll and different.  We stopped at the whiskey centre  and I bought some travellers bottles of BenRaich to try out.  There was a bottle of 50 year old Johnny Walkers there, selling for only 1750 pounds.  Tempted, but no, probably tastes the same as Red Label.  After strolling about 1/2 way down we decided it was time to head for the bus.  On the way we walked through part of the gardens which were created from a drained lake.  Uneventful bus ride back and Linda was able to program the GPS to take us around the flooded area.  Back to our abode to have supper, clean up and do some packing.

October1 Glasgow (Linda)

The  rules for Carmichael Cottage state that "as this is a self catering cottage, please leave the cottage as you found it".  Well, that didn't set too well.  Cleaning the fire place and toilets?  Don't think so...
We checked at the Visitor Centre and it just means don't leave a mess.  Our options were a light clean 15 gbp or 30 for a full clean.  We opted for neither and left the place as we would leave any other.
It was quite an experience to stay there.  The son of the Laird told us how hard it was to keep things going.  How 200 year old cottages have quirks and kinks and need tlc.  True, but they have 15 cottages in Avimore (Scottish highlands), a flat in Edinburgh near Holyrood Palace and 3 flats in Cypress.  They had a family holiday skiing at Whistler, etc.  Not so sure about the hard life!
Anyway, I left them a note suggesting they get a new mattress as the one we slept on must have been there since farm staff lived in it 30 years ago.  It did have everything we needed and we slept fine.  Never had pheasants in my front yard before or deer grazing next to my garden. (Nor Stags making mating sounds at 6:00am.  It was fun and too bad it was so muddy and wet or we could have explored some of the walks on the estate.
Off to Glasgow.  Andromeda gave a very confusing sounding route.  I tried to make sense of it as it is much easier if I can see where she is taking us on the map before we start out.  Couldn't but off we went.  She did a wonderful job and we enjoyed the stunning scenery on the way.
Found the Ramada with no problem at all ... it was just when we got inside.  No, they had no reservation for us.  I had written the number down in our book.  They did find it but no credit card transaction had gone through.  We were a little frazzled by it all but they did have a room available for the same price and we are in it!  Returned the car, and went into the airport to see where to go Wednesday when we leave.  It is lunch time by now so we had something to eat and planned our afternoon.  Roy looked as wiped out as I felt - we went back to the hotel had vegged for the afternoon.  It  is 6:00 and we are in the lounge using the wi/fi. Think we will eat here though it is a trifle pricey.

One more day and we are homeward bound!  Can't wait to be there.  It seems like it has been a long time away and we miss everyone.  We made a mistake not making firm plans for the last few days and so felt like a boat with no rudder.  Edinburgh was great as was Lanark but the high winds and rain did put a damper on the walking we might have done in better conditions.
On the whole it has been a marvelous trip filled with lots of great memories, which I won't list right now.