Scotland - We're Here!

Old May 28th, 2017, 09:04 AM
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Scotland - We're Here!

My first attempt at a "write as we go" trip report. My intentions in the past have been to follow up after other past trips, but gosh it just doesn't seem to happen. I usually get home and life gets crazy. So even though I'm not the most clever writer - here we go!

We left Phoenix on Monday by way of Houston and arrived in London early Tuesday morning. I had arranged a car through Rideways to pick us up at LHR for our ride to Kings Cross Train Station where we were departing for Edinburgh. The flight was about 30 minutes late arriving so testing the international telephone plan I had added to my iPhone came sooner than expected because no one was there holding that sign with our name. Whew the call went through to the local number and it turned out the driver was parking the car.

After finding out that all we had was carry on (we shipped our bags ahead with Luggage Forward) we were off.

Thanks to those who told me to book a car! A cab would have been a fortune - especially since it took us 1.5 hours to get to the train station. Traffic was horrible.

I had purchased tickets on line a couple of months earlier and got a great first class two together fare. So next step was to get the rail card just in case we had to show it. Piece of cake -- no lines. We waited about 30 minutes and our track was announced and we were on our way.

It was fun while at Kings Cross to see the school kids line up to have their picture taken at the Harry Potter "platform." They were really excited.

The train was very comfortable. We were in a "quiet car" so no blaring noises (human or otherwise). We settled in and watched the enjoyable scenery and small towns. Lunch was decent and they came by several times with drinks.

Next up - Edinburgh
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Old May 28th, 2017, 09:12 AM
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on for the ride
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Old May 28th, 2017, 11:18 PM
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Edinburgh

We arrived at Waverly Station about 4:00 p.m. It's a very large station and it took us a minute to get our bearings. We took a taxi to our hotel with no issue. We stayed at The Rutland Hotel which is a small boutique hotel with only 17 rooms. The location is great- just at the west end of Princes Street so the Huxley Bar actually looks out on Princes Street while the entrance to the hotel is off Rutland Street. We stayed in Room 12 which was labeled a junior suite. The room was very spacious and the bathroom was very nice with a separate shower. My only complaint would be that the room only had one small attic style window. The bathroom did have a larger window so it had more light. Other than that issue it was a very spacious room.

The staff at the hotel were very friendly. They had previously sent me an email indicating our suitcases had arrived and were being secured pending our arrival and they had been placed in our room. Throughout our stay each person we dealt with was very friendly and helpful.

Being tired from traveling, we opted for an early night. After getting settled we walked down a couple of blocks to a restaurant named Badger & Co for dinner. My first fish & chips was very good! Back to the hotel where we relaxed and were ready to call it a night.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 05:40 AM
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Great beginning! Please continue.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 05:43 AM
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Signing on.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 05:58 AM
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Ready to travel along! Thanks
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Old May 29th, 2017, 06:43 AM
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What is up with the windows? We had five huge windows but only one would go up and that was about three inches. They said it was a law but I would die if the temp was any higher than it was last week. I had a fan at least. We also loved the train but ran into Marks and Spencer at the train station for sandwiches and salad. They even sold whiskey and ginger in the can. Hoping Princess Anne is gone so you can see inside the Palace. Parliament was interesting if not. Have a great trip.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 08:27 AM
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Edinburgh

The next day we left the hotel and walked up to the castle. We must have brought Phoenix weather with us as it was sunny and hot and everyone was commenting how unusual the weather was then. We bought a Scotland Explorer Pass because we knew that we would be using it at other sites too.

We spent about 3 hours at the castle. I confess my favorite part was seeing the small cemetery for the dogs. It was massive and very impressive. We had lunch in the Tea Room - very nice.

After leaving the castle we opted for the hop on hop off bus; two of them actually. It was a lot of fun and gave us a good overview of areas and parts of the city we wouldn't have time to see in our short visit. It also let us know that we wouldn't be going to the Palace of Holyroodhouse because Princess Margaret was staying there so it was closed to the public.

We walked the Royal Mile and enjoyed seeing the sights and people watching. It was very crowded! We had dinner at Deacon Brodie's Tavern where the food was surprisingly good.

A long day filled with lots of sights and very enjoyable.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 08:32 AM
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Great so far -- looking forward to more.
One teensy thing >> . . . that we wouldn't be going to the Palace of Holyroodhouse because Princess Margaret was staying there so it was closed to the public.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 09:05 AM
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Edinburgh

Our next day we were off on a Rabbies tour to St. Andrews - this was a DH request. He said he couldn't come to Scotland and not see St. Andrews. Now remember, we come from Phoenix. What is all over Phoenix? You got it - golf courses and he doesn't even golf!

So our first stop on the tour was at Amstruther which is a small fishing village. It was very cute but we didn't have very long there and I think that we stopped more for the use of the public restrooms. So once people got their ice cream (we're all still very hot) we were on our way.

St. Andrews was next. We got off at the Old Course. By now I keep thinking "Where is that Scotland weather?" as I'm cooking - I left all my t-shirts and shorts at home. We looked around the course, did the required pictures in front of the sign and then headed off to find lunch with the hopes of air conditioning. No air conditioner was found but we did find a spot that was at least a little cooler and had great burgers.

Now time to head to the meeting point and go past Kate and Wills cafe and see the cathedral on the way. We enjoyed the cathedral and found it very interesting. Back on the bus.

On to Falkland. Now I must have been the only woman on the tour who has never read the Outlander (Highlander?) series. I had no idea that some of it was filmed here and I think I reached new lows in the eyes of my fellow travelers when I didn't recognize that the hotel in town was used as a film site. One of the locals said they film at night and cover everything modern up but you can tell they enjoy the attention. Instead we toured the home and it was very interesting. Back on the bus.

Back to Edinburgh. Walked back to the hotel and enjoyed dinner in the Huxley Bar.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 09:08 AM
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Janisj - see what happens when I lose those headphones! LOL.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 09:16 AM
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>>What is up with the windows?
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Old May 29th, 2017, 01:06 PM
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Did you notice the beach behind the clubhouse in St. Andrews? That's where the opening and closing credits of "Chariots of Fire" were filmed.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 09:43 PM
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Barbara - yes we did remember the beach. Hard not to start having that tune running through your head isn't it as soon as you mention the movie.

Last Day in Edinburgh

Today we were up and prepared with bus schedules in hand we walked about a block to catch the No. 37 bus to Rosslyn Chapel. I really enjoyed the trip though all the neighborhoods. The chapel was beautiful. I actually consider it one of my favorite sites. So much detail and the talk presented while there was informative and entertaining. Of course William the Cat was there sleeping on a pew not bothered at all by all the people petting him as they walked by. The village was cute. A nice way to spend a sunny morning.

Catching the 37 back, we got off close to the National Museum of Scotland. O.K. close enough anyway. We opted to spend our time focusing on the Scotland side of the museum. It was huge! We spent several hours there and still didn't feel like we saw it all. Very enjoyable. Back to the bus stop and took the bus back to hotel. The stop was just across the street. I had printed out route maps before we left on our trip and they came in very handy and coupled with a day pass the bus was a good way to get around.

We headed for dinner across the street to a place called Zizzi which I understand is a chain. We thought the food was very good. We needed something quick so it was fine. Back to the bus stop and took the bus back to the Royal Mile for our evening Mercat Tour of the underground caverns. It was a cute tour with entertaining ghost stories with some history thrown in. Amazing about the caverns. Back to our bus and hotel.

A nice visit to Edinburgh.

Next up - Kirkwall
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Old May 29th, 2017, 11:02 PM
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The tram to the airport was just down the block from the hotel so it was easy to roll our bags down and head for the airport.

We caught the Flybe (Logan Air) flight with no issues. DH's suitcase made the weight limit because we had shuffled some of his stuff to my bag. Who says women can't pack? He did have to gate check his backpack with his camera gear as it was too big. But that was a simple hard it to them, not an issue. The flight was full. Small plane but flight was smooth.

Upon arrival in Kirkwall, it took us 10 minutes to get the bags - I love small airports!

More later....
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Old May 29th, 2017, 11:10 PM
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Yeah, my favorite scottish Island!
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Old May 30th, 2017, 03:38 AM
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No. 37 bus to Rosslyn Chapel. We did the same. It was a warm sunny day and loved that Chapel. Did you have a lady speak to you in the chapel? We were lucky enough to have her and she pointed out some very interesting carvings. Lovely gift shop and cafe also. The tram is so great.
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Old May 30th, 2017, 04:31 AM
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Me too - in 2004. Back then, you could still take photos inside, and there were few other people there. Outside, the chapel was covered with scaffolding and a protective cover while the roof was restored. A bonus -- I was able to walk the scaffolding at gallery height for an up-close look at the flying buttresses
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Old May 30th, 2017, 09:21 AM
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Loving all the details. Looking forward to more.
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Old May 30th, 2017, 12:03 PM
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We walked out of the airport and to the taxi stand; no taxies. Another couple was standing there and he commented to his wife that the company said they would be there in 10 minutes. I asked if he had prebooked and he said no and directed me to the sign. I called one of the numbers and apparently got the same cab company as they asked if we minded sharing. Turns out all the taxies were in the next town due to a festival. Note to self at that point to prebook the return trip!

Ride to the hotel was very short. We stayed at the Albert Hotel that was right on Albert St. we wanted to be able to walk around the town and easily walk to dinner. The Albert Hotel was cute. Our room was on the first floor and they had an elevator (lift) so no hauling up the stairs. We thought it would be awhile before we could do that again.

After putting things in the room off we headed to look around the town. The sun was shining and it was pleasant. We got to St. Magnus Cathedral and a wedding was arriving. We stopped to watch as did most of the town. The groom was there in his kilt and all of the guests were dressed up with the ladies having some beautiful outfits complete with hats. Several men were in kilts and there was a bagpipe player to welcome the guests. The bridesmaids arrived with beautiful dresses in dove grey carrying pink bouquets. Th ring bearer was all of 3 and looked so cute in his kilt. The bride arrived and of course looked beautiful. You could hear all the women in crowd comment and a woman beside me struck up a conversation with me just to say how pretty the bride looked. You could tell people were really enjoying the event.

We moved on and went to the Orkney Museum and looked at some of the history of Orkney. Nice museum for being small. From there we stopped for coffee and a treat. All this sightseeing means sugar is needed. We then simply walked around the town some and enjoyed seeing the harbor.

Dinner was at the hotel after a pint in the Brophy Bar.
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