Trip (solo) report: one short week in Edinburgh, also Hadrian's Wall and St. Andrews
 

I have been imagining writing a trip report since I hit the submit button to purchase my tickets! Silly? Perhaps, but I do hope to share some of the lessons learned along the way. If anyone can learn from my experiences (euphemism for mistakes .. too harsh? how's newbie mistakes), that is all for good!

Setting the scene of myself as a traveler/tourist: one previous trip to Europe--with a high school tour; one previous solo trip--Nova Scotia for a week; female; mid-40s). That is all to help put what I did in perspective. If you get any "What was she thinking!" thoughts :-)

Now, I know I see people do simple tags for bolding and italics in their posts. Can we do embedded hrefs? A quick test: The bag I took on this trip was the <a href="http://www.eaglecreek.com/bags_lugga...quot;>Eagle Creek Sport Companion</a>. Okay, nice link or messy text garbage?? My answer is a click away...

Well, answer received, for sure!

On with the trip report, keeping in mind to include URLs in a more attractive fashion.

The first posts will be about trip preparations, then some posts describing each day. As noted in the title, it was one short week in Edinburgh and some surrounding areas. I want to go back!

<b>Tickets</b>

Trying to find air fare to Edinburgh, flying out of Boston, was almost as bad as trying to drive east to west in New England: &quot;You can't there from here.&quot;

Suggestions from Fodorites included Iceland Air BOS to GLA (and then the required travel to Edinburgh), but the days available did not match my itinerary (which was very fixed to meet the school vacation holiday).

BOS to CDG to EDI did not offer very good connection scenarios, nor BOS to AMS to EDI, and suggestions to try connecting in UK airports (other than LHR) did not work for my travel time, either.

I did not want to fly Continental: to fly south to Newark in April before going over the Atlantic seemed to risk facing a spring snowstorm threat. That threat never materialized, of course, but I did not want the worry all winter long.

So I went where everyone said not to go, walked right into the wolf's den: Heathrow! I even faced Terminal 5, within weeks of its disastrous opening.

I flew with British Airways, premium economy no less. I had wanted to have traveling companions, but all the &quot;Sure, that sounds fun&quot; comments quickly turned to &quot;Sorry, can't go&quot; when I asked for firm commitment. I meant to go much more than anyone else! So I thought it would be a treat to try the premium economy, even if it meant have a few hundred less to spend at the destination. You can only spend it once, either getting there, or once there.

My thoughts. now? Well, for the trip over and back the premium economy section was full, so a lot of people are selecting it, but I was not impressed. I mean it was a lovely experience, but did I receive anything more for spending more, and I just could not tell. I will take the next trip in regular economy and then have something to compare.

I found the seats in premium economy to have nice legroom, but squishy for space. The flights between LHR and EDI had much more comfort for seat size, and very nice for legroom, too.

The British Airways flight crews, coming and going, were terrific! Friendly and helpful, and I do not think they gave any less to anyone in any section of the plane.


<b>Insurance</b>

Within a few days of purchasing tickets, I purchased insurance, so any pre-existing conditions would be covered (you have a certain time period to do this, 2 weeks I think). I used AIG Travel Guard, http://www.travelguard.com/. I liked the ability use the pick and choose option for items I wanted covered versus those I did not need/want, for example, I chose to put the health coverage as primary coverage. Yes, my health insurance here covers me, but I would have to pay upfront and then be reimbursed once home, not anything I liked the sound of.

How the company would be for putting in claims, I do not know. It is nice to not know, eh?

I can at least write that I have not read any negative reports about Travel Guard, but have seen recommendations from reputable travel information sources, such as the NBC travel guy.

Great Start scotlib! I remember you thread about how to get to Hadrian's wall so I'm glad you made it there.

Looking forward to the rest.

I'm planning a trip to Scotland, so looking forward to hearing about your experiences (even, and maybe especially, if it is a euphemism for mistakes).

I'm looking forward to more!

I'm leaving on my own solo travel trip in nine days and the panic attacks have started. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I've flown with BA four times and always enjoyed it. I've done economy and premium economy and premium is more roomy. I'm flying it again this time around, on BA. I will also be going through Terminal 5...

I hope you enjoyed Edinburgh, it is one of my favorites :)

Can't wait to see how your trip went, scotlib.

So glad that this trip report will have some readers!


<b>Packing</b>

Mentioned above, my carry-on bag was the Eagle Creek Sport Companion. I found rolling clothes tightly and individually worked best. I packed two outfits, pjs, a few extra pairs each of undies and socks, toiletries, shoes, assorted this and thats. I worried about weather and whether I would be warm enough, so I tried one silk undershirt. I also took along a silk sleep blanket. Well, the pack was 17-18 pounds going over and 23 coming back (paper flyers for a scrapbook, a book to read in the airport .. paper adds weight!).

I want to throw all the little items that I never used or would not take on the next trip and see how much they weigh, because I definitely over packed, by a couple of pounds anyway.

My day bag was a Heatwave Messenger bag, mini size, from LL Bean. It carried a zip lock of OTC meds (Tylenol, Tums, pink pills, a few band aids), guide book, pens, journal. I stuck to souvenirs that could be carried in it once purchased, so that limited me to postcards and small items (which helped keep the souvenir total cost down, too).


<b>Shoes</b>

I mainly wore New Balance 811 Walkers (black). In the carry-on were the New Balance Gore-tex day hikers (light blue). A bit of story:

I went to a local shoe store for first time. For customer service and the fun of trying on shoes and more shoes, until you find the right style to carry out the door, I loved shopping at Lamey Wellehan, http://www.lwshoes.com/lameywell/

I went in and purchased some shoes in February to have them ready for the April trip, but within two weeks a seam on the pair I thought that I would wear had burst. Lamey Wellehan sent them to a cobbler, but he could not really fix them for the reason that the seam had burst: the pieces were cut too short to keep a seam together. The day I brought mine in someone had brought in a pair of the same style for the same reason. So, another round of trying on lots of shoes found me the 811 Walkers and they were really better for walking than what I had originally planned. I picked them up on the Tuesday before leaving on Saturday. Talk about comfortable from the get go. I never had a problem with my feet on the trip.

Lamey Wellehan carries a lot of the names I see on the boards for shoe recommendations: Keen, Ecco, Dansko, Clarks, etc. Do give your custom to a local store, especially when they offer great service: it's good for your local economy and your feet will be happy!

<b>Lodging</b>

I scoured the 'Net and guidebooks for a place to stay. I had not really decided when out of the blue I received a message from the Dene Guest House, http://www.deneguesthouse.com/ When I first wrote last fall they were not ready for April bookings. Revisiting their web site and reviews on the web had me reserving a standard single room for this April week at &pound;27.50 per night, for 6 nights (includes a great breakfast).

My room was simple and small, but definitely comfortable and the Dene has terrific access to the bus routes (I walked UP Dundas St. the first day; bussed up it all the days after that!).

Any second thoughts at all, you ask? One review mentioned not liking the shower, so I had a preconceived thought that I may not like the shower; I didn't. But, a big But, I did as the reviewer had done: I never asked if I was working the contraption correctly. Also, having a standard room, I never asked about using the second bathroom to compare showers. Ask those questions politely if you have any troubles. I was always in too much of a hurry to bother :-)



<b>Great British Heritage Pass</b>

Tickets, lodging, packing and re-packing my bag, getting shoes, the other preparation was a recommendation from janisj, I think .. I ordered a 4-day Great British Heritage Pass (covers almost 600 sites) and had it shipped to me at home, http://www.britishheritagepass.com/

Yes, shipping it ahead of time was definitely a good idea. This gave me time to study the book describing the included museums. With shipping, the 4-day pass cost was &pound;35.50. The individual cost for all the places you could visit, even just staying in Edinburgh, totals &pound;38.20. Visit some sites outside of Edinburgh and it's all savings .. or rather you can spend the &quot;savings&quot; on other trip items, extending your budget. I visited 8 GBHP sites altogether, so &pound;35.50 got me into museums that would have cost &pound;55.40. With some different trip decisions I could have fit in three more, but 8 was a good tally.

You could try other passes:
There's the Edinburgh Pass, http://www.edinburgh.org/pass/

Visit 300 places by joining the National Trust for Scotland, http://www.nts.org.uk/Join/Benefits/

Visit over 300 places by joining Historic Scotland, http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/member.htm,
or purchase an Explorer Pass, http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/...s/explorer.htm

So many options. The Historic Scotland Explorer Pass might have saved me a few pounds, but I am having trouble seeing a list to actually compare with everything available with the GBHP. Well, anyone reading this will have more ideas of what to study before purchasing what fits your travel plans best.

Cheers.

janisj, thank you for so many great posts that helped me in preparation for my trip!

Nikki, I hope you do find useful information in what I relate here. Ask if I leave anything out.

mebe .. I survived Terminal 5 with few troubles. I hope you do too. I think that having only the one carry-on probably helped, but I didn't overhear any outraged passengers anywhere in the Terminal.

noe847 .. glad to share. Now, if I can just finagle my budget for another trip .. time to start saving!

scotlib:

Enjoying your trip report - loved Edinburgh.

Any comment about your premium economy meals?

Looking forward to more.

Sandy

Thank you for all the planning details. It's always fun to see how others do it.

Looking forward to more . . .

Hi SandyBrit, all my meals were fine. I assume (yes, that can be dangerous) the PE econ. get the same as reg. econ. Would they be different, I don't know.

I do know that while I was PE on the international leg, I was reg. econ. on the domestic flight 'tween EDI and LHR; the food was very fine on those.


LCBonti, yep, reading trip reports for details was a great resource, I found, in planning and waiting for my trip. I'm glad to share.

<b>Day 1 – From Home to almost Heathrow</b>

My flight departure time was 18:05 on Saturday, so you could say Day 1 started at
18:06 on Friday evening. That’s when I logged in to Manage My Booking and selected seats (on British Airways you have to wait until 24 hours before flight time, only a few exceptions to that rule).

I wanted aisle seats with the aisle on my right. My right ear went kaput a few years ago and it’s a hassle to have people try to talk to me from that side. I picked my seats no problem and then had a bit of trouble printing the boarding passes. The first leg printed fine, but going in for the second leg the buttons clicked and the screen came up with nothing showing. I eventually logged out and went in later; everything worked fine that time and I had both my boarding passes in hand.

Family drove me to the bus station on Saturday morning and saw me off from there. Concord Trailways in Portland, ME, offers a 2-hour express coach ride to Logan. I live about an hour away from Portland, so in trying to pick which trip to take I wanted to arrive several hours before the flight, but I also wanted to allow for emergencies, should something happen to the coach. Yes, more worrying (you’ll notice that I also purchased insurance) so to take an earlier bus that dropped me off a couple of hours before the necessary time was a cheap form of insurance. Time sitting at the airport I could afford, missing my flight I did Not want! I really preferred browsing the bookstore in Terminal E waiting for the afternoon to drone on than to have stayed at home longer and worry about making the flight.

I also had not considered that the bus would be full. Saturday was the first day of school vacation. Plenty other people were headed to take trips. Necessary to leave early, maybe not, but I was glad I did and arrived in time to get a ticket for my chosen trip.

Okay, walk out to the coach, a few butterflies starting to swirl inside. Everyone could pick up a water bottle and pretzels to take on board and enjoy. Several small sips of ice cold water and bites of dry pretzel later it occurred to me: this is a good combination for settling the queasy tummy. I appreciate and applaud the bus company’s policy!

I talked a bit with my seatmate and watched the scenery zoom by. I didn’t want to try headphones, so only watched the movie option (Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee) without sound (sorry, no urge to put it on my Netflix queue). Over time I began to hear a word or two from the gentlemen behind me. A name here, a phrase there, and I began to wonder. Arriving at Logan, I turned in my seat and there was one of my co-workers! Two hours before noticing, you may wonder. Well, he’s new this year and works at the other building, so although I know his name, I’ve only seen him a couple of times. He was headed to the Midwest to see family and we said a bon voyage when he got off at a different terminal.

A definite trip moment: when the driver pulled out all the luggage I picked up my case and moved into the terminal. Many of the remaining passengers were going on a school tour to Rome; they had to wait for everyone’s bag and go together. I was solo and it hit me how different and, yes, nice it was to move off and not wait.

Arriving around noon, Terminal E is very quiet. Wow. But that helped because the TSA crew was not stressed when I totally screwed up at security!!

Here’s a copy of the compliment that I sent through the TSA web site:

Hello,

My great thanks to the crew on duty at Terminal E in Boston on Saturday, April 19. I arrived around noon and thought I did so well to take off my shoes, put my camera and phone in the bin and go through without setting off the metal detector, but I was called aside. Well, yes, you get called aside when forgetting about the little lock on the carry-on bag and after dutifully putting together my 3-1-1 bag forgetting to take it out of the carry-on!

Several times my bag had to be checked, and it was finally figured out that the soap bar I was taking to avoid a liquid shampoo was showing up as a bit of a suspicious item.

Time after time the crew on staff could have considered me a very doubtful traveler and not the frazzled first-time-traveling-alone person I was. Thank you for the good humor as my mistakes were put right.

I’m happy to say that I did not mess up at any further security screenings for the entire trip and the time your crew took with my case was what made that possible.

Kind regards.


To be con’t...

Hey, in the preparations I did not mention my security options. Last year I used the around the neck pocket. To avoid the hanging on your neck feeling, I liked wearing it with the strap cross body style and the pocket tucked in my pants.

For this trip I wanted to try something new. I first bought a traditional around the waist style; didn’t like it. I hit the road with something else. In the Magellan’s catalog it’s called the Deluxe Secret Waist Wallet, http://tinyurl.com/2bmma5. It’s probably available elsewhere, too. In its description the tabs on the wallet are intended to go around your belt and it stays tucked out of sight in your clothes. However, if you take off your belt for security, you could ask what will hold the wallet in place. Bingo, nothing. As in one review I saw on the web, except for the kindness of a stranger, one person almost lost all his money before getting to the gate because of this. It’s sold with a safety pin for use under clothes with no belt. I took another pin and pinned the wallet with the zipper horizontal, near to my pants waist, and it worked great!

So, I made it to my gate and settled down for the afternoon. Well, there’s only so long you can re-read the travel guide, but checking out a bookstore, now that can take a whole afternoon! Browsing around, of course I ended up in the travel section and even though I did not mean to buy a book (paper adds heft), I bought <i>Round Ireland with a Fridge</i> by Tony Hawks, http://www.amazon.com/Round-Ireland-.../dp/0312274920. I found myself just laughing as I started in on the first chapter, so the book was purchased and I enjoyed Tony’s trip for all the hours I waited for the planes while taking mine.

Here’s a tibit:
Then I saw the fridge for the first time. Shane had done well. Exactly what I had been looking for, a white cube about two feet square. I patted it affectionately and Shane looked away allowing us a moment of intimacy.


If that strikes any funny bone with you, do look for a copy for your next trip. A book about traveling fits excellently when taking your own trip. Tony wrote a lot of good things about traveling and interacting with the people you meet.

Well, back to my trip. The boarding time eventually arrived and boarding started for economy from the back of the plane. Premium economy boards after regular economy, fyi.

It seemed to take a long time to walk down the jetway to the plane .. walk, steps down, walk, walk some more. TSA had what looked like trainees to learn spot checks for bags. I saw several young men get picked. The in-charge fellow looked at my stuffed carry-on and picked on the teen girl with an easier, smaller bag to rifle, instead.

I have already mentioned not liking the BA premium economy seat width, but if it’s actually wider than the regular economy, guess it was good to try.

Supper was a choice of lasagna and whatever I didn’t choose, lol. A little salad had some pieces of lettuce, a cherry tomato and 2 balls of a soft cheese. I had to laugh when I noticed that my seatmate to my left, a well-dressed businessman by appearance, had eaten only his greens; I ate only the tomato and cheese balls. When we were kids, my siblings and I would trade plates. I didn’t suggest that idea that to him :-)

The seat entertainment had a lot of movies to choose. I enjoyed an episode of the new Dr. Who, a bit of the Full Monty and then used a 2-part episode of House to snooze. (Just like home, put on the TV and go to sleep on the couch.)

I very much liked the ability to start and stop the shows. At home, I am a channel surfer. When the family squawked loud enough for me to notice that no one else appreciated my bopping from channel to channel, I learned to channel surf when alone and carefully put down the remote when someone else walks into the room.

It’ll be Sunday morning when I awake ...

<b>Day 2, morning – Heathrow to Edinburgh</b>

Sunday morning brought a breakfast of a muffin, strawberry yogurt, and juice. The juice was the tastiest item, for me. Overall, I received/was offered six meals by BA. When the comparison for my U.S. domestic flying experiences is just pretzel nuggets, even a simple meal could be ranked a lot higher. And the only trouble with this muffin was that store-bought bagged muffins always look better than they taste; a flying muffin has no removal on that problem just because it has the altitude status.

We arrived at Terminal 4 about 05:00 on a Sunday. The jetway had plywood for flooring; that surprised me. Several ladies and I used the bathroom just inside the terminal. Not a good idea, not particularly clean. I saw signs for more at the end of the first hallway, perhaps better to wait a few feet and then visit the loo.

Signs on the wall made me think that we would be doing a security check, so I stopped to locate the 3-1-1 bag. The little laundry soap had leaked. Ick. I just noted the mess and planned to do a clean up when I settled in at the guest house.

We walked and walked, eventually came to an outside door. No security checkpoint, here. We would do that after bussing to Terminal 5.

A bus announcement said it would be about 18 minutes to Terminal 5. I think we did it a bit faster, but there certainly wasn’t much traffic on an early Sunday morning. A sign to use “dipped headlights” made me smile. Would that be what we call putting headlights on low beam?

We exited the bus and kept walking in a line. Staff stood at every expected turn. You would have to try hard and take a wrong one.

I spoke with passport control, immigration, biometric security, I don’t think there was anyone at the airport for a customs check, and passed regular security with a pat-down search. Something set off the metal detector, but I have no idea what. I hadn’t added any metal after going through the one in Boston. A quick pat and I collected all my gear to move on into &quot;the&quot; Terminal 5.

One thing that I noticed while passing security: I walked on a floor tile that moved. You walk on a floor not expecting any up/down, so when you feel something odd, you have to try it again. Yep, a tile wasn’t set completely level and to step on a corner you noticed it move in its spot, with a bit of a clunking sound. A bit of tile cement needed there.

When I arrived at Boston, I looked up at the departures board, found my gate, and went there after passing security. At the UK airports, British Airways does not post the gate until about one hour (or a bit less) before the flight. Standing in a humongous airport, with posted signs of how long it could take to reach some of the gates, and you don’t know which one to head for! I stayed at a central location, as possible, and sat and waited .. and read more about Tony traveling with his fridge (by now, I think, the fridge had a name :-)

The gate was finally posted about 50 minutes before the flight time. I walked there in a few minutes; fortunately it wasn’t one of the really far away gates. Boarding began within a minute or two of people gathering. We had two checks at the gate. Passengers gave each other the “What’s this?” kind of glances, but we just stayed in line, waiting to get the checks done and move on to the plane, which sat .. and sat...

As the captain noted: here we are, at a very expensive, brand new airport, and the jetway would not budge. It had separation anxiety, or something. It took about an hour and a half before mechanics got it far away enough from the plane for us to actually leave and taxi out. The crew handed out drinks, and I just snoozed through much of the delay.

Once we were finally in the air, they brought out breakfast. Hot food! I couldn’t believe it. As noted before, I’m used to a small packet of pretzels on a flight. It was only a bit over an hour up to Edinburgh. I thought maybe one more drink and the small food item, but we had scrambled egg, bacon, and sausage. Hot! Okay, the egg was not the most interesting What’s a good word? &quot;Cafeteria,&quot; &quot;mildly institutional.&quot; But it was hot and totally unexpected, which made it more than fine.

So, more than an hour after I expected to arrive at my destination, I was. I was off the plane, in Scotland, standing in a location I had dreamt about for a year! Saw the “Welcome to Scotland” sign that cost so much. It was fun knowing some backstory (someone had posted a news link on Fodor’s last year).

With bag in hand, I went forward to find an exit ...

scotlib

&quot;It will be Sunday morning when I awake&quot; - you actually did sleep on the flight over, well done.

Full marks for that hot breakfast, what a nice start to your day.

Looking forward to more.

Sandy

I am enjoying your report. Keep it coming, please. I am glad you found the fridge in Ireland book; I thought it was a real hoot and every once in a while, take it out and dive into a section or two.

Really enjoying your trip report . . . thank you for posting it and I'll be sitting here waiting for the next installment.

Sandy (in Denton)

We are going to Edinburgh in a few months, I'm enjoying your report so far, Scotlib. Thanks for posting it.

It's very charming that you sent a thank you note to TSA on their website. Bet they don't get too many of those!!

You're off to a great start. Edinburgh is on our short list of places to visit, so I am eagerly reading your installments.

SandyBrit, yes, I slept some. It occurs to me that an hour show is actually about 40 minutes without the commercials, but I slept through at least time for the 2-parter, so I had some shut eye for a while, along with more short times asleep on the domestic flight, enough to at least keep me going until Sunday night.

irishface, I loved Tony Hawks' writing style. When I've time I hope to track down some more of his books.

sandy_b, LAwoman and cw, thanks for reading. I'm glad to share!

<b>Day 2, – Dene Guest House to Calton Hill</b>

Looking at my notes for Sunday afternoon, I really haven’t much written, but a couple of trip details could be found useful for other Edinburgh visitors.

The Edinburgh airport web site, http://www.edinburghairport.com/, has several public transportation options for getting to and from the airport: taxi, buses, and shuttle. Figuring that I would be plenty tired, and not wanting to figure out the buses, I picked the Edinburgh Shuttle, http://www.edinburghshuttle.com/, for the door to door delivery. Price-wise, for a single person, the Shuttle is a decent option. It’s about half of a taxi fare cost (according to what I have read online for costs). I had booked the trip online for &pound;8.00. When I arrived the stickers on the shuttle said &pound;9.00 and the web site does too, now. I squeaked in the old rate, evidently.

The flight arrived late, so I missed the reservation time I had set. I wondered what would happen with the late arrival. The Shuttle’s web site isn’t too encouraging: “we will do our best to accommodate you on the next available departure.” Fortunately, all I had to do was wait about 10 minutes and myself and a party of three (also from the late flight) were driven to town.

This reminds me of another sign of the rising fuel costs: when my school took the Logan express coach last each the cost was $40.00. In the winter I checked the price and budgeted for an increased cost of $42.00, but by the time I left on my trip the cost was up to $44.00 (round trip ticket to Logan).



Arriving at the Dene Guest House I was shown to my room, directed to the toilet and shower rooms, and given two keys: one for my room, one to get into the Dene. I started unpacking and then headed out to find my way around a bit.

The first thing I wanted to know was how long it would take me to walk to Bus Stand E at Waterloo Place. That is where you are picked up for tours with Heart of Scotland Tours, http://www.heartofscotlandtours.co.uk/. I had a reservation for Tuesday.

I’ve read comments about Edinburgh and the changing terrain, but to walk it is to finally understand :-) From Eyre Place I walked up Brandon Street, UP Dundas Street, Up Hanover Street, until you arrive at the intersection with George Street, and then Hanover Street does a gentle down slope to Princes Street. From Brandon to Hanover it’s all a straight line, but the street names change along the way.

For me, door to bus stand took about one half hour. I kept walking to just take in the scenery. The Old Calton Burial Ground is near the bus stands, so I took a browse of that. I saw the steps up to the top of Calton Hill, but remembered comments on the threads of a roadway path and kept walking past the Old Royal High School to find it. (Thank you for that tidbit, whoever wrote that bit of help!) Windy. That’s what I remember of Calton Hill, and a very nice view.

I spent a while on top the hill watching some different groups. I think they were practicing for Beltane, a celebration on April 30. One group was drumming with more people practicing some dance moves.

When I finally went back down the roadway toward Princes Street, I looked around the Princes Mall (fyi, toilets downstairs, 20 pence to enter), purchased some small souvenirs, and finally found the entrance to the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) (sort of on top the mall, with different entrance from the mall).

When reserving the Tuesday tour with Heart of Scotland I asked about the student discount (I’m in a grad. program). I brought the card on my trip and used it for .. hmm .. 4 times for discounts, I think. While at the TIC I booked a Monday tour (student price) to go to St. Andrews with Rabbies, http://www.rabbies.com/.

My next stop was the Lothian Travelshop on the corner of Waverley Bridge and Market Street. I purchased a 1-week Ridacard, http://lothianbuses.com/tickets.php, because I would be in Edinburgh for the full week, and when I went back to the airport I could use the Ridacard on the airport bus. The web page mentions the &pound;13.00 cost, but I can’t see a mention of the &pound;3.00 card fee. Even with that I figured I would still come out at least even, if not slightly ahead, and I did ride quite a few times over the 7 days. Plus I have a nice souvenir and will take it back with me (the power of positive thinking, eh?) because I think it can be topped up.

Very tired now, I headed back to the Dene, walking and trying my first bus ride. Time for a bit more unpacking and then rest.

End of Day 2.

I'm really enjoying your report. In July my husband, I, and our 18-yo daughter will be going to Scotland for two weeks, also flying out of Boston.

If I understand correctly, you packed everything in a carry-on? There is no way that we'll be able to manage that with three people for two weeks. So, I imagine that we will need to collect our luggage at Heathrow...go through customs and immigration and then recheck it for the flight to EDI. Does that sound right? I'm a &quot;contingency planner&quot; too...should I expect problems with this leg of the trip? Here are our flight details:


American Airlines
---------------------

Boston Logan International (BOS) to London Heathrow (LHR)
Departure (BOS): July 3, 7:20 PM EDT (evening)
Arrival (LHR): July 4, 6:50 AM BST (morning)
Class: Economy


American Airlines Operated by: BRITISH AIRWAYS -- BA 1438 - Please check in with the operating carrier
-------------------

London Heathrow (LHR) to Edinburgh (EDI)
Departure (LHR): July 4, 8:50 AM BST (morning)
Arrival (EDI): July 4, 10:10 AM BST (morning)

So, we'll have two hours at Heathrow. That should be plenty and we should be fine, shouldn't we? Our daughter has been to London, but my husband and I (though we travel frequently), have never been anywhere in Europe, so we're a little nervous.

Thanks again for the trip report!

Michellemd: Not to hijack scotlib's thread, but &quot;<i>There is no way that we'll be able to manage that with three people for two weeks.</i>&quot; Sure you can. LOTS of people travel w/ just carry ons.

Don't think &quot;OMG - two weeks - we need 14 different outfits!!&quot; Think mix/match and and plan on doing laundry once (or just wash things out overnight). 3 or 4 &quot;bottoms&quot; (slacks/jeans/skirts including what you wear on the flight) and lots of tops that can be layered will give you 25-30+ distinct outfits.

A morning arrival at LHR can be VERY congested and there can be long queues at immigration. 2 hours may be plenty - or not . . . . .

Michellemd, my family of four has taken several 2-week trips in <i>winter</i> using just a 21&quot; (carry on size) suitcase for each of us. It's much easier for summer with less bulky clothing. We each carry a tote bag or school-sized backpack as well. Search the forum; there are several threads about packing light that even include packing lists.

Also reading your TR with great interest.

Michellemd, just in case you read your details from American Airlines the way I did when my daughter flew this same itinerary, you can learn from my mistake. I saw the part about the flight being operated by BA and dropped my daughter off in Boston at Terminal E, where BA is located.

But the flight from Boston to London is in fact operated by AA, it's only the leg from London to Edinburgh that's on BA. And in Boston, AA international flights do not leave from terminal E, where most international flights leave. They leave from terminal B. They do arrive in terminal E, that's where all international flights arrive because that is where you find customs and immigration.

Not to say that you will read as sloppily as I did, but just in case...

Hi michellemd,

Definitely listen to janisj about packing light. Her posts on the subject are right on target!

A person can live out of a carry-on for 2 weeks if (a) you want to, (b) you practice packing, and (c) re-pack again to get it lighter with the best options for lightweight, mix-match, and leave out the &quot;just in case&quot; items!

Yes, you can say that's all personal opinion, from my perspective :-) Threads here can help you if you meet (a), and the (b) and (c) are ideas from my own experiences.

Your flight details do not mention the arrival terminal. Do you know which it will be? Probably (locals/experts can correct me) whichever it is, just follow the Flight Connections signs and you will get to where you need to go. I had studied web pages on the Heathrow web site, practicing the route, all I did once there was follow the purple signs.

It'll take flight experts to be sure this is correct: you should be able to get your luggage set to go from Boston to Edinburgh with the transfer done by the airlines because (I think, could be wrong) that AA and BA have some affiliation. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, anyone in the know!

BUT consider this .. if you go with one carry-on each, you don't care about what happens (or Doesn't happen, remember the 28K missing luggage pieces in Terminal 5's first week?) with the luggage at Heathrow because yours will be Safe with You!

That real one-bag restriction at Heathrow was lifted back this winter. Hopefully it remains lifted for your trip, so each person can have one carry-on and one personal item (ex.: handbag, small pack).

Cheers!

Thank you all for the continued readership!


<b>Day 3 – St. Andrews mini bus tour with Rabbies</b>

Before actually heading to the guest house on Sunday evening, I did do an exploratory walk from the Travelshop to High Street to know where the Rabbies tour office was. After breakfast, Monday morning found me <i>bussing</i> up Dundas St. and finishing the trip by walking. By Friday I knew more about the bus routes and could have gone further by bus, but on Monday I went as far as I knew.

Fyi, the Lothian Travelshops have little flyers to help explain the bus routes, though they only give a few of the stops. I found it helpful to stop and check the bus stop signs as I saw them and take a note of what busses stopped there and learn some of the bus stop names.

The mini bus was full. Our tour guide was Jackie, though two other Rabbies staff were also on board, both learning the route and tour information from Jackie.

The first stop was South Queensferry, sort of between the Firth of Forth rail bridge and the suspension road bridge. This was a good photo stop.

We crossed the suspension bridge with Jackie telling the story of the rail bridge and how the guy who was to build it built the bridge over the Tay first and his name has come to mean a terrible, absolutely awful job because that was the bridge that collapsed with a train crossing over. His name was Thomas Botch! So, the steadfast bridge that crosses the Firth of Forth now was built by a better contractor, and even though old, the rail bridge is in better condition than the suspension bridge we had just crossed and still needed to cross to return to Edinburgh!

I found out that all the yellow prickly bushes are gorse. A word I have read in plenty of novels, but now know what to picture in my mind! Driving on the highway, the way the bushes clumped reminded me of a bush we have here. I grew up knowing it as multiflora .. a very prickly, exceedingly! prickly, spring flowering plant. It certainly stops any animal trying to run through it! And wear long sleeves if you try to use bush cutters to cut it out or your arms will be covered with scratches (been there, done that). Mostly it just spreads like crazy, filling in pastures—a real nuisance.

We stopped in Anstruther for about a half hour, time to stretch, walk around the harbor, and a chance to use the public toilet (fyi, 30 pence). Some people preferred the option to buy a snack/drink and then use a business’s toilet for “free.” I preferred to Not start filling a tank that I was attempting to empty (sorry if that is too direct, lol).

I used part of the time to visit the Visitors Centre and get some guides to Fife and a very good town map and guide to St. Andrews, so when we arrived there I was set to hit the streets.

All the while that we were driving around the roads, Jackie had stories to share. She rarely stopped; almost everything had a story, or she would be answering questions from the passengers. To drive around the twisty, thin roads brought an involuntary “Eeep!” from me when we met a big truck on a curve. We never hit anything, but it was a bit unnerving at times :-)

We had almost 3 hours in St. Andrews, I think. The tour description lists 2 hours, but I think we had longer; maybe the exact time just depends on how things go on any tour (traffic, etc.). We drove through town and then turned around by the (The) golf course, to give everyone a sense of where things were. We were then turned loose to do as we wished.

I visited the castle and the cathedral, using my GBHP for free entry at both. I tried going up the tower at the cathedral; just about freaked myself out. When you pay for entry to the cathedral (you can view a lot for free; paying or using a pass gets you extra exhibits and a chance to try the tower), you receive a token to put in a turnstile to enter the tower. A sign warned about the mechanism occasionally jamming. I’m all alone, so it was definitely in my mind as a worry, “What if it jams and I’m in it?!”

I’m typing this, so you know the story ends well, eh? Yes, I made it through the turnstile, then a very steep, curving metal stair led to some stone steps in a narrow channel of stone. At the top of the stone steps was a open landing that lets you look up .. up .. up to the roof. To continue meant going into what looks like a stone chimney with more stone steps and iron railing. The stairs must curve to get you up to the roof. I didn’t find out, my mind just absolutely refused the idea of investigating. I snapped some pictures and started counting the steps I had just come up as I headed OUT. Hmm, 12 stone steps, and 27 metal ones on the curved metal stair, then worry again if the turnstile would spin correctly getting me out. Jackie said the view from the top was very worth the climb. Probably, but on that day, I wasn’t able to do it.

I walked backed to the center of town and picked up fish and chips from PM’s, on the corner of Union and Market. Lots of take away batter fried haddock and chips and a water was less than &pound;6.00. I started walking north on Market St (in the cathedral’s direction) and just after a store front that had information for a church, turned right on a small opening between the buildings. I almost think the name was Baker St. I only meant to walk and eat, but that little road had a little park. So I enjoyed my lunch on a sunny afternoon in the open air, with flowers by my bench, also a litter bin for “cleaning up.” It was great!

Heading back to Edinburgh we saw more lovely scenery, heard stories from Jackie, and stopped in Falkland to view the Falkland Palace. I had the pass, so used that to enter for free. It sounded like people were getting a discount for coming with Rabbies, and you had to decide if you wanted the palace or gardens or both. We hadn’t much time to tour, arriving toward the end of the open hours, about 30-45 minutes.

I don’t know if I have ever seen a mention of this about touring old, grand houses/buildings. They’re grand, and they’re old. Rooms of old furnishings and textiles have an “old” odor. I have not had a problem, yet, but I am aware of the feeling in the air, and I do wonder if some people have a hard time in some of these buildings with allergies sensitive to dust or mold.

Another fyi, stairs .. stairs at the castle, cathedral, and now the Palace. If you have any mobility issues, unfortunately stairs are everywhere!

The tour returns you to Edinburgh about 18:00. I think we were a bit after, but it was thereabouts. It never occurred to me to be ready to tip Jackie until I saw someone else do it. In all the threads about tipping, I don’t remember this one. Anyone have ideas what I should/could have done? (Other than say my “Thank you.”)


End of Day 3.

Thank you so much everyone for all the advice. I'll quit hijacking the thread and &quot;listen&quot; quietly now. Thanks for the continuing trip reports. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions as July gets closer!

Hi michellemd, I'm glad you asked because I learned something new about Logan terminals!

Do ask if you have any questions about what I write. Cheers!

What did you think of Rabbies tours? I am an older woman going to Scotland solo in September and am considering them for a multi-day trip. But, a forum Scotland expert has warned me that the group is mainly designed for young, backpackers. What do you think?

Enjoying your report ! Tony Hawks is funny, isn't he ?

Just curious about &quot;I went to a local shoe store for first time&quot; - where do you normally buy your shoes ??

Hi SusieQQ,

I've heard it just about the opposite, that Rabbies is good for the older crowd.

Heart of Scotland was similar: comfortable mini coach and destinations with not too difficult access (you could make it difficult for yourself, but you don't have to.. more about that in Tuesday's notes).

Haggis Adventures is a tour company that is more for the young crowd, I've read.

When our mini coach was leaving I could see another leaving on what must have been a multi-day trip: each person had a carry-on size bag to load in the back. Hopefully, on one of all these threads about Scotland you could find a personal experience to read, but I did want to try it after enjoying the one day trip.

Cheers.

Hi caroline_edinburgh,

Most of my shopping has been in department stores, and often the low-price end, big box name kind. I don't wish to offend anyone who shops in one particular name, but with time I have come to really believe in the Vime's Boot Theory, from Terry Pratchett:

<i>The reason the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in the city on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes &quot;Boots&quot; theory of socioeconomic unfairness.</i>



Before I get way far off on a tangent unrelated to travel and flamed for personal opinions :-) it's not uncommon for the &quot;you get what you pay for&quot; cliche to be true: inexpensive shoes for my trip last year and my feet were so sore; the more expensive shoes of this year definitely also had some better quality because absolutely no trouble with my feet.

Cheers.

Scotlib, ah I see - yes, me too now I come to think of it !

I love Vime's Boot Theory ! Thank you, I hadn't heard it before.

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<b>Day 4 – Rosslyn and the Roman Border</b>

While getting ready on Tuesday morning I started to realize how similar the top issues of the news were to home. Today it was the government bailing out some banks and the number of foreclosure threats climbing. I was in a location so far from home, yet all was also the same. Exactly a good reason for travel, yes? To realize how we are more similar than dissimilar.


In some initial planning, I thought that I would try and take the train to Newcastle and then the Hadrian’s Wall bus to do my own itinerary, but I did not purchase the fare in time for the super saver deals, and when I saw the prices higher than the cost of a tour, I made a reservation with Heart of Scotland. I think subconsciously I did not want to make the trip by train and bus because it would have been a full day of trying to make important connections on time, not to mention having no experience with taking the train. I know for my next trip I will travel to the area and stay a couple of days for a more relaxed visit, but for this time I just wanted to experience a bit of the wall, and taking the tour did accomplish that goal.

I traveled to Bus Stand E at Waterloo Place to meet the Heart of Scotland tour mini coach. It was a 16-person vehicle like the one used for the Rabbies tour. The trip to St. Andrews was full; this one was only half full. Our driver was Colin. He was full of great stories and terrific for answering all our questions, so I would love to go on another trip with him as driver.

More than once Colin would tell a story and it would involve a comment to look on the positive side. One was about Robert the Bruce when he killed a competitor, in a church no less, but to look on the positive side, and Colin had some positive to insert. I found myself doing that at lunch. I didn’t realize the water bottle I had grabbed from the cooler was frozen, but I decided that I could look on the positive .. I now had a drink for the rest of the afternoon, to drink a bit at a time as it thawed!

Our first stop of the morning was Rosslyn Chapel. We arrived right as it opened and stayed for about an hour. In my pictures I have one of William, the Rosslyn Chapel cat. He was a very sociable cat. He doesn’t live at the Chapel but comes every day at opening time for a full day of greeting people and lots of pats. Even if only a quarter of all the visitors were “cat” people, I think he received all the attention he desired.

Colin mentioned the roof over the Chapel that is allowing the building time to dry out. “It stinks like wet stone,” certainly was my first thought when entering the building. Do listen to the guides when they start telling the stories. It’s all very interesting history.

After the bit of scare I felt with the tower at the St. Andrews I wondered if I should try the scaffolding around the Chapel. I followed the instructions to the letter and did enjoy the views: <i>Do not run, do not lean over the edge, do not climb on the metalwork, and use the handrail on the stairs at all times.</i>

From the Chapel we drove to Melrose for lunch. We had only an hour’s visit in Melrose, much of that taken up by eating, but I did get in a quick 10-15 minute visit to the abbey, using my pass for free entry.

One person made a complaint type remark as we hit the road, about the lack of time for visiting the abbey. In terms of a tour, you can either visit someplace closer for a longer time or visit a further away destination, but by necessity the time will be shorter. I didn’t like the shortness of each stop either, but I also knew what the trip looked like on a map; compared to the St. Andrews trip, we were going a long, long way more. (With a Scotland only map, you’re literally going “off the map”!)

Next stop was Hadrian’s Wall. No, the next stop was the Scotland/England border, a stretch the legs and photo op for the stone markers. Then we were headed for the Wall. Once there you have to choose one of two options: visit Housesteads, the Roman fort museum, or walk along the wall starting from a point a bit to the west of Housesteads. Colin said it was a nice walk, with just a “steepish” bit to get up first. Everyone else got off at Housesteads, while I opted for the walk (Housesteads would have been free for me using the pass).

Colin drove me to the next visitors’ centre for a toilet stop, then across the road and up a steep hill to drop me off at a small parking lot. He had to go back down with the mini coach; he wasn’t really supposed to be up there, but did for the quick drop offs/pick ups.

I set out to follow the wall, walking down a steep grassy hill and then looked across a wet spot (made passable with stone pavers) to the “steepish” bit. It was a climb up a near cliff! Literally, stones are set into the hillside so you have a stone staircase but no railing. That’s an important note, in my case. I hurt both ankles in high school with very bad sprains. Repeat injuries over the years since and I have pretty weak ankles. I can go up stairs okay. Walking down is another matter, and I have to use a rail for support. If my weight falls on the points where my ankles have no strength, down I can go.

So, to go up the cliff was not particularly smart, but I definitely wanted (WANTED) to go up, so huffing and puffing I went up (plenty out of shape, and very overweight, fyi). A delightful surprise was at the top .. a stile! I enjoyed a series of books from Piers Anthony years ago, Split Infinity I think it was called. The main character took his name from the importance one of these played in his life, so his name was Stile.

I crossed the stile and walked for a ways, to a point the terrain dipped. I stopped at the top of the dip and had to head back to meet up with Colin on time. I would have had to go down, up, and then down again to see the Robin Hood’s tree. (Colin pointed out how close I had come, though too far for time, because we passed that way backtracking to Housesteads. So I did get to see the tree, just not up close, and I have another reason for going back.)

Now came the problem .. getting down that “steepish” bit, or as I saw it, “steps with no hand rails.” The guy behind me was walking down as if walking down the steps into Princes St. Gardens. He didn’t say anything but his expression wondered why I was going down one step at a time, on my butt, like a toddler on stairs. It was the only way to be sure I didn’t end up in a heap at the bottom.

Everyone who visited Housesteads museum loved it (several said, “Spectacular!”), though they also had a steepish walk to get to it, but it’s on a paved roadway, I think, not a cliff with steps. I had time to go into the shop for some postcards and heard the staff helping a lady with instructions to drive up because she had mobility issues and couldn’t walk up. So that could be a possibility if you need the help to get to the fort yourself. It could depend on how busy the fort is, but it’s at least something to inquire if you really need the assistance.

Headed back to Edinburgh, we stopped for a break in Jedburgh. It was only a 10-15 minute break, time to visit the public toilet (no cost, that I remember) and enjoy view the abbey from a park bench, looking across the Jed Water, but not time to actually go over to the abbey.

Colin had to backtrack to a certain point from the morning’s drive and then he took another route so we could see more scenery. So much beauty: great views, farmland, sheep (lots of little sheep!).

The web site says the planned return is 19:30. I don’t really remember, now, but I suppose that was about it. I had certainly had my workout for the day, and was ready for going back to the Dene, so I did!

End of Day 4.

scotlib:

Hello, just wanted to say I am still with you and enjoying your writing very much. Keep it coming.

Sandy