Scotland 2012 Trip, Day 14, Sept 22nd : Edinburgh

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11:10pm, Ramada Inn near Glasgow airport.

Finally, the first day without rain! Happens to be the last day our our 2 week Scotland trip…

We didn't set the alarm til 9am, as we were up really late last night after our stroll around town. By the time we packed up, loaded the car, and checked the internet (still 30 minutes too early to check in for tomorrow's flight), it was 10am.

A great thing about our location at Cameron Toll was that 9 bus lines passed by, meaning a wait of 5 minutes tops for a bus into town. We hopped on a bus towards the city, and stopped midway to check out a bakery. Their selection was limited, but we bought some scones for breakfast. Realized afterwards that they'd taste a lot better with some butter too…

We picked up another bus and got off at High Street. Today all the shops were open, and Wendy investigated kilt options, until deciding she didn't want one. So many kilt makers there!


We tried a cherry scone for breakfast (breakfast wasn't included at our hotel), before taking a walk down High Street...

We walked down to Holyrood Palace, and took the hour long audio tour. I had been here 8 years ago, but didn't remember anything about the inside of the palace (probably cause cameras aren't allowed, and we didn't do the audio tour). It was very enjoyable.


We walked down High Street to Hollyrood Palace...


We saw all the highly decorative chambers leading to the King's room, as well as Mary Queen of Scott's apartment quarters. Learned that Mary Queen of Scotts had quite an interesting life: Ordained queen at age 1, sent to France for schooling, married at age 15, widowed a year later, remarried again but had her secret lover stabbed to death by her husband, her 2nd husband died a year later (Mary rumored to be involved in his death), then exiled to England and jailed by the English Queen who feared of her popularity and later executed her at age 45.

We walked out into the adjoining abbey ruins to complete the tour. It was ~53 degrees out, and chilly in the shade, pleasant in the sun.


No pictures allowed inside, so just have pics of the exterior...


Pics from the ruined abbey...




A look at Arthur's Rock, which I hiked 8 years ago. Lots of people on top today...

Across from the Palace, we visited the ultra modern Parliament building. Certainly some bizarre architecture for a government building (controversy exists surrounding the costs).


A look at the parliament building, outside, and inside...


After checking out parliament, we walked back up High Street...

Then we walked back uphill along High Street, which was flooded with tourists.


Pics from High Street...


Near our lunch restaurant, Angels with Bagpipes, we saw street performers. We arrived with plenty of time to spare for our 1pm reservation, and had 2 course meals for 11.95 pounds. Croque Madame with wild mushrooms, and a lamb dish for Wendy. Cauliflower & Blue Cheese soup, and a mackerel dish for me.


Our lunch spot: Angels with Bagpipes.


Food was good, but the portions were very small...



After lunch, we caught a bus to the Botanical Gardens, and walked the grounds. It's free to visit, though Wendy bought a 1LB map. I had visited here 8 years ago. I enjoyed returning to the Queen Mothers Garden, which has giant hedges, like Alice in Wonderland.


Scenes from Edinburgh Botanical Gardens...


That's a serious hedge...



That big hedge is really a tree!


We left the gardens just as a bus was arriving (well timed), and rode back to Princes Street, which was also flooded with tourists. It was 4:10pm, which left us time to visit the Scotland National Gallery before it closed. Just outside the gallery, a 3 piece band (drums, guitar, bagpipe) was performing in the plaza. I could really feel the Scottish flavor of Edinburgh, as I looked out across the town, above the Castle gardens, in the late afternoon sun.


Wow, such fine weather! Best weather day of the whole trip!



A rock band, with a bagpipe player, entertains just off of Princes Street...

After a 20 minute visit to the gallery, we walked along parts of Princes, Rose, Thistle, and Queen St, before taking a bus back towards our hotel, stopping along the way at a Mediterranean place for dinner.


More walking around Edinburgh...


We had dinner at a mediterranean place...

We had some lamb and chicken kebabs, which were great. We realized this was our last meal in Scotland! Another epic adventure coming to a close…


More dinner pics...


We took a bus back to the Travelodge at Cameron Toll to reach our car, and began the final drive of our trip to Glasgow amid the late evening light. Once Wendy had navigated me onto the M8 highway (4 lane, 70mph), we reminisced about the first few days of our trip on Skye.

Eventually as we neared Glasgow, Wendy started guiding me off the highway and onto the city streets near town hall. I realized something must be wrong, since our hotel is next to the airport, 10 miles past Glasgow. Turns out Wendy's google map directions had used "Glasgow" as the end destination, not our hotel. So we regained the M8 highway, and corrected our course.

The Ramada Inn is right next to the airport, and on the same block as the Thrifty rental office where I need to return the car tomorrow at 8am. Super convenient. Final odometer tally: 1570 miles over the past 14 days! That's a lot of ground covered for a country the size of Maine. That doesn't include the distances travel on the 3 ferries either.

We emptied the entire car into our hotel room and then emptied all our bags onto the floor/beds. Time to re-pack everything into our 2 checked bags, and carry-ons.


We emptied the car, to re-pack everything for tomorrow's flight home...

We're in another handicapped accessible room tonight. That's 2 in a row, and 3 on this trip. The hotel bathroom floor got flooded during the shower, so all our towels are on the ground, acting as a makeshift bathroom rug.

We did a good job using up almost all of our cash, and don't have much un-eaten food left to bring back. Still some honey we'll have to leave behind, after tonight's round of hot honey water.

Setting the alarm for 7am. Toasty in this room tonight.

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