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Scotland, Day 1, Edinburgh
We got a shuttle to O'Hare airport in Chicago. They picked us up at 1:00 for a 6:15 flight, so that was kind of a long time in the van and sitting at the airport. Our driver was an interesting guy. He was a driving instructor for the SCCA, and gives glasses on ice/winter driving, so we chatted about that for a bit.
There was a foreign currency exchange right in the concourse near our gates. So I gave them $500 in exchange for GB Pounds. I should have done more, since the fee was better than I'd get at the ATMs in Scotland. They told me they'd buy back whatever I had left when I came back, but when we got back, we didn't come across such a booth, so I would have been out of luck. Fortunately, I didn't need that.
We boarded the plane. I sat down in my seat and looked out the window to see our bags ready to be loaded. It took a while for the plane to leave the gate, and then even longer to leave the ground. I think it was an hour in total. And then eight hours in the air. It seem to take forever. I think it seemed so long because I had convinced myself that it wouldn't feel like forever. The plane was really warm. I don't usually complain about the heat, but this wasn't very comfortable. And it was too early to sleep, so I just watched some dumb movies before I found they had Star Trek: Discovery.
We landed at EDI about 8am. Collected our bags and set out to find the tram into the city. I was confused about the location of said tram, so I went to the kiosk in front of me and got bus tickets. It turned out the Airlink buses were cheaper and faster than the tram anyway. When we got into the city, we walked four or five blocks to our hotel and gave them our bags to hold until check-in time. I chose the Hotel Indigo because they were the only ones who answered my inquiry about whether they'd hold our bags for us before and after check-in/out. And the price and location were decent.
First we went up to Calton Hill. It has a view of half the city and surrounding countryside, plus the old observatory and a few monuments.
Across the road was the Old Calton Hill Burying Ground (we always have to visit some cemeteries).
There's a monument to Scottish soldiers in the American Civil War (yes, that's Abe Lincoln), and behind it rests philosopher David Hume.
We came back out and went up to the Royal Mile, a mile-long street in the oldest section of the city, with Edinburgh Castle on one end and Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the hill on the other end.
The palace, where the Royals stay when they're in town.
Canongate Tolbooth, built 1591.
Next door to the Tolbooth was Canongate Kirk (church) next door, built 1691. This was behind it, in the kirkyard.
We were there on the day of the Global Climate Strike. An estimated 20,000 people (mostly students) marched to show their concern with how the planet was being treated. It took about 45 minutes for all of them to go by.
We watched for a while and then went in a place for lunch. I guess it was second-lunch, after second dinner. Or was it third-lunch - we had dinner on the plane a little way into the flight, and then a sandwich closer to the end. This was about six hours later. We stopped at the first inviting place we saw. It was a burger place - the most American place on the Mile. Two burgers and two beers cost us $45.
Then we went up to Edinburgh Castle. And there were a couple of whisky shops along the way.
We went back to the room for a rest. I didn't really want to take a nap. Probably should have. But we just kinda got situated and then went back out, had dinner, and then drinks at another place. Then went back to for the night.
I never really slept well on the trip. I was usually too warm. And I guess the jetlag made it tough too. Not to mention the illness. Our hotel had a book theme. The walls were bookshelves (fake, but with real books cut down to the spine on them), a footstool made of books, and books as room number plaques in the hallway. Our room had a view across the street to an old building that was being renovated. They started working in the street at 7am on a Saturday. Not fun.
There was a foreign currency exchange right in the concourse near our gates. So I gave them $500 in exchange for GB Pounds. I should have done more, since the fee was better than I'd get at the ATMs in Scotland. They told me they'd buy back whatever I had left when I came back, but when we got back, we didn't come across such a booth, so I would have been out of luck. Fortunately, I didn't need that.
We boarded the plane. I sat down in my seat and looked out the window to see our bags ready to be loaded. It took a while for the plane to leave the gate, and then even longer to leave the ground. I think it was an hour in total. And then eight hours in the air. It seem to take forever. I think it seemed so long because I had convinced myself that it wouldn't feel like forever. The plane was really warm. I don't usually complain about the heat, but this wasn't very comfortable. And it was too early to sleep, so I just watched some dumb movies before I found they had Star Trek: Discovery.
We landed at EDI about 8am. Collected our bags and set out to find the tram into the city. I was confused about the location of said tram, so I went to the kiosk in front of me and got bus tickets. It turned out the Airlink buses were cheaper and faster than the tram anyway. When we got into the city, we walked four or five blocks to our hotel and gave them our bags to hold until check-in time. I chose the Hotel Indigo because they were the only ones who answered my inquiry about whether they'd hold our bags for us before and after check-in/out. And the price and location were decent.
First we went up to Calton Hill. It has a view of half the city and surrounding countryside, plus the old observatory and a few monuments.
Across the road was the Old Calton Hill Burying Ground (we always have to visit some cemeteries).
There's a monument to Scottish soldiers in the American Civil War (yes, that's Abe Lincoln), and behind it rests philosopher David Hume.
We came back out and went up to the Royal Mile, a mile-long street in the oldest section of the city, with Edinburgh Castle on one end and Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the hill on the other end.
The palace, where the Royals stay when they're in town.
Canongate Tolbooth, built 1591.
Next door to the Tolbooth was Canongate Kirk (church) next door, built 1691. This was behind it, in the kirkyard.
We were there on the day of the Global Climate Strike. An estimated 20,000 people (mostly students) marched to show their concern with how the planet was being treated. It took about 45 minutes for all of them to go by.
We watched for a while and then went in a place for lunch. I guess it was second-lunch, after second dinner. Or was it third-lunch - we had dinner on the plane a little way into the flight, and then a sandwich closer to the end. This was about six hours later. We stopped at the first inviting place we saw. It was a burger place - the most American place on the Mile. Two burgers and two beers cost us $45.
Then we went up to Edinburgh Castle. And there were a couple of whisky shops along the way.
We went back to the room for a rest. I didn't really want to take a nap. Probably should have. But we just kinda got situated and then went back out, had dinner, and then drinks at another place. Then went back to for the night.
I never really slept well on the trip. I was usually too warm. And I guess the jetlag made it tough too. Not to mention the illness. Our hotel had a book theme. The walls were bookshelves (fake, but with real books cut down to the spine on them), a footstool made of books, and books as room number plaques in the hallway. Our room had a view across the street to an old building that was being renovated. They started working in the street at 7am on a Saturday. Not fun.