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Scotland. Stones & Whiskey

September - October 2016
A 28-day adventure by Diane Read more
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  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 27

    PS: Back in the State...in Albuquerque

    September 30, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Flight was uneventful getting to El Paso. First class came w/ lunch, so we didn't need to stop on the way and delay any longer. We were able to get an hour sleep before we ate lunch and then talked at length with the First Class Stewardess. She had done the Camino in August, walking! Ready to go back and do the trip from Lisbon next year. Sounds like she is selling her things and minimizing so she can do more of this type of travel while she is still young enough to still do it. Picture is the ceiling in the El Paso airport. Very similar in style to the ABQ ceiling.

    We checked for our bags at the El Paso airport just in case the AA counter clerk was successful in transferring them to the El Paso flight to save us later hassle, but they were not to be found in TX. The AA app showed the to have just unloaded in ABQ.

    We picked up the AVIS rental car at the airport. Diane noticed the smudged copy of the contract was a bit higher (now $148 instead of the total cost estimate of $109 from the e-mail), thought there must have been an additional charge not covered in the e-mail last eve. Did mention that we would be returning tonight and the counter clerk agreed we were doing them a favor. Trip to ABQ was uneventful until we turned in the car and found out that we were charged $198! They claimed that the extra charges were due to milage charges. Avis is very clever, charged me for 2 days and the mention to mileage charges was in light grey font off to the side from the "total Cost" estimate, so impossible to see when I checked the reservation on the smart phone. ABQ claimed that they couldn't change another groups charges (deja vu!!!) and I would have to take up my issue with the El Paso office. Great! Will complain about all of this later, but first home to the Robin house to close out a wonderful trip.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 27

    Buggered leaving Heathrow!

    September 30, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 59 °F

    No issues getting to the airport at Glasgow, breakfast at the airport and flight down was okay. The BA commuter, Flight Time, really crams in the seats making getting Diane's pack under the seat a challenge. Loaded with stairs from front and back at Glasgow.

    Heathrow is a mess. They unloaded the plane away from a gate, all through the front stairs. Then they stuffed us standing on a bus to go to the terminal. They needed Japanese train "pushers" to get us all on as they were determined not to bring another bus. Then the long walk up, down and all about to get to the preliminary waiting area.

    In order to get to this "safe haven" they prominade all passengers past almost a block of duty free shops. To early to taste peated whiskey at World of Whiskey. We settled for shared late lunch at Wagamoma, a Japanese noodle bar Diane visited in the mid-2000s when she worked down country. We had a 4 hour layover to assure we would make the US flight

    BA stuck us in row 46 out of 53 in the middle 2 seats of 4. Another lesson for us: call the carrier to be sure to get reasonable seat. Even though AA had recently promoted me to Platinum, we had no priority on BA. When Diane tried to look at which seats had been assigned on line, she was met with a $50 charge to change seats or to even know what the seats were before 24 hr prior to departure. These days, everyone sees to be some type of priority or have paid for window or isle seat so we were left with dregs.

    Knew we were in trouble when the Captain came on the intercom to tell us we would be delayed departing due to issues with loading luggage. Right then we knew we would miss the connection in Chicago. Took 35 precious minutes out of our 2 hours in Chicago to get through customs and through security again. Nothing to do but to get caught up on unseen movies.

    Plane didn't get to the gate until 7:15 for our 8:04 ABQ connecting flight. Not looking good. After a long wait to get off of the plane, we were direct to orange rebooked tickets and rushed to get through customs. We had paid for Global Entry prior to our departure so we rushed to the kisok while other passengers started the customs snake line. Only 4 of 7 kiosk were operational, but it was quick and seamless and worth the price. Had to wait another 10m for bags, which were then rechecked and we rushed to the tram to change terminals and then to go through security again.

    Still 15m before scheduled departure. We arrived at the gate just after 8pm to find they had not held the flight and there were 5 angry ABQ customers and an over whelmed gate agent who was having a hard time trying to re-route the 5 of us. No flights until Sunday unless standby on two flights on Friday or one flight on Saturday and they wouldn't put us on another carrier. They claimed it was BA problem that we missed the flight and that they were doing us a favor trying to accommodate us on the scheduled AA leg that had not been rebooked for us after missing the 8pm flight. So much for One World Aliance. No guarantee of a compensated hotel room, no food vouchers. One person opted to go to PHX, while 2 others decided to sit standby at 10am and 8pm. We opted to fly to El Paso at 10am and drive, without guarantee of compensation but at least we would be home but we then had to arrange for hotel and rental car. Of course, we weren't able to get the bags back.

    We finally arrived at a local hotel at 10:30PM with the only food sustenance a poor chicken salad from a closing vendor at the airport. A few hours of sleep, a bad breakfast then back to the airport. Instead of standby for the flight as mentioned last night, we're bumped to first clsss, so hopefully we can get some sleep on the plane.

    We are now en route to El Paso in order to get home before Sunday due to Balloon Fiesta with a rental car for the last segment. Otherwise, we would be held hostage at the airport on standby without guarantee for a seat until Sunday or Monday. Diane did get through to BA last night and they confirmed that they would cover cost of hotel and rental car, so that is a relief. At least there is the weekend to recover.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 26

    Ready to leave

    September 29, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    How we traveled...one suitcase each and one backpack with my green sack purse. Luckily I didn't have to carry my backpack with all of the books and camera gear too many times. In the end we were able to squeeze in the two bottles of whiskey without leaving anything behind or using the expanders.

    We took rain pants but weather was good enough that we didn't have to use them. When it did drizzle, we had rain coats and Diane used one of two pachimals for rain or wind protection. Diane never needed to use the fleece pullover.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 25

    Trip to Glasgow

    September 28, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    It started to rain as we left the Craigmillar Castle, a fitting last day in Scotland to make up for all the good weather we have enjoyed. Went South to catch the city bypass to minimize the potential for traffic in the city. Driving to the castle first was good to get Peter back into the swing of driving again before hitting the 4-lane motorway to Glasgow. As we swung around the West side of town, we noticed wide strips up the side of a low mountain/tall hill. Turned out to be a year around ski slope [ https://www.midlothian.gov.uk/info/200281/snows…] ! Not sure what the surface was made of, but probably more slippery if wet.

    Peter had to drive through some pretty nasty construction on the way over in the rain, but over all, the trip took just about 1.3 hrs. A bit of confusion on how to get off the M8 motorway, but GPS brought us finally back to the hotel. Lucky for us, the room was ready at the hotel and we were able to off load the bags before finding gas and returning the car. We were happy to turn in the car, now letting the taxi in the morning do the driving.

    The guy who checked us in was very nice and when Peter found the key to last night's room still in his pocket, the Eurocar counter clerk found us an envelop and stamps so we could mail it back to Kingsley B&B. One more thing checked off of our departure list. Walked back to the hotel for a cup of tea and to repack for the two bottles of scotch we are allowed to bring back.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 25

    Last day in Edinbugh

    September 28, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Up a little early and down to breakfast a few early (8:20...breakfast 8-9am) as well. Alan had just sent the family off to school/work and the rest of the guests decided to wait until the bitter end for breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon for our last breakfast in country. Tomorrow will be too busy to get breakfast before we get to the airport.

    Alan and his wife, Allison, have owned this B&B since January. The B&B next door has just sold within the last 2 days. The Barony, where we stayed our first night, was also a recent purchase (2 yrs), so I guess there is a turn over in the B&B business, at least on the street.

    Sounds like a second marriage with his kids in their 20's and her twin 12 year olds. The springer was off with the "grandparents" today so we didn't get a chance to pet Archie goodbye, but the Japanese lady, who was terriried of him, was happy. When asked if they were going to survive Brexit, his answer was "no, they will crash and burn and hope to come out the other side". Pretty much resigned for whatever comes from the sounds of it.

    We noticed long wooden drying racks suspended from the ceiling in the dining room that could be lowered to load with clothes. When asked if they used it and if it worked pretty well, he said they hang clothes every evening and are dry in the morning. That is in addition to hanging things outside as well. Rarely use the tumble dryer.

    It is no wonder that the Europeans travel so much. While we have been here, we have heard of fares from Netherlands to Scotland (Perth) for 40 pounds one way and to Dublin for 20 pounds. Alan mentioned they were going to Budapest for the weekend, one leg of the trip was only 4 pounds! Guess you have to be there to find the good deals. The train has good deals, too. If only we could find a fare like that from the States.

    Alan warned us that tonight Scotland is playing England in Glasgow in football and it might get a bit rowdy. We won't be out late or stray into popular areas, so we are not concerned.

    Before heading out to Glasgow, we stopped by the Graigmillar Castle ( http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh…) for a quick look-around. It is operated by the Historic Society of Scotland, but is not on the popular tourist circuit. We had the castle pretty much to ourselves with the exception of a bus load of 7-yr olds on an outing.

    The castle started out as a tower structure in early 1400's, similar to what we had seen in Ireland a couple of years ago, but was 6 times larger. It had been remodeled and expanded a couple of times but by end of 1600's, is was abandoned as not being modern enough. As can be seen in the pictures, the rooms are built with stone arched ceilings. Ths makes it harder to set on fire when under battle. Famous for visit by Mary Queen of Scotts...which is really popular in this area.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 24

    Around town after the museum

    September 27, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    We decided to talk a walk in the remaining sunlight of the day instead of walking further within the museum. Slight bite to the wind, but the last bit of sunlight was very nice. Sunlight on the buildings was very nice, also.

    The first picture is the Augustine United Church across from the Edinburgh Library. The second photo shows the side of the Greyfriars Kirk with memorials for important persons attached to the side of the church.

    We walked down to the Grassmarket to try to find a place for dinner. Lots of pubs with various names and some quite cute, but almost all with the same menu. We finally settle upon a pub that had a slightly different menu, which served lamb shank for 10.95 pounds for Diane while Peter had an angus burger. We tried the stickie taffy cake that had been recomended as being very good by the American oilman, but it was quite sweet. We did pass a French Patisserie while we walked. Not every shop was a woolen shop. 😉

    We are realizing now that the trip is coming to an end. Tomorrow we travel to Glasgow to turn in the car and get ready to start the transition back to the other reality. It will be good to get back to our own home cooked meals and our comfy beds, however.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 24

    Rest of day in museum

    September 27, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    We ended up spending th rest of the day in the museum, finally finishing about 4:30 with tired legs from standing on hard surfaces all day. We really didn't look at any of the other wings of the museum except the new addition that housed the Scottish heritiage artifacts. We did walk through one section that housed transportation, which had they airplanes, etc.

    The Pictish Stone is different from the later Christian crosses that were used as grave markers or rememberances in grave yards. Later, in the 1100-1300's grave markers were carved in rememberance of knghts, etc [ http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=…] .

    After the Vikings integrated into the society, there were exchanges of high value articles. The Lewis chessmen http://www.nms.ac.uk/lewischessmen.aspx] were amongst some found. Housing adornment in the 1500-1600's wer highly carved wooden panels. The unicorn is a symbol of Scotland [ http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/…] . After the Act of Union, a lot of the shields over doorways, etc showed both the Unicorn as well as the Lion (England).    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 24

    2.5 hrs & we barely saw 1st floor

    September 27, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    ....of the Scottish antiquity section! We started on the bottom floor where they had various 5000 year old - 1200 year old artifacts grouped by gendra: wood pottery, Romans, Pictish Stones, etc. The first view was down the center where there were various robot-looking figures. It took me a while to figure out that they had the jewelry artifacts located in boxes at approprate locations of the figures. There was also an interesting display of broaches used to adorne or fix clothing. The carved balls in the third picture are typical carved ball for which there is no known use. We saw similar balls at Kilmartin as well as up in the Orkenys. The fourth picture is a series of artifacts that were from a horde. The photo of the red pot is a photo of a Roman pot from the Roman occupation of southern UK. The final picture is another Pictish Stone.

    We took a break to give our minds a break over a cup of tea and a shared sandwich.    Read more

  • TravelerScotland. Stones & Whiskey
    Day 23

    Monday around Edinburgh

    September 26, 2016 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    Up to breakfast by 8:30 at the Barony. Beautiful breakfast of poached eggs & bacon on toast and homemade brown bread.

    Paul Johnson, the proprieter, says they are up at 5am to start baking & cooking. I think they have family in the area, Originally from Brisbain and decided on a whim to stay in Edinburgh, so Paul went back and closed up the house, put it up for sale and they purchased the B&B 2 years ago. They live in th servant's quarters in the basement with 3 small kids. Quite a nice B&B with 6 rooms. Has a glass skylight over the stairway. It is a 4-star B&B and they were getting an inspection later in the day from the tourist board to see if he is up to the 4-star standards. We left with a couple of pieces of white chocolate, raspberry pound cake for later in the day.

    We walked down the street with our luggage to the Kingsley B&B, where we will be for the next two nights. Turns out if I had called the B&Bs directly, I would not have had to split the lodging between B&Bs...a lesson for us in the future. Find the lodging via booking.com, etc and then call the place direction for a discounted price without the booking agents cut.

    We took the bus up and back to High Street for 3.20 Pounds Steriing each. Our B&Bs are very convenient with multiple busses working the street in front. Only have to wait about 5 minutes for a bus.

    High Street is quite quaint, however, 5 of 6 shops sell Scottich woolens. Quite touristy. Our bus lets our out about half way on the Royal Mile. We walked up High Street to the Castle and then afterwards, we walked a bit down the High Street below the bus stop but it all looked about the same. So we decided at the end of the day to head back to the B&B and stop by the Old Bell, a traditional pub with 5 different cask pull beers. Peter and I tried two different Porters, both quite nice. The Pub, like others we have seen, is "dog friendly".

    Dinner was at an Indian restaurant where we had an interesing conversataion with the waiter from Bangladesh who was studying in fashion design. He told us that he decided to go to school here due to the fact that back home the competiion for each university seat was 250/seat.    Read more

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