The costs and pleasures of arriving

We made it!  We arrived at MSP three hours early, following the airlines' recommendation, and when we checked our luggage I had a quick moment of panic.  In spite of multiple "weedings" my two large suitcases were exceptionally heavy.  I paid $80 for an extra bag online when I printed our boarding passes the previous night, but then the agent told me I'd have to pay another $100 because one of my bags was overweight.  Fortunately, his partner suggested I unload some books in to my backpack to reduce the overall weight of one of the bags.  Due to her kind suggestion I wasn't out any more money.  Still, both bags merited "HEAVY" labels attached to the handles and cost me more down the line.

The trip was uneventful albeit a bit painful in spite of the neck pillows, and very tiring.  I had a window seat for most of the trans Atlantic flight and did fall asleep against the window, but it wasn't what anyone could call comfortable.  My husband was absolutely miserable on the aisle.  The headphones they gave us to use during the in-flight movies were useless; it was impossible to understand a word of dialogue.  As we de-planed, we took note of the noise-cancellation headphones, plush quilts and cute freshening up kits offered to first class passengers.  I tell you, they really have it nice up there in first-class land.  Regardless, it wasn't that bad.

We made it through customs with unexpected ease since we were one of only a few non-Eurozone passengers.  I had to present my official letter to the customs agent, which took a bit of time, but nothing compared to the poor folks who were queued in a twisty line that extended out of the large hall into another corridor.  She asked about my responsibilities for students and then passed us on to baggage retrieval.  We saw our bags almost immediately, changed some U.S. dollars to Bank of Scotland pounds, and then caught a cab.  The ride from the airport to the George Hotel was 25 pounds.  I overtipped, but felt compelled due to the weight of the bags.

The only casualty of our trip was a tube of stainremover which exploded all over one of my fleece jackets, a t-shirt and another jacket.  Damn and blast!

Our hotel was lovely.  George Street is just one or two blocks up from Prince's Street and within easy walking distance of the old city.

The lovely lobby of the George Hotel in downtown Edinburgh.

Getting to our rooms was a real hoot.  After taking the "lift" up to the second floor (what we'd call the third floor in the U.S.), we followed the corridor in a spiral pattern, down four steps, up four steps, and down again to our room.  The floors were very tippy.  Mind you, this is a FANCY hotel.  We were offered glasses of Prosecco upon checking in, and a porter (dressed in full kilt) brought our bags to the room, but those floors sank and rose in interesting ways.  The room was very spacious (as was the bed), and we were duly impressed.  Our bellhop stopped in to inquire if we were satisfied with the room (apparently many are not--our room looked out on the interior of the hotel complex--roof, chimneys, pipes, that sort of thing), and we assured him we were.  After lugging our heavy bags up to our room (again, I felt compelled to give a heavy tip) he instructed us that our room key needed to be inserted into a device which gave us electricity (turning out lights, etc.).  He was a sweet young man with a thick brogue, underscored by another accent.  I guessed Italian, and he said--"keep guessing".  After working my way across western Europe, he said he was Polish.  The desk clerk had a Scottish brogue with undertones of an Indian dialect.

We decided we would find a place to have supper, walk around a bit and then turn in by 9:00 p.m.  We aimed for the old city and had a pricey (yet tasty) dinner (about 33 pounds --with a $1.66 exchange rate).  My husband was beyond tired and could not manage more than a walk home.  It was a lovely evening, so we cut through the park by Waverly station and turned in for the evening.  My husband was down for the count in no time whatsoever.  Poor guy--the trip "done him in".  I had felt revived by dinner and the walk, but I too fell asleep quickly.  It turns out, my husband awakened at midnight ready for adventure.  He got up, got dressed and went a'wandering. Walking a short distance reawakened his appetite, so he stopped in at an Italian restaurant for a plate of spaghetti.  Then he was back in bed by 1:30.  He wanders at home as well (although at home he stays in our house), so I shouldn't be surprised. 

My husband was up again by 8, and I followed at 9.  We made it down for our 20 pound breakfast, checked out of our room, stored our bags and awaited our friend who came to greet us a little before 11.  The weather turned rainy today, but the three of us traipsed around the old city with umbrellas and hoods and didn't mind a bit.

We explored Edinburgh castle, particularly the crown jewels and war memorial (I believe I paid about 26 pounds for our entry--even with my husband's discount for being over 60), but it really was worth it.

Our friend is very, very knowledgeable and shared lots of historical stories and lore.  My favorite story had to do with Robert the Bruce's "best men" -- Black Douglas who was said to be able to scale the rocks and walls of Edinburgh castle, even though it was thought to be impenetrable.  A nursemaid was standing inside the walls, with one of the King's progeny in her arms. She said something to the extent of "At least there's no way Douglas  can get ye here"--only to feel a tap on her shoulder, and a man's voice softly saying, "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

We stopped in at St. Gile's church (beautiful) to look at the Thistle Chapel (with a two pound request of all entrants) and then had a lovely lunch in the basement cafe.  I believe that lunch set me back a mere 10 pounds.  After a quick explanation about the differences between the Church of Scotland and the Church of England (the Queen is NOT the head of the Church of Scotland, it's a democratic religion, there's no statuary), we were off down the Royal Mile for a trip to Holyrood Palace.

The sky opened up just as we walked down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace.

We paid another 26 pounds for entrance to the Queen's Gallery and Palace.  I have to say, the Gallery was wonderful.  We saw a Rembrandt and Frans Hals, along with a number of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and one by Michelangelo. There was an amazing bust of an African slave whose status was marked (horrifically) by his collar.  I visited Holyroodhouse ten years ago with my sister and two oldest kids, but don't remember the gallery being open at that time.  We also saw a wonderful exhibition of photos of Queen Elizabeth.  My favorite was one of her sitting on a windowsill at age 1.  It was so surprising to see her as a little blonde cherub without socks on her chubby little feet.

The palace itself is home to the Queen when she's in Edinburgh, but we were assured her quarters are not available for public view.  The palace has lots of Mary Queen of Scots lore, and our friend shared a few Mary stories with us.  One involved the VERY narrow stairwell up to her chambers.  Our friend noted what a challenge that must have been for her during her pregnancy.  She was said to be six feet tall, and also wore the farthingale of the time.  We later found out that this stairwell had been added later, but there was another one used by Darnley for their assignations.  Yet another room sported a plaque informing readers of the spot where David Rizzio was murdered.  Our friend told us that the blood spot seemed to move every time she visited.  That reminded me a bit of the blood spot at Glensheen.

We were ready to pack it in by that point, and it was raining cats and dogs.  We made it to the Hotel to collect our stored bags and then to Waverly station where we caught a train to St. Andrews.  That was another 25 pounds.  The trip was a bit over an hour, and then we drove in to St. Andrews to pick up fish and chips for our supper.  We will be doing a walk about tomorrow and then driving around the countryside.  Our friend is a wonderful hostess.

It's been an expensive, but fun first day.  I hope we can rein in the costs a bit more, but I'm resolved not to buy the tschotskes. We will be headed to Worcester on the 1st.

One  final quick note--I AM using the converter for my computer, and YES it gets HOT!!!


More later.

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