Day 10: London and Edinburgh, 10 May 2013

We originally planned to go to Cardiff today, and Edinburgh on Saturday, returning to London late on Sunday. However, due to procrastination (and who hasn't done that?), the place Amy wants to stay was available only on Friday night and not Saturday night. So, we switched things around. Edinburgh today, leaving late on Saturday and heading for Cardiff where we plan to stay overnight, then do all of the Doctor Who stuff on Sunday. Stay tuned for how that works out.

I got up at 6:00 am this morning (those who know me will know that this isn't easy for me to do), showered, had breakfast in the hotel, and made it to the Kings Cross National Rail station 35 minutes before the 9:00am train departed. Not bad! That only required one change of trains on the Tube.

7:16am Awake, mostly. Need coffee to be sure. Catching early train to Edinburgh.

10:00am Now I am sitting on an East Coast train headed to Edinburgh, Scotland (yay for WiFi on trains!). Edinburgh is the only place I've ever been to in Scotland, and I went in 1989, just for a few hours on one day. I did manage to tour the castle while there. Not sure exactly what's on the agenda for this weekend. Amy has a friend there that we were supposed to meet up with, but I think she turned out to be too busy to see Amy. 8-(

Yay for WiFi on trains! I'm working on the overdue entries for my blog while we spend the 4.5 hours it takes to get to Edinburgh.

There is a woman with a toddler just across the aisle who has taken 4 seats for her and her incredibly loud son. She's making no effort whatsoever not disturb anyone around her, to include playing games and music on her iPad at what has to be full volume.

Why is it that parents seem to think the world revolves around them and their kids? I bet she has an enormous buggy she uses to run over pedestrians with as well. — in York, England.

We finally arrived in Edinburgh, then took another train to reach Kirkcaldy. Amy said it was close, and I didn't look at a map. I was surprised that it was about 40 minutes away on the train, then another 10 minutes by taxi to reach The Dean Park Hotel. I wouldn't have described it as close, but that's just me.

So, one hour and £10 later we arrived at The Dean Park Hotel, checked in, and dumped our luggage in the room. Amy phoned her friend Dawn, who said she could only come to chat in the bar for a few minutes, so we went downstairs to wait for her. Dawn was very nice, and she and Amy got to do some catching up for a bit. (The photo to the right is not mine.)

Then we were off in another taxi for the trip back to the Kirkcaldy ScotRail station to catch the next train back to Edinburgh. That was the first time someone in the rail station asked to see our tickets, other than when boarding the train. I guess they were having issues with people trying to take free rides.

From the Waverly train station we walked up the hill to see the Scott Monument. It is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It looked extra-Gothic in the rain. Oh, right, did I mention the weather? Cold, blustery, and drizzle. VERY Scottish, I think.

We ducked into Jenners Department Store to gawk at the impressive ceiling. This is a good photo of it from the Wikipedia page. It is your typical Department store, complete with the ladies trying to spritz you with perfume as you enter or leave the store. Despite the name Jenners, it is part of The House of Fraser chain of stores now.

Next we went in search of the Pandora store so I could buy the Scottie dog charm for my bracelet. We had to pass St. Andrew Square to get there, so I took a few photos. This one to the left is the Melville Monument.

After we left Pandora, we found this building encased in chicken wire. I've seen plenty of the mountain sides around the UK covered in chicken wire to keep the rocks from falling and hitting people, cars, trains, etc. But encasing an entire building in the stuff? They really must want to keep something inside! 8-) Sounds like a good start to a horror story. Or a Zombie story.

We then trudged up a hill to go to the Balmoral Hotel for dinner. We arrived an hour too early for dinner, and wouldn't have time to eat there and still make it to the theater, so we had drinks in the Palm Court Bar instead. 

I saw some things at this hotel that were a first for me. Yes, indeed, the photo to the left shows a sugar bowl with individually-wrapped sugar cubes.

These are the sinks in the ladies' bathroom. I wouldn't want them in my house, but they are definitely very Victorian. They are also so clean they look brand new.






We left the hotel in search of a bus stop so that we could catch a bus to the Odeon on Lothian Road to see Star Trek: Into Darkness. Although it was still cold and windy, the rain had thankfully stopped. Well, that is, until we were a half-block away from the Odeon, and then it started to pour. Bleh.

We made it into the Odeon Cinema dripping a bit, and bought our tickets for the 8:00pm showing. Despite being the same theater chain we saw Iron Man 3 in earlier in the week in London, the tickets were £5 cheaper, and there were no assigned seats.

We decided on Subway for dinner since it was right next door (if you look closely, you can see it on the left). I had their "Limited Time Only" Tandoori Chicken sub. My tastebuds were very confused: I'm eating Indian food… I'm eating Subway… Indian food… Subway… It was very good, and I would eat it again.

Then it was time to see Star Trek: Into Darkness. We were delighted to find that this theater had stadium-style seating. HURRAY! No sea of heads blocking our view of the screen. And, as it seems is their tradition, there were 25 minutes of ads and trailers, so the movie didn't actually begin until 8:25. 

My mini, no-spoilers review of Star Trek: Into Darkness: Go see it! But remember that this is Star Trek AU (Alternate Universe), and you will be fine.

After the movie was over, we needed to make our way to the Haymarket train station. It was several blocks away, and the bus stop we found had no clear indication if the bus would stop there, or when the next bus would even arrive. We hailed a passing taxi and saved ourselves the blustery walk. Plus, we were running out of time to catch the last train back to Kirkcaldy. 

We made it to the station in plenty of time to catch the last train, then took a taxi back to the hotel. Amy went to bed, and I went to the bar for a coffee. It was a somewhat typical bar for a hotel, full of men who were still drinking despite clearly having already had plenty. And I was completely invisible, as seems usual in these cases, since at least 3 different men bumped into me in their attempt to get drinks while I sat in a chair at the bar, and not a single one acknowledged they had done it. Perhaps that's just not the custom here to apologize for crashing into someone.

I was amused watching the all-too-meek young female bartender. She never asked anyone questions about their drink orders loud enough for them to hear her, and she seemed embarrassed to ask for the money from the men. She didn't seem very embarrassed when she asked for the money from me, though.

I finished my coffee and went back to the room, where Amy and I were treated to the sounds of someone moving furniture back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, in the room next door. That's what it sounded like, at least, someone shoving the bed on wheels from one side of the room to the other until it crashed into the wall. Repeat. After about 10 minutes of this I called the front desk. The very nice woman who answered said she would take care of it, and the noise stopped less than 5 minutes later, not to be heard again that night.