First Leg of the Journey: Edinburgh

I arrived in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning, October 2, after successfully catching my connecting flight out of Philadelphia.  At the time it felt like no small feat after several delays getting off the ground in Cincinnati.   

I took the Tram into City Center and walked down Princes Street to drop my luggage at my hotel for a small fee until after check in was allowed.  As you will see later this hotel has no frills, no TV or WIFI without extra cost.  When you are spending all day walking around the city that doesn't seem important.  Getting one of the rooms with a view did cost a little extra but I will gladly give up TV for that.

Many views of the castle.

The rest of the day began with a search for the Hop on Hop Off buses.   I had a 2 day pass for three of them.  The stops were not as well marked as the ones in Dublin but by following one of the buses for a block you can learn at least one stop.  I then began to collect the maps of the city and the routes which came in handy the next two days a I picked which bus got me to which attraction/s the most interesting way. As I mentioned to someone on Messenger, after you ride around the city enough different directions, you get a sense of where most of the important/historical sights are and can better plan the rest of your explorations. My one tourist stop on Tuesday was for the Royal Yacht Britannia. 

The World's End Close is along the Royal Mile. It is so named because in the early days of old Edinburgh many inhabitants never had the means to leave the city and or pay the toll to return and lived their entire lives within the walls.  For them it was the "end of the world" as they knew it.

The Britannia was interesting. It is beautiful and is younger than I am, being commissioned in the 1950's.  It reflects a the history of a different time.  The names and places associated with it being back moments in our lifetimes.

I liked the wooden storage areas for the china.  The shelving appears capable of protecting the Queen's china from the vagrancy  of the high seas.

This picture of her silver storage is for Sarah from the Women's RV forum.

Though the Britannia no longer goes to sea with the royal family, if you are a corporation with deep pockets you can arrange to use her state room for a very very fancy sit down.

Yes, there are the interesting bedrooms and offices. They definitely gave off the feeling of the times without being over the top. The chairs and love seat in the Admiral's cabin had been used in a previous Royal Yacht.  Those royals know how to make things last.  I liked the size of the laundry show below.  It not only handled the Royal Family's laundry but, on separate days mind you, it also handled the laundry of all the officers and attendants on board.  Several times it was mentioned the frequency that many of the seaman had to change uniforms in one day.  Must look proper for the Queen and important guests.

The engine room.   The ship was built in the early 1950's and over the years you could see where early computers had been added in the offices, etc.  Apparently the engines never required an upgrade but keep producing their horsepower as required until it was decommissioned.

Now back on land and look, I still get to enjoy Thrift shopping in foreign countries.   This was one of the stores in the mall connected to the mooring for the Britannia.  Yes, I went inside to see but was not tempted by anything.  The trip is still young. 

Outside the mall faithful Border Collie waits for his owner to return.  I watched as they walked up. The gentleman looped the leash a couple of times and left a tug toy with the dog.  He returned shortly and they continued their walk.

Riding the bus back I got to go past the Palace again and managed to catch the tops of the gate.  The Lion of England on the left and the Unicorn of Scotland on the right.   Something about both Scottish humor and pride and the Unicorn being one of the few predators of a lion.

There are many old buildings in this city and others that just got built to fit in.

Balmoral Hotel

The Princes Garden along Princes Street

The memorial for Sir Walter Scott

And just some of the many creatures that live there.

As I turned the corner back to the hotel after dinner.

The last of the sunset on the castle seen from my window.

Remember the reference to spaces found more likely in small RVs?  The shower is about the size of the one in my rig.  Did I mention that the price was very nice for "location, location, location."   I had read through the reviews and what I found is what I expected.  I did spurge, but not much, but only for the view. Many of the rooms don't have windows. You will understand later when you see the tall narrow building that is the Hotel.   If I remember to take a picture of the fire escape plan that would do it, also.

Goodnight Castle. Goodnight Edinburgh.

July's Adventures in NYC

Apologizes to my son who has lived in and then around NYC for a while now but it took me a while to actually go there to the city explore.  Trips to the wilderness. Check!  Trips to large cities, not so often.  My daughter kindly took pity on me and agreed to be my tour guide.  It meant doubling the number of museums I got to see but so worth the trip and I got to watch my daughter try to stay supportive of my city hiking skills.  Sadly, I will probably not be around when she is almost 70 to compare notes on how she is doing but maybe she will think back with a fresh perspective.  It does do my heart good to think that she has such high faith in my abilities though. 

And yes, maybe I could have taken more pictures, but I confess that after that first afternoon of lugging the big camera around I opted for reducing carrying weight. Then, I opted for not even getting the phone out very often but just feeding my future memories with my eyes and ears.

I found "hiking" the canyons of the city as tricky as clamoring up and down forested trails of rocks and gnarly tree roots.  Besides keeping up with swift footed, nimble daughter, which I can usually do on flat land, there was the constant, "must watch where your feet are landing" issue, dodging foot traffic, and frequent changes in the consistency of the pavement.  For someone who was trying to take in the sights, that walking stuff was just distracting.

Kate took me on a walk that was expected to end with a climb of the "Vessel"  Unfortunately it started raining just as we arrived so we didn't get to climb.  But the "Vessel" could still be appreciated for its artistic architecture and marketing, as in build it and the tourist will come to visit and maybe stay and shop and eat.

But if you can't climb one tourist attraction you apparently can head over to the NYC public library and make up any missed steps. I appreciated meeting the famous lions out front and the grandness on the interior.   But, yes, the Morgan Library later visited on Saturday afternoon was the best!

Again, may I mention that there were numerous fascinating Museums visited, some planned and some just because they were on the way between here and there.  

 "Don't mess with my ride."

The word "iconic" kept circling through my brain frequently all weekend in response to sights and sounds and experiences but not wanting to seem like a complete rube I keep most of those comments to myself.  The city is all that myth, and story and history make it out to be.  On the other hand it is a large international city in similar ways as are other large diverse cities.

Apparently getting married in the Park on a Friday afternoon is a thing.

Listening to the tour guide on the boat speak about the history and story of Ellis Island and the Lady is enough to make your heart ache at this particular time in history and politics. 

From the roof of the Met. 


Kate, my tour guide from Charlotte, NC, is on the left. Sarah and my son, Ben,  and their family came into the city on Saturday and met us at the playground in Central Park and visited for a while. It also involved pizza.

And Grant gives his Aunt Kate the stick eye for what only an 18 month old might think.

So, I didn't take many pictures but after a couple of days what did fascinate me among all the new and shiny glamour of the city was the old but effective technology of keeping up the water pressure with wooden water tanks perched above the buildings.  They were everywhere.   How large cities support everyday needs of millions has always peaked my interest and imagination.  All that plumbing, wiring and infrastructure in the layered tunnels under a city.

Speaking of tunnels under the city, I also learned to ride the NYC subway. Makes all those references to the NYC subway come alive.  And thought I had already contemplated what shutting down the subway would mean to a busy working city, I got a very small sample of the situation later on Saturday evening.   And what subway trip would be complete with out viewing the wildlife: a subway rat or two making their honest way around the tracks, the puking man and the pissing one.    Didn't I tell you I had the best tour guide!  She didn't want me to miss a thing, for sure.

Saturday night Kate and I met up with my step-sister, Libby, and a old friend, Roger, from high school.  Both have a long tenure living in the city.   Beside having a wonderful dinner that caused us to linger at the table until past closing, the final event of the night was watching two experienced New Yorkers confer on the best way to get home since it was the night of the electrical black out in Mid-town, the subway was not running in our neck of the "canyons" and the taxis were all full as they zoomed past us.  As was pointed out, the down side of Uber and Lyft is that they rapidly raise their prices to take in the market demand.   Kate and I learned a new skill. With directions of those that knew the routes, Roger and Libby,  we traveled on the Metro and made it back to our lodgings.   

So, yes I finally made it to the Apple. No, I didn't take many pictures. Yes, I would like to see a Broadway show or two next time.   But as those of us that travel know, you can't see everything, so enjoy what you get to see and plan a trip back if you are interested in seeing more.  

These guys said I was missed.....

Of Spiderwebs, Driftwood Creatures and Campgrounds

Heading home.   Not happy with this cold freeze that is coming through but if I can drive out of Ohio during unfavorable weather I ought to be able to drive back.   It just isn't as much fun.

Spiderwebs are what I woke up to the last morning in Potters Creek COE Campground in Texas.

And there was driftwood, too!

This is what a great bone yard of magical creatures looks like

This creature came home with me..... 

If you watch closely she may wink at you..... 

This is what a Senior Discount and $18. will get you in an AR State Park.  If you were tent camping on the pad up by the table in warmer weather, you could go to bed listening to the creek that runs behind this part of the loop.

And if you brought your horses and stayed in the other loop, here are some fine box stalls under cover to keep them safe.

 There are more pictures but I think you have probably seen enough.   Tomorrow Lark and Audrey and I take the last leg of the drive back to still frozen Ohio.  But the sun is predicted to shine.  We take what we can get. And if we are really fortunate by my calculations the propane should last through the night.  And those two jugs of pink antifreeze that I have been hauling around since I left Ohio in December just got dumped into the holding tanks to help keep them from freezing....