Brilliant Blue Skies Over Edinburgh

Our special weekend was drawing to a close, and we bid fond farewell to Amy, who boarded the Airlink bus to the Edinburgh Airport for her flight home.  The transition was super easy from the Scotland side of things.  Can't say as much for the American side, but I'll address that later.

On this end, the weather on our last morning in Scotland couldn't have been more beautiful!

We enjoyed our last breakfast at the B&B, checked out and rolled our luggage to the bus station to store it in a locker for a bit so we could walk around unheeded.  Brilliant idea on Marty's part because you can bet your life that I wasn't carrying a suitcase up the many staircases required to get to the top of Calton Hill!  I barely had enough stamina to make the climb without them!  Whew!

But, once at the top, you can see that it certainly was worth the effort.

Poor Suzie wasn't wearying sunglasses and her Uncle Marty was intent on getting this angle for a photo.  So, no worries.....she isn't crying!

From here we headed back down the hill to St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral for Mass.

By the time that was finished, it was time to retrieve our luggage and head to the train station for the LNER back to London.

It started out cozy and comfy, with stunning scenery along the northern part of the route.  But by the time we were 3 stops in, it began to feel like we were a can of sardines as more and more people boarded the train for London.  The same trip that had seemed a breeze going North was quite tiresome going back.  (or perhaps we were just missing the friendliness of those Scots already.) 

I can honestly say that I was very happy when we reached London, even though we did have to say our good-byes to Suzie.  We had such a delightful visit, and she was grateful that we had made the effort to come to London to take her to Scotland.

From here we rolled our luggage to the Picadilly line and began the harrowing task of boarding a crowded subway cabin towards our destination.  Let me just say that the entire experience was not exactly pleasant, although things calmed down when we alighted to transfer to a different train that took us to the Kew Gardens Stop.

Our B&B is in a Pub here very near the train stop.  Since it was Mother's Day here in England, I had the foresight to book a table for 8:00 pm.  As it was, we rolled through the door without a second to spare.

The proprietor here was super friendly, upgraded our room, carried up my luggage the 4 flights of stairs, and set us up with a  lovely meal in the restaurant.

The room has been quite and comfy and certainly the calmness that we needed after the crazy trip from Kings Cross Station!  I've decided that we are taking a cab to the airport.  It takes 5 minutes compared to 50 and two train transfers into the airport.  Here's hope that getting out of here goes easier than Amy's experience at JFK.

In the meantime, I'm boycotting Delta and suggesting that if you are  thinking of flying into JFK from Edinburgh, and have a transfer time of less than 4 hours, you might want to rethink that decision.   The customs line is apparently a real holdup and, honestly, Delta shouldn't have even offered the flight combination with less transfer time.  However, they claim this isn't their problem.   Just keep that in mind when booking. 

Our flight is direct, and hopefully, with limited stress on both ends!  I'll keep you posted.

Playing Catch Up

Well...we arrived safely in Newark, just over a week ago, to hot humid weather.  What's with that? And the mugginess had the nerve to linger for the entire week, which, to be quite frank, was a bit of an adjustment upon our return.

But I'm happy to say that the weekend welcomed true Fall temperatures, and today....well, today, with the chilly wind and the drizzly rain, I'd say it looks pretty much like Scotland!   I should actually make a disclaimer here:  we actually didn't see much rain on this past trip....just one day when we decided to walk out to see a lighthouse, and that day the wind was whipping up a storm along with the rain.  But other than that, there were cloudy days, but plenty of bright sunshine and blue skies to add to our adventure.  And very welcomed cool temperatures which makes gallivanting so much nicer.

My last post was late, in a cramped hotel room near the airport, (more about that later), and I just didn't have the energy or enthusiasm to finish the details of our last day in Scotland.

But now I do, and, hopefully, I'll recall most of the details that helped to make the day special.

We had begun the day at Dumfries house, which, as I had mentioned, was a Palladian Mansion that was rescued by Prince Charles in 2007.  The house was designed by the famous Adams brothers, and built in the Rococo style by the Earl, William Crichton-Dalrymple.   He had picked the furniture from Scottish carpenters Peter, Brodie and Mathie, as well as some of the finest pieces from Chippendale's workshop in London.  The authenticity of the items could be established from the original receipts which were maintained among the accounts of the house.  So, there was no doubt that the house was a real treasure worth preserving.

 The preservation was such a success, that profits have been used to upgrade the local town hall and swimming pool, as well as to offer courses in hospitality to students who might desire to make a future in that field.   And what is really appealing here, is that the grounds are free to anyone who would like to just come and have a look around.

The estate covers 2000 acres of land, has over 650 sheep complete with a shepherdess who tends them with her 3 dogs

as well a complete list of farm animals that one would expect on an estate.   One could well spend the day just walking around and enjoying the beauty of the surrounds.

There are several gardens worth seeking out,  but the one of most interest is a 5 acre walled garden, that had previously been used as a dumping ground on the estate.    What a magnificent transformation!

What I found particularly clever was how the gardener has used everyday foods to create a decorative border.

Different types of lettuces were planted to give the garden a custom, layered look. 

I think I'd like to try that next year at home!  Although I do think it would lose some of the visual appeal when the lettuce is picked. 

As it was late September, the majority of the blooms had disappeared, but there were still enough to add ambiance to the environment. 

 The gardens not only included varieties of wild flowers

poppies

 and roses (most having lost their blooms), but there was also a 1 1/2 acre educational garden that included all sorts of vegetables

and even a pumpkin patch.

Many of the vegetables were available for purchase at the garden gate if one chose to bring some home, but, believe me, it was quite some distance to be lugging a pumpkin to the car.  Better come with a sturdy bag in hand!

The Queen was present to open these magnificent gardens in 2014, and an engraved tribute is a reminder to all who visit. 

It lies at the foot of this sculpture, just outside one of the central greenhouses. 

I think one of the best features of this garden is the thought that was put into allowing one to rest and enjoy the beauty. 

There were many such benches situated within the grounds.

I can only imagine how glorious this garden must look during the summer months. But let's face it, it surely looked quite magical during our visit, and that brilliant blue sky couldn't help but add to the experience. 

As I had mentioned in my last blog, we had a most enthusiastic tour guide named Roger who thoroughly entertained us as he directed us through the many rooms.   The tour was an hour and a half long, but certainly didn't seem nearly that long!    We were actually fortunate that I had decided to book the tour the day prior, as all seats were filled when we arrived, and the afternoon tour was not available due to a Saturday wedding that was scheduled to take place in one of the rooms that we had toured.

As we were leaving, we spied some of the wedding guests arriving, all dressed in their finery, which included lovely hats.  And, what a spectacular day for a wedding!  

But, for us, it was time to make the trip across the country as we were scheduled to fly out of Edinburgh airport in the morning.  The drive was quite lovely, with the bright blue skies and sheep everywhere along the way.  The road takes you through several villages, but most of the drive really is country viewing and on a Saturday afternoon, it was really quite relaxing with no surprises.  How's that for lucky?

Our last planned sight for the trip was Malleny Gardens, which was located relatively close to our hotel.  It was a little tricky finding the parking lot, but once there, the entrance was easy to find.

The garden is run by the National Trust, but there is no fee required for entry.

Next to the parking lot stands the original Malleny Mansion, built in 1637 by Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton.  It is not available for touring, and I do believe that it is privately rented.

Upon walking through a gate, one is surprisingly treated to landscaping that has existed as such for the last one hundred years.   Among the hedges stand two yew trees that are believed to have been planted in the 17th century.  They were among 8 originals planted, but in 1961, the owners cut down six of them.  This garden is lucky to have two still standing from that time period! 

There was an interesting tree unlike any that I've seen, standing next to a glass house.  I'm not sure, but I think it might be a Persimmon tree.

You can't tell by the photo, but the fruit is much larger than a crab apple, but significantly smaller than an apple.   And the tree was bursting with fruit!

In the glasshouse, there were grape vines, loaded with grapes, hanging from the ceiling.  Ripe and for the picking.  Only the door was locked so we couldn't get a closer look.

Here are the two Yew trees that I mentioned. They are trimmed every year by a hydraulic lift to reach the top.

In the back of the property stands another walled garden.  This one is actually filled with about 150 different varieties of roses, but sadly, the blooms were all spent.  I'd imagine that this is quite spectacular in the summer months.

There is supposedly a dovecot on the grounds as well, but by this time, we were ready to make our way to our hotel and get settled in.  In retrospect....it probably would have been better to stay out later!

Although we were only a few miles away, the trip to the hotel was actually extremely stressful.  We had decided to fill the rental car with petrol, since there was a station near the hotel, but we couldn't figure out how to get into the station.  It  kind of reminded me of that Chevy Chase movie where he is driving around the round-a-bout, over and over, trying to figure out how to exit.

There were motorists rushing by, and there was also a large Morrison's store in that area, which seems to be where all of the locals go on a Saturday for their family needs.   Kind of what I would liken to a Super Wal-Mart here in the United States, which, by the way, I tend to stay clear of.  

So, after driving through the parking lot looking for an entrance, we were back out in the 3 lane round about, and, this time, I spotted the entrance to the petrol station.  Upon exiting, we were back in that crazy roundabout, but managed to get the right exit for our hotel.  

Now, let me clarify something here.  Marty has driven through countless round-abouts in various sizes and traffic conditions. But this particular one was really hectic, with shoppers obviously anxious to get on their way, zipping by at much higher speeds than was posted....just saying.

But, we made it to the parking lot with a sigh of relief, and headed to the Ibis hotel which is only about 2 miles from the airport.  I had picked this strictly for the convenience to the airport.  It was a brand new hotel, looked like lovely rooms on the website, wasn't expensive, seemed handy to the train station, so why not give it a try?

About the one redeeming feature was that there was an elevator to take us to the 3rd floor room.

Once we opened the door, Marty couldn't stop laughing.  We had just come from an awesome B&B with all of the bells and whistles (which, by the way, had only been $8.00 more a night and included breakfast, unlike this one. Oh, and let me just say a FABulous breakfast!)  The room held a double bed with a perpendicular bunk overhead.  There was just about enough room for me to walk along the wall with my suitcase to get to the other side of the bed.

Opposite my side, one could hop out of bed and brush one's teeth, because a tiny sink was right there, along with the shower next to it.  The toilet was in its own closet near the front door.  Thank goodness for small favors!

We were each given one measly excuse for a towel and one tiny bar of soap.  Honestly, if this were my first impression as a tourist from America,  I would have been quite worried about what was in store for the rest of the trip!

Obviously, this wasn't exactly the last-night-in-Scotland experience that I had been expecting.  And, I surely did NOT want to have to go out in a car and face that ridiculous round-a-bout again.  But, as I had noted when I booked, we were within reasonable distance of the train station.  So, we walked out to the highway which, luckily, had two sets of crossing lights or else we would never have dared even try to cross. On the other side there was a relatively new tram system that we took to the train station, where we then transferred to a train to Dalmeny and made the walk down to the pier in South Queensferry where we enjoyed a delightful dinner, and as I noted previously, an awesome view of the Bridge over the Firth of Forth.

We then began the near mile trek back up the hill to the train station to repeat everything in reverse.

And that, in combination with cramped quarters, is an adequate explanation as to why I could not complete this blog on our final day.

So, there you have it....the not so perfect ending to a fabulous trip.   But no worries, the ending will soon be a distant memory. 

And right now, thinking back on this adventure, 60 really isn't so bad.    I might still have a few years of gallivanting ahead of me....who knows?

Guess you'll just have to wait and see.    Thanks for following along!

Anxiety Conquered......well....maybe.

I forgot to mention yesterday about my pleasant experience at the train station.  Howard, the B&B proprietor, had mentioned that the Aberdour Train Station manager, Trevor Francis, was a bit of a celebrity, having been a recipient of the 2012 Queen's Honors.  He was honored for his unpaid service keeping up the lovely gardens in his off-time, but he surely deserves the award for much more than that.  Let me explain why.

When I arrived yesterday, Trevor was busy helping a young man arrange a journey, going over every detail.  I was getting a bit nervous, as the scheduled time for my departure was coming up fast, but Trevor was pleasantly conversing with this patron as if he had all the time in the world.

When I got to the counter, I was surprised to see a man who immediately reminded me of the character who plays Santa Claus in the old version of "Miracle on 34th Street" with Maureen O'Hara.

He was extremely polite and warned me about the train schedule (not all trains stop at Aberdour), and when he handed me my ticket, he said, "I hope that you have a great trip, Barbara."  I have never had a train attendant notice my name when I've used the credit card in the past.  I couldn't help but smile at that.

So, today, I was in a quandary as to what to see, and when I mentioned the Museum of Flight as being of interest, Howard and his wife set about helping me plan my trip.

I had forgotten to mention that when we first showed up here and Howard greeted us at the door, he was very disappointed to hear that I had already seen most of the area on my own.  "Part of the fun of this business", he sadly said, "is to help plan out day trips for our patrons."  So, when he saw that I wasn't quite sure what to do today, Howard was more than willing to give me advice.

I set off for the train station, and was once again greeted by Trevor who surprised me with his "Hello, Barbara".  He obviously remembered my name, since I was not wearing a name tag, and had not yet even told him of my plans.

I gave him my destination, and he helped me find the best route.  He even printed up the schedule of train departures for me, AND gave me a really cool plastic sleeve to put my tickets in.

How nifty is that?  I generally purchase the off peak return trip ticket, so I am handed 3 cards of the same size and color:  one for out one for return, and the last one is a receipt.  I am always concerned that I'll lose the return ticket, so this bifold with the plastic shield was a pleasant surprise!

Once again, Trevor wished me a pleasant journey, and I was waiting at Platform 1, when I suddenly heard someone talking to me!  It was Trevor, excitedly telling me about the plane in the museum that was the last plane that he would have worked on, after the war, before being employed by the post office.

As he was talking, I really couldn't help but notice that same similarity to Santa Claus in the movie.  His glasses, nose, height, and even his teeth looked strikingly like the man in the movie.  During our brief conversation, I mentioned how I was a bit nervous about getting on the correct bus from the 2nd train station, and Trevor looked at me and said, "Remember...you are not a tourist....you are a traveler."

Wow!  That was a bit of a confidence builder. I should have remembered that when my anxiety level was creeping up later in the day.

The trip involved taking a train into Edinburgh and transferring to North Berwick.  (that's pronounced Bare - ik,  with a bit of a roll to the "r").  From there, I was to take a bus to the museum.

I headed down high street from the station, to the information center.  The woman told me where to pick up the bus.  The schedule was very limited with departure times set out 2 hours apart.  

To complicate matters, trains only leave North Berwick every hour.  So, I had to manage to go through the museum and return in time to catch the next train.  Or, in this case, wait well over an hour to get the train. Needless to say, most of my time was spent "in transit".

I walked through the town while waiting for the bus to the Museum, passing the Auld Hoose.

I just liked the name :-)

And a statue of Ben Sayer which I found equally amusing.  

He is apparently a big name in Golf, but not someone I am familiar with.  

I really can't complain because the "wait" time between transports was spent admiring the beauty of this coastal time.

Finally the Prentice Coach came, and I asked for a return ticket only to be told that I could only purchase a one way.  So, I did that, and asked the man if I would have to ring the buzzer to get off at the right space, and he assured me that he would remember to stop.

Which is a good thing, because I noticed that if no one is standing at the station, the bus just zooms by.  So, one really needs to be aware of where the stops are.   How was I supposed to know that?  My bus anxiety started to creep back in.

When I finally arrived at the museum, I knew that I only had an hour and 10 minutes to try to cram everything in, because the next bus was the only one that would work with the return train schedule.

I was amazed to walk into the first Hangar and see an original Concord standing in the room.

I was equally surprised to see that I could even walk through plane to see the interior:

even the cockpit, which, as you can see had an abundance of controls which I knew absolutely nothing about.

But I'm relatively certain that my friend Ernest does.

Here are a few interesting facts that I learned in relation to the Concord.

The speed of sound varies at different heights and temperatures:  at sea level it is 760 mph, whereas at 20,000 feet it is 660 mph.

A man named Justin Cornell from Portsmouth spent £800 on biscuits as part of a special supermarket promotion so that he could accumulate enough loyalty card points to convert them to Air Miles to book a flight on the Concord.  He apparently consumed so many biscuits that he was concerned that he wouldn't fit in his seat.  Luckily, there was no problem.

The Concord was mainly used by celebrities and businessmen, although the Queen did fly on it a couple of times.

The most amusing story that I read involved Rod Stewart, who apparently paid for his hair dresser to fly from New York on the Concord when he was victim of a poor haircut.   

Do you really think that anyone would have noticed anyway?

When I realized that I had spent half an hour walking through the Concord hangar, I immediately headed out the door and made a B-line for the military hangar, which had been my original reason for going.

Outside the hangar stood an original Vulcan bomber.

This was a British Nuclear Bomber built in 1963.

And there was a Comet built in 1961 for the Royal Air Force:

Inside the hangar were various planes from different eras.

There was a Ferranti Phoenix, built in 1980 in Edinburgh for battlefield reconnaissance.

It was probably the first stages of the present day "Droid".

The Buccaneer was designed to fly under the radar.

It apparently made a horrid squealing sound which was quite annoying to the people who lived in the Highlands near the training flight areas.

Here you see the MiG-15, a Soviet Union fighter jet that suddenly appeared in 1950 during the Korean War.

It was designed to take on the high range U.S. bombers that piston-engine fighters could not reach.

There was also a Nazi rocket fighter

It had been designed to foil the American bombers during World War II, but design flaws prevented it from being successful.

Here were a few surprising facts that I learned in the military hangar:

In 1916, German airships dropped bombs intended to hit Rosyth naval base off the Firth of Forth, but they missed and ended up landing on the city of Edinburgh.

The East Fortune airfield, where the museum is located, was set up as a naval air station to protect the Firth of Forth from German attack during World War I.  The field is located near the mouth of the Firth.

In 1918, the British had the world's first aircraft carrier with a full-length deck located in the firth.  It was called the HMS "Argus".

During World War II, this same airfield was expanded and used for air force flight training.

There was so much to see, but so little time.

I knew that the bus would be arriving soon, so I jaunted across the field for a quick peek at the parachute training hangar.

Here you could try your hand at folding a full size parachute so that it could fit into the necessary bag.

And, just look at that sewing equipment.

Pretty remarkable, isn't it?

There was still much to see, but my time was at an end.  I was just popping my head into the repair hangar

when I spotted the bus barreling down the road in the distance.  I made a dash for the bus stop, because I knew that if I wasn't standing there.....he wasn't stopping.

I made it by a few seconds, purchased my ticket, and took a seat on the bus. 

After a few minutes, I asked the woman sitting next to me if she would let me know when we were near the train station.  She was kind enough to help me out, and she told me when to get up as she pushed the buzzer for the driver to stop.

I thanked her, disembarked from the bus, and headed to the train station.....only to see the train departing.  But, no worries, as I had expected to have to wait another hour anyway according to my original schedule.

So, I walked around town for a bit, and took a seat on the train as soon as it arrived.

It departed on time, and arrived in Edinburgh, when, again, I had expected a 45 minute wait.  I walked down to the usual departure platform, only to find that today, the platform was in a part of the building where I had just gotten off of the train.  So, I headed back up to platform 1, only to find that I had missed an earlier train by a few minutes.  Oh well!

What really counts is that I made it back to my B&B safe and sound.

I would have loved to have had more time to explore the Museum of Flight, but you have to work with what you've got, and enjoy what you can.

And, I'm so glad that I've upgraded from "tourist" to "traveler"!