Edinburgh: Sabbatical day one and two

 July 29 and July 30, Day one and two: How to use up the day until my flight departs at 4:25pm? My morning, 3 mile walk helped. Going through my packing again to reorganize for the umpteenth time. One very small suitcase and one smallish backpack for two weeks of travel. Finally, it was time to leave for the airport. Dan drove me. It was hard and sad to say goodbye to the dogs and cat, but more so to leave Dan behind. I am so happy he will join me for part of this trip, four days in Paris.

Despite all of the news reports about long lines and difficulties at security and travel, I swept through TSA pre check in about ten minutes, a complete breeze. I used up the 2.5 hours of waiting for the plane by listening to my audiobook and knitting.

Although I have flown to Mexico, I’ve never flown overseas, so I was fascinated by the plane and accommodations, even for me in regular economy coach. Headphones and an eye mask, dinner and wine, lots of movie choices, all included in the ticket. My seat was relatively comfortable enough. I managed to fall asleep early and slept for about 4 hours of the 6.5 hour flight. We landed a little early in Amsterdam. It took me a minute to orient myself to Schipol Airport, but then found my way to the terminal and my flight to Glasgow with ease. The 2.5 hour layover went quickly and I boarded a KLM flight to Scotland. On the flight I was given a good cup of coffee and delicious handmade sandwich, apparently a Dutch tradition. The flight to Scotland took about 1.5 hours and we landed on time.

The Glasgow airport was not very crowded and I made my way through customs and immigration with ease. In fact it was so easy I was astonished. A pleasant woman at immigrations directed me to the airport bus that would take me to the train station. On the bus a nice man directed a group of us to the train station. 

The train station was efficient, although it took me a minute to orient myself and find the self-serve ticket kiosks. I am grateful for all my years living in Chicago and the customs of big cities designed to accommodate many people in transit. The ticket kiosk was a bit confusing and on my first attempt to purchase a ticket I put my credit card in the wrong slot and it ate it up and denied the purchase. For a moment I thought I was in big trouble and turned to see if there was anyone to help. There was not. But then the machine spit out my card and I made a second attempt and bought the ticket. Granted, I paid for a same day return ticket, twice what I needed to pay, but it was cheap as it was and I was just glad to have the ticket. 

The train station has many tracks with trains headed all over Scotland. My imagination ran wild as I considered all the other places I could go, if I wanted to explore other areas. Oban? Maybe. I have an extra day to consider some kind of exploration if I want too. I had a thirty minute wait for the express train to Edinburgh. The train came promptly, just a few minutes before it was due to leave. People boarded and off it went, right on time. The ride to Edinburgh was quick, the train packed with people from all over the world. 

The Edinburgh train station is massive, but the signage is excellent. I had done my homework and knew what street I needed to get to in order to find my way to the hotel. I navigated this easily, despite the crowds of people. So many people. Eleven years of living in Dearborn, I am not used to crowds of people. I had about fifteen minute walk to the hotel, luckily my luggage was small and light and I made my way there easily. The hotel is on the north east side of Edinburgh, about ten minutes from the Royal Mile and close to Holyrood grounds. 

I checked in to my hotel, but had about a thirty minute wait because I was super early, much earlier than I anticipated because all of my travel had gone smoothly with no delay. I had a cup of tea and a protein bar I had brought with me. Before long I was in my room. I had been up and traveling for about 15 hours. A direct flight from Detroit to Edinburgh or even Glasgow would have cut this time in half, almost. 

Once in my room, small but comfortable with a narrow view of the rolling hills and water to the east, I unpacked a bit and took a long hot shower. The shower was small and shower head was in an awkward position which I found difficult to shift. As a result I unintentionally flooded the bathroom floor. Apparently this is a known problem, but I only saw the small note on the shower door after the fact. I cleaned up the water, figured out how to shift the shower head, and got myself ready to go exploring. 

I left the hotel about 2:15 local time. I walked west and south to Princes Street, and then headed west. The sidewalks were filled with people. About twenty minutes later I had found my way to the castle and then to St. John’s Episcopal Church. My goal for this day was to find Edinburgh Cashmere and purchase a cashmere cape. My search for Edinburgh Cashmere proved to be elusive, at least it was while trying to locate it with google maps on my phone.  I walked for about two hours, apparently going in circles because I ended back at the castle, instead of the hotel. But along the way I wandered down some street near or along the Royal Mile or Grassmarket, its hard to say since I went round and round, but suddenly I was on the street with all of the cashmere stores and there I found the store I wanted. I had visited it online and knew exactly what I wanted. I purchased a gorgeous purple, green, white, and grey plaid cape and a pin to hold the wrap in place. 

My ancestors, the family members who lived in Galston, were weavers. All of my family for a good long while were weavers or lace makers. So this cape is a tribute to my family. It’s not the plaid of Ayershire, but it’s beautiful and will be well used in the fall and spring in Michigan. 

By this time, realizing that I was wandering in circles, I decided to stop trying to follow google maps and just look for Princes Street or Leigh Street, either of which would get me back to the hotel. A long walk later I was back at the hotel, 17,400 steps. There I dropped off my cape, rested for a bit and decided where to go for dinner. A few doors west of the hotel was a Spanish restaurant, La Sal. There I had green olives, a fabulous salad with goat cheese and walnuts, a goat cheese tapas and a glass of red wine. I returned to the hotel and settled in for the night. I watched an interesting nature show on television about whales and the ocean. Then went to sleep about 7pm and slept until 6am. These two days felt like one very long day, but one full of adventure and fun.