Portal, scan and a pat down...

Home, sweet home

Portal, scan and a pat down: bye bye Edinburgh. Thursday and I was going home (some of the English languages best words). I was so tired the night before that I had a hard time going to sleep.

The Castle of Edinburgh as I left the city

The trip by foot down the hill to the bus stop was much easier than I had anticipated; the wait not long (maybe 5 minutes) and the bus fairly empty, the ride fine. At the airport EasyJet has it down to a science: you weigh your own luggage, scan the boarding card whereupon the machine issues a luggage tag, one then rolls one’s luggage to a portal and a real person checks the boarding card and ID. No receipt issued.

Ah, but security more than made up for that ease: I went through the portal, which promptly rang so in turn I got to go through the body scanner – also rang – and led to a pat down. Was it the bar in my arm? No one seemed much concerned – maybe my nails have lead in them.

Made my way to the departure zone, looked at all the stores – now mainly whisky so didn’t buy anything. Went out the East wing as well and finally settled on a Cappucino with an extra shot of espresso and a “Cheddar Cheese Ploughman with Branston Pickle on Malted Bloomer” (read a cheese sandwich on brown bread). Ate half before they announced a delay of almost an hour in the flight’s departure. Good thing that I was going home!

The time did finally roll around but there was a gate change – went there only to find a UA flight. The board posted “gate change awaiting” and although it also posted “go to the Easy Jet App” that wouldn’t load. Is this fun yet? Again though – I was going home so not much could dim my good spirits.

Scottish thistle - the country's "flower"

What a trip, what great travel companions so I'll leave you with the thought lettered on a pub in Inverness:

*Friendship is like Whiskey, the older the better. Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good Whisky is barely enough.*

The Fringe, Hub and Tattoo…

all rolled into one along with what seems like hundreds of thousands of tourists equals Edinburgh on steriods !

Fringe - the world's largest arts festival!

 Slept the sleep of the righteous – or the dead tire and it was actually my alarm clock that woke me up at 7. Had to go find breakfast as none in my arrangement there – sigh. Had gotten used to the wonderful Scottish breakfasts. Actually if the truth were known I was not very happy to be in a big city. Weird that.

I walked in the correct direction stopping for a cappuccino (good) and a scone (not quite so good if not downright not a scone!).  My travel companions texted that they were on their way so I went on down and walked up the hill towards the castle. 

Castle of Edinburgh with stadium seating for Tattoo

It was only when I logged on to the Tattoo wifi that I found out that I needed it to receive WhatsApp messages. We finally did re-connect with each other around 10h00. I had meanwhile done the souvenir store near the castle. When we connected we went back in and spent too much time there as by the time we went back to the castle (which opened at 9h30 and had basically no lines) the line was way too long. We proceeded to head for the Bobby statue down at Greyfrair’s then into the church grounds and cemetery. 

Greyfrair's Bobby

Most of the churches here charge £2.00 for taking pictures – hmmmmm….. We had gone past the Elephant coffee shop where the first Harry Potter book was written and since G wanted to eat there and none of us had had much breakfast we went at 11h30 before the crowds.

The Elephant House

As the sign says...

Afterwards we continued wandering down the Royal Mile dipping into stores until we arrived at Holyrood – the Queen’s residence in July. It was 15h30 so only time to take in the palace itself and gardens. It didn’t take much imagination to see the Abbey ruins as a whole building nor the “palace” as living quarters. I was actually rather awed to be walking where the Queen lives at least a month of the year! Had a Prosecco and a third of a polenta cupcake with lemon icing. My was that delicious in the castle coffee shop. 

More than one interesting sight on the street

The Royal Mile

The castle - a special camera setting

Holyrood Palace

The Abbey

The world's best cupcake

After having walked all the way back up the Royal Mile and finding the store that I wanted to re-visit inaccessible due to the arrival of the Tattoo participants, we

(or rather I) decided that we should look for a restaurant down on Rose Ave. walking down the hill near the Museum. £55.00 got us two great salads (Caeser for G and a “Rosehip” one for me with greens, artichokes, pine nuts, croutons both black and white, and grilled chicken – scrumptious – and Fish and Chips for M who for the first time was so tired that he didn’t finish it). I treated them and gave G her two cards and a book about Mermaids and other stories from Orkney and both of them a wee Orkney desk calendar. Walked back to the Novotel and got some cheddar (ok 4!) on the way in a Sainsbury.

Knew that I had a voucher at the hotel for having them not make up the room so enjoyed a Prosecco down in the bar before yet again tumbling into the last night of hotel or B&B beds. This travel is hard work!

Back to minor snafus...

and some lucky breaks as well.

And back on the road headed for Edinburgh after a normal breakfast. But first we walked back into town, went to St.Mary’s where I took pix of yet another Via Croci (in ceramic this time). Back to House of Fraser for a wee bit then across the bridge to do a couple of souvenir stores as G was looking for a t-shirt for a grand nephew. 

Flowers at the Park Guest House

One of many stone statues at the Park Guest House

St.Mary's in Inverness, the first catholic church to be built when Catholocism was again allowed

Back to the Guest House to pick up the car and go to the Botanical Gardens (floral hall as the owner of the B&B said) as I didn’t really want to walk it.  

On the road and on the way down – saw a sign for other gardens so took off then couldn’t find them but never mind we came across the battle fields of Culledon (Lord Cumberland (English) against a Bonnie Prince Charles Stuart (backed by the French) – the battle between the Jacobites and those loyal to the English. Inadvertantly went in the back way so didn’t pay the £11.00. 

 

Culloden

Walked around a bit then continued on to the Cawdor castle and grounds. Had lunch first – I took the carrot and coriander soup with a cheddar cheese scone. Since they didn’t allow backpacks in the castle, my pockets were full and I had my sweater and scarf around my neck, my purse and camera slung across my chest, and my jacket tied around my waist (originally misspelled that one "waste" in a probably freudian slip) with the black backpack folded and stuffed in it.  The Cawdor castle was very well laid out – even a dungeon and more tapestries than I have seen in a long time. It belonged and still is inhabited by the Cawdor family.

 

Entry to Cawdor Castle

Motto

Great gift shop but not really enough time as M had told their Guest House that they would be there by 17h00.  

Then of course we ran into traffic slow downs on the A9 due to roadwork so they had to call and let him know that they might be late. Turns out that he is leaving. Now one would think that he would have told them that at some point! Oh well. It may mean my having to negotiate getting to my hotel with my luggage on my own later this evening. Time will tell. Also know that my roaming days run out tonight at midnight and that the new ones won’t start until Aug.10 so no more looking up routes, fares and the like unless I want to spend a small fortune.

Will be glad to be going home as am now tired of rushing.

Sevral hours after planned we finally arrived at their B&B and they negotiated getting the key (their phone bill is going to be awful as they have had to use it several times) around 18h30 then we set off to find my hotel. Had decided to do dinner literally whenever we saw something, but most likely after my hotel as I didn’t think there would be anything on the outskirts where we were. Got lucky and saw a grill on the left side as we were traveling so a left-hand turn further down and we went back.  I had a great burger and they split a Caeser salad and a pizza. Our waitress had an accent so I asked where she came from – Hungary. On to the hotel which we had trouble accessing. G had seen it off the freeway, but the GPS showed weird directions and we overroad them – to our sorrow. on the third try we managed to finally arrive at the hotel where they proceeded to offer me the same conditions, if I would go into town. I looked at her and said "but I can't make my friends drive me into town then back out to there place here on the outskirts" to which the receptionist replied, "no, no, we'll order and pay for a cab". She did a good sale’s job so I took it and arrived at the Novotel in the city around 21h30. Getting more and more tired. Room anonymous and of course not really in the center of town – getting to a tram or the Airlink bus tomorrow is going to be a challenge. 

I could go back to the other one for the last night, but that would mean taking my luggage and storing it for the day so am seriously considering simply taking a cab – regardless the costs. After all I haven’t spent what I brought as after the credit card snafu I charged as much as I could instead of using my cash. 

The bed in any case looked beyond blessed, as by then I was truly tired.

Re-entry into a more modern day…

and return to the Mainland

Day 6 of the Scottish adventure

We had agreed to meet at 8 down in the breakfast room, but I was a few minutes late – enjoying the wifi so much! Mick of Bankburn Guest House is so funny, then two other chaps came in so conversation was lively. I had chosen not to face scrambled eggs again as they had yogurts and oats, etc. but as we were talking she mentioned the local bread specialty of “bannock” made with bere flour (apparently only grown on the island of Orkney – a six-headed stalk instead of barley’s two) and cheeses so that is what I had. Ah ambrosia: mature cheddar and another smoked something and they even hauled out the pickles. 

Breakfast at the Bankburn Guest House, St.Margaret's Hope

A great change before heading back to Kirkwall to explore the museum and cathedral before having to take the ferry at 14h00.

Parked in a public car park near the Visitor’s center and started off. Several lovely souvenir stores that we explored then time was flying so headed for the museum where, yet again, we spent too much time. I finally suggested splitting and meeting in front of the cathedral – at noon. 

The Museum is in the Tankerness House

Good thing, because I discovered the Earl’s and Bishop’s palace. Didn’t have my ticket of course but walked around – Watergate – then the cathedral. 

One of the old towers

 

The St.Magnus Cathedral founded in 1137

The St.Magnus Cathedral was originally part of the Archdiocese of Nidaros (Trondheim) in Norway and when Orkney became part of Scotland in 1468, it was given to the people of Kirkwall by the Scots king, James III. More information http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/stmagnus/magcath.htm

One of many headstones, this one to a virtuous woman who died Nov.2, 1694

The town's original stone cross

Shrine to the 833 men and boys lost on the torpedoed HMS Royal Oak in 1939

Tapestry given by the Hordaland council

In Norway upon the commemoration of the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the church: The King of Norwary presented it to her Majesty the Queen Mother on August 19, 1987.

Coming back down I realized that there were shops to the right so did a quick re-con before rushing to the church to at least see the inside. Wow the dates on the tombstones! Took several pictures then it rang noon and out I went to meet my travel partners.

We then went back down my shopping street, enjoyed lunch at the Pomona Café.  We split again as time was very limited. I only had time to “do” the gourmet Orkney store next door. Prosecco kit, cheese biscuits and a cookie for on the ferry. Ran almost back to the meeting place and still didn’t beat them: too much to see, I must return.

 

green hills and lochs, flows, bays, broughs and the like

leaving Orkney

World War II gun emplacements

The wake created by our ferry much ressembles the sky

Settlements along the way to John O'Groat's

The drive was lovely with yet again beautiful scenery. A half hour out of Inverness G absolutely had to go to the bathroom so we pulled off where they thought this great mall had been… nothing. At the end when we were almost back on the freeway we u-turned and went to a – for want of a better description – your typical freeway stop. Not knowing when or where we would find dinner we had it there - not the world’s greatest meal, but truly the only not-quite-stupendous one of the trip. Then continued on to our Park House Guest Hotel and the same rooms that we had had four days earlier for the night. They were going to stay in so I walked to the river and along. “Did” Fraser’s and didn’t find anything, but felt good for having looked.

The "castle" of Inverness

 Is in fact not a castle at all! This one was built in 1836 upon the site of many former castles who's rich history encompasses Mary Queen of Scott's and the Jacobite uprisings. It was destroyed by Bonnie Prince Charles http://www.britainirelandcastles.com/Scotland/Highland/Inverness-Castle.html

More history and time travel on the Island of Orkney

Day 5 of the Scottish adventures

The bay in the morning light

After yet another wonderful breakfast in the conservatory this time we packed up, paid and got back on the road for another full day of touring. 

Crossed the barrier roads again and stopped to take picture at the second one that somehow we had missed the day before (low tide?). 

sunken ship, one of several

The Churchill Barriers

Then a stop at the Italian Chapel – one built by the Italian Prisoners of war that is the only relic of Camp 60, Italian POW  captured during the North African campaign who were sent to work on the Churchill Barriers. The story is one of cooperation in between the locals and the POW’s and has become one of the most visited places on the island. https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/the-italian-chapel-p253741

The Italian Chapel

Inside: this is plaster on two tin quonset huts

Yet another bay and beautiful hill

Then on to the “stones”:

First visited the Stones of Stenness and the village (Barnhouse Neolithic village) next to it before backtracking to go to the restroom in Stenness – the Maeshowe attraction with shopping – yet again. 
 

part of the stones at the Stenness site

shelter from the wind; shelter from the sun

The Barnstone "village"

Loch of Harray by the Stenness and village ruins

The play of light on water was always beautiful

We then returned to see the Ness of Brodgar  - an ongoing archeological excavation – they have only discovered about 10% and that was followed by the Ring of Brodgar with its’ many stones up on a hillside. Time for lunch we set off towards an address of a restaurant, but G saw the Standing Stones hotel so we made a u-turn and had delicious tuna sandwiches there quickly as we had a 14h00 tour of Maeshowe.

https://www.visitorkney.com/https://www.visitorkney.com/

 

Ness of Brodgar

Surely a more recent "find" - sitting on one of the stones around the back

One of many standing stones throughout the island

For Maeshowe – a burial place – we were bussed out to the site then let in by the guide with explanations.

The Maeshowe burial site - no pictures allowed inside.

Took about an hour after which we were no longer in the mood for old stones or old anything. Returned to Kirkwall and headed for the Tesco where G and I went shopping whilst M had a nap in the car. When we went back to the car from our shopping he was sound asleep so we walked into the center of town and did a lovely souvenir store. Wanted to do the cathedral but saw a small museum and since it was closing time decided to return in the morning.

The St. Magnus cathedral founded in 1137

Tower near "Watergate"

 Back to our new quarters – the Bankburn Guest House ( http://www.bankburnhouse.co.uk/ )– no one apparently around so we simply walked in and put our stuff in our room, had the bottle of beer that G had bought with the Mermaid label and some of the cheese crackers that I had bought for cocktails then went back out in search of dinner. Mick’s wife recommended the Murray Arms restaurant in St.Margaret’s Hope so that’s what we did. Without reservations we had to eat in the pub – never mind. Had 5 starters and two desserts between us. I had the scallop soup and the fried cheese. Scrumptious. Back “home” I discovered that we really truly have wifi!

Part of St. Margaret's Hope

 Made the sunset as seen from the huge (albeit communal) bathroom even more splendid.