Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Edinburgh was a bit of a blur. Perhaps that is my fault for not writing sooner, but I got caught up in the day to day and didn't want to bust out the laptop to write on the plane when we departed the UK. In a change of pace from my previous posts, this one may be more linear and descriptive when compared to the flowing prose of a literary savant that you're likely already familiar with from my previous works. Please enjoy.

• Train from Berwick, around 12pm.
• Walk to hotel on Queen St.
• Alanna is sick. Head cold.
• Take a nap.
• Wake up. Buy Alanna a burger from Five Guys.
• Go out alone looking for food.
• Get rejected because of my shoes. (I was even wearing closed-toed!)
• Walk in a giant circle.
• Land it Italian spot next to the hotel.
• Eat chicken with a tomato cream sauce.
• Go for a walk for 45~ minutes.
• Sleep.
• Awaken.
• Need to wash clothes.
• Venture out with a suitcase full of Alanna's clothes.
• Walk through the rain to the laundromat.
• Pit stop to buy yarn.
• Continue.
• Drop off clothes.
• Eat lunch at a nearby pub. I had the Peri Peri chicken sandwich.
• Cross the street to a nearby coffee shop for WiFi.
• Drink tea and coffee and eat carrot cake.
• Leave.
• Pick up clothes from laundromat.
• Walk back to hotel.
• Watch TV/nap.
• Walk to pickup dinner. KFC. They only have three sides. Fries, gravy and rice.
• Eat at hotel.
• Sleep.
• Awaken.
• It's late. Time for lunch.
• Pulled pork sandwiches. Mine had haggis. I liked it.
• Walk towards castle for 2pm tour.
• Climb giant cobblestone hill.
• Catch breath.
• Curse at the nobles for their heightened (heh) need for security.
• Walk to castle.
• Talk to ticket vendor because of delivery issue.
• Transaction never finalized. Today sold out.
• Leave.
• Walk through old town.
• Tour St. Giles Church.
• Pass street magician with a large crowd.
• Walk down into the other southern half of the city.
• Tour National Museum of Scotland.
• Eat Indian food at nice restaurant.
• Walk back to hotel.
• Eat snacks. Netflix.
• Sleep.
• Awaken.
• Let's try the castle again.
• Walk towards castle.
• Climb huge stairs instead of walking up the steep road again.
• Pain.
• Tour the castle.
• Buy souvenirs.
• Light mist begins to fall.
• Walk to the south side of the city again.
• Eat burgers and drink bubble tea.
• Walk back to hotel, around the west side of castle.
• Nap.
• Dinner time.
• Walk down the block.
• New Town Fox. Carrot hummus appetizer. Braised beef with potatoes and tiny glazed carrots.
• Walk back to hotel.
• Pack to leave in the morning. Budget flight so all bags must be checked.
• Sleep.
• Awaken.
• Walk to tram stop.
• Ride the tram to the Edinburgh airport. 30 minutes.
• Get really confused trying to find where to check-in for our flight.
• Find line full of tall white people speaking a strange language.
• Alanna isn't convinced.
• Stand in line.
• Confirm we are in the right line.
• Stand in line.
• Alanna has to pee.
• Stand in line.
• The people in front of us have to pee.
• Stand in line.
• Some passengers have trouble with their tickets.
• Stand in line.
• Slowly move forward.
• Stand in line.
• Finally, we approach the ticket counter.
• Passports scanned. Tickets retrieved. Bags weighed and checked. I think Alanna's was over but the guy at the terminal shrugged it off and printed the tag.
• Head upstairs to security.
• Unpack bag of electronic devices.
• Go through metal detector.
• Forgot my beanie. Security squeezed my hat.
• Bag and computers quarantined.
• Wait for a dozen people to get their bags checked before me.
• Security rifles through my bag. Throws away my soap.
• Repack the disaster.
• Walk to gate.
• Alanna got a sandwich.
• Now boarding.
• Walk down and around onto the tarmac.
• No jet bridge. Stairs.
• Board plane. Free water!
• Masks off. Norwegians are universally DONE with covid. We have boosters.
• Leave gate.
• Takeoff.
• Free beer!
• 90 minute flight.
• See fjords.
• Land.
• Train to Oslo city center.
• Walk to hotel.
• Fin.