Edinburgh Day 1

Yes, I am back, actually have been since Tuesday evening and started working on my pictures right away. I don't think it's possible or makes sense to pack it all in one blog post, so I'll divide it up in days.

Thurrrrsday (sorry, a habit I brought home from Scotland, you'll be sure to encounter it a few times :-P). After a long waiting time in Stuttgart and a short flight we reached Heathrow. There we were a little shocked how long security kept us (I can understand it, but it hadn't been like that last year). Coming around the corner, seeing an endless queue of people taking their shoes and belts off, we thought we might not make it to our connect flight. I am just kidding, the queue was really that long, but we had to wait two hours anyway, so why not have a little fun with security personnel? Of course I did get my fun. I walked through the gate and beep, beep, beep - probably it was my LOTR ring I was wearing around my neck. They let me off anyway ;-) After more waiting, a sandwich and buying the first supply of Walker's cookies (I am addicted to their ginger ones) we finally got on the plane to Edinburgh where we arrived in the afternoon.
Keeping the cab lady from continuing with her romance novel we made our way into town and to the hotel, the "Channings" not far from Edinburgh's town center.


The welcome couldn't have been nicer and the room was a lovely surprise as it didn't look like the ones we had seen in the internet. We were on the front floor looking out to the street, but the street was so quiet, so that wasn't a problem at all. Actually we enjoyed not being upstairs because there was only one other room in our corner which meant we didn't have people walking in the hallway all the time. The hotel consists of five Edwardian houses and we were in the corner of the first one.

A four-poster bed helped with the atmosphere. AND the mattress was good. Not something you can take for granted!


I couldn't resist to take a photograph from the inside up into the bed canopy.


Very important after a day of many steps (more of that later), comfortable little chairs to relax in. The tall guy got the chairs in the evenings, I took the bed. Not entirely fair size-wise, but he preferred it that way, so who was I to complain?


The dressing table that we used mostly to load our daily loot on. That doesn't mean we shopped the town empty, we didn't even buy gifts and this time I didn't write postcards, either. But I had to buy me some malt liqueur and - stop, that wasn't on the first day, so it doesn't belong in this post.


After unpacking the most important things, we headed to the city. Well, we thought we did. I told the tall guy we had to go uphill, but no, I am just a woman and women don't know their way around. To be honest, usually I don't. After walking by a small private park we finally landed in Stockbridge where I saw the most charity shops I have ever seen. It was already too late for them, though. The bead shop we walked by was closed as well. Missed it by ten minutes!! Pressing my nose against the shop window I could see they were having some kind of beading course in the backroom. Four women seemed to feel my presence and stared at me. Anyone here who has seen "Adventures in Babysitting"? The scene in which Daryl is blowing on the window? I could hold back. Barely. And I put down a mental note to come back to check out the shop.

The way back was tough. It was uphill now and I was so tired I thought I wouldn't make it. More than once I thought about throwing myself into the street and leaving my dying body to the many seagulls flying around us like little vultures, laughing at our (mostly my) pain. Eventually we made it and called it a day, had something to eat at the hotel restaurant and finally fell into bed to be fit for the next day when we wanted to go Nessie-hunting.