UK 2024 - March 16th - Edinburgh

 Saturday the 16th was my first day of vacation, finally able to join the family enjoying some time off. Today we were headed up to Edinburgh, along with several of my co-workers and their families. We all had one last train ride together before we split off to do our own things.

Edinburgh Castle

Our bags waiting to be put in a holding cell.

The train ride up was uneventful. We weren't able to check in to our apartment until later so we had to check out bags into a Bounce. It was located in a sketchy little convenience store. After that we headed over to the castle.

The view from the Royal Mile.

We had a beautiful day. No rain until later and nice temperatures. There were a lot of people out and about.

Looking back towards the royal mile from the walls.

The view as you charge across the killing ground in front of the castle.

Looking out at the Firth of Forth.

Part of the purpose of a castle was to hold the city against the city if it rebelled.

After the castle we walked down the Royal Mile, got some lunch and did a little bit of shopping. Rhys found a couple of gifts for a certain girl he is interested in.

This is the view from the edge of the cleared area in front of the castle.

St. Giles Cathedral in Parliament Square.

Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry

He was a politician who was so popular that his statue was paid for by public subscription. It's hard to imagine in these days.

After this we went back to the Bounce location and picked up our bags. As we walked over to the apartment, which is where things fell apart. It started to rain and we couldn't get in. There was no one there to check us in. The emergency number had blocked international calls.

Hannah, Rhys and I stood in the rain for an hour while Tracy stood in the entry way and tried to get Hotels.com to sort it out. They failed. In the end we gave up on both the apartment and Hotels.useless and went and got two (very expensive) rooms at a hotel by the train station. 

The good news is that our rain gear worked and, with the exception of Tracy, everyone stayed in pretty good spirits.

We checked into the hotel Indigo which is a charming old building with updated rooms. They had a bar so Tracy and I were able to get something to drink and room service worked just fine.

Saturday was also the day that Owyn left for Spain with his school group.