Market St Hotel - Edinburgh

 

Deb wants to get “the lay of the land.” Who are these Scottish people, where did they come from, what are they like… so we decide to do a walking tour of Edinburgh Castle.  There was a little sign in a store front that said “You get all four seasons every day. Welcome to Scotland.”  What we learned today is always bring your raincoat and a warm jacket, always!  

The tour was great.  The oldest parts of Edinburgh Castle are 900 years old, the newest parts are 90 years old.  We found out that all the stupid parts of the castle (like a fake moat) were all done by the English in the 1800’s.  We learned that the Romans thought Scotland was uninhabitable.  The Scots were always the underdogs and ya gotta love them for it.

For lunch we had halloumi sandwiches.  Neither of us knew about halloumi.  It’s a cheese that comes from Cyprus.  It has a high melting point, so you can grill it. It’s more popular in the UK than in the US, but we may look for it when we get home.

We had our afternoon cocktail at the hotel.  They have a nice bar on the top floor.  We played a couple of games of dominos (I won both!) before heading out for a more traditional dinner of Scotch Pie.

Tomorrow we leave for Fife, but we’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

Market St Hotel - Edinburgh

 We have been planning this trip for over a year. I saw the Edinburgh Tattoo when I was 13 and really

Spice bag with curry sauce

wanted to see it again.  We thought that hiking from inn to inn, with someone schlepping our luggage sounded like fun, and Deb thought that going to some place that spoke English would be nice for a change. (Not sure that she thought that one through!).  We have been buying necessities for the trip as Christmas presents and Mother’s Day gifts.  But it wasn’t until the day before the trip that we realized that we did not have a UK adapter to charge our electronics.  Oh the wonders of Amazon’s next day delivery!

Our flight was delayed by nearly two hours, so we got to sit at the bar and watch the American Cornhole Championship (you can’t make some of this stuff up!)  We finally got out of Boston a little after midnight for an uneventful flight to Edinburgh. Found the right bus, and got to the hotel.

We knew our first day would be a little rough, with no real sleep.  It was a SEW day (sleep, eat, walk…repeat) until we couldn’t do it anymore (around 6:00 PM) and went back to the room for the night.  We did manage to walk down the “Royal Mile”. I asked Deb what her first impressions of Scotland were.  I wasn’t sure what she said, was it “old” or “cold.”  She said, “yes!”

Bireme Trip Summary

 

We have returned home safely.  All in all, it was a great trip.  It was a little disappointing to have to take a bus for the first leg of the trip, but it was an express bus that skipped several stops (there was another bus that made all the stops the train would have made) so it was a short bus ride.

We stopped in Chicago and Albuquerque to take little breathers on the way, but it turned out to be a really good idea because the trains are always late, so spending the day insured that we wouldn’t miss the next train.  It turns out the Albuquerque is a crew change location, the train stops there for over half an hour making it so it’s not a mad rush to get on the train like it is at other locations.  For our bags, we each packed a backpack bag with a day’s worth of clothes for the train and had a rolling duffel bag with the rest of our stuff.  On the train to Chicago, there was room for the duffel over the door of our roomette, but west of Chicago, we had to leave the bag in storage area next exit door of the train.  The duffel was not readily accessible on either train.

Travelling in coach would be unbearable, but the roomettes are expensive.  The roomettes include access to the Amtrak lounges and all meals on board, but still, it’s a hefty price to pay compared to a quick cross country flight.

Chicago was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  Even though it was cold and rainy, we enjoyed it, and would be back.  Albuquerque, at least old town, was probably a one and done kind of place.  We had planned the trip to see wild flowers but there has been a major drought, so that was a little disappointing.

We may do a Trans Canada trip in the future.  It will be interesting to compare.

Grand Hyatt Hotel - SFO

 

Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”

Got up to a misty rain in Salinas,  checked out, had breakfast, went out for lunch, caught the shuttle in Prunedale,  looped San Jose Airport a few times for no apparent reason and headed for SFO.  Climbed three flights of stairs, took the AirTrain, two stops to the Hotel, and checked in.  Strangely, the receptionist remembered me from our stay at Thanksgiving because of my somewhat infamous name.

Tomorrow we fly back, hopefully as uneventful as the trip from Salinas to SFO.

Airbnb (Downtown Urban Industrial Studio) - Salinas, CA

 

Slept in a real bed, Ahh!  A quick walk to the Farmer’s Market.  Our son wanted “Pain au Chocolate” and Deb was all in for that.  Not a chocolate lover (especially at breakfast), I went for the Rhubarb/Strawberry Tart.  

The whole trip evolved around delivering a ship model. I had made a shipping container for it that probably would not make it past TSA, so it was hand carried by Deb’s Delivery Service the full 3,000 miles.  We had the big reveal yesterday, and it made it unscathed.  Wahoo!  

In the afternoon, we went to Carmel Valley,  which is a tiny town with about 30 wineries with tasting rooms, interspersed with a dozen restaurants, art shops and, of course, an Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar store.  Sampling olive oil in a little cup is interesting and somewhat off putting.  Sampling the balsamic vinegar was more straightforward.  We are having some shipped home.

After two wine tastings, and purchasing a red and a white wine for our next visit (see how we plan ahead!), we returned to Salinas for an Italian dinner.  The restaurant that we have been to was closed, so we went to Patria (just down the street).  Best Italian food we have eaten in years.

Tomorrow, we start our trip home.  We’ll spend the night at the SFO Hyatt before flying out.  

Airbnb - Salinas

 

We woke up early, because, since the train was arriving in Los Angeles at 8:00, they were only serving breakfast between 5:00 and 6:00.  There are only a few things to do on the train, and meals pretty much tops the list.  We are up at 4:30, so as not to miss breakfast.  The train is, ALAS, no longer on time.  It’s now running late by an hour.  But that’s still okay, we have two hour to make the transfer.

Breakfast must be completed by the time we reach San Bernardino, or so we are told multiple times over the trains PA system.  And for some magical Amtrak reason, we are back on schedule, and going to arrive early in Los Angeles.

One of the advantages of riding in a sleeper is access, besides getting to sleep and included meals, is access to the Amtrak Lounge.  Nice, not luxurious, but nice.  

We made our connection with ease.  Got to Salina’s only 15 mi minutes late, not bad by Amtrak standards.  Met our son, had a nice dinner , and crashed for the night.

Southwest Chief - Albuquerque to Los Angeles

 

It’s our last day in Albuquerque.  There is no place to store our bags but, we have been graciously given till noon to check-out.  I tried for another half hour, no go!  There is a trail by the Rio Grande where can stretch our legs.  The plan is to walk, get an early lunch, checkout, and go the train station.  The fatal flaw in this plan is the time crunch for checking out.  Deb is never, ever, never ever late!  By 10:30, she is checking the time, convinced that we will late, she makes her final offer - McDonalds. Quick!  For me it’s beyond the pale!  Fortunately for me, she acquiesces and we find a place that will make a quick quesadilla.  We made it back to the room by 11:38.

Orchid

The train appears to be on time, until it isn’t.  Our next hurdle is catching the train from Los Angeles to Salinas at 10:00 tomorrow morning.  We have a scheduled two hour layover.  By the time we go to bed, we have been delayed over an hour.

Stay tuned…