Monday 15th July 2024 - Edinburgh to North York Moors

 Monday July 15

I had another crappy coughing night though not as bad as the previous. Went down to breakfast  sometime after 7am. Just had toast, yoghurt, orange juice and a banana. A very nice hotel and the shower was the best of all the hotels so far. Easy instructions to follow and not having to try and guess what various taps did.

Checked out around 8:30. Our driver, Michelle & van arrived just after 9 and we 6 plus tour leader Charlie, were loaded onboard, along with our luggage and we departed around 9:10am

10:00am and we were at the borders.

Farewell to Scotland and hello England.

We stopped at the Berwick Garden Centre at 10:25 for a comfort stop. On the road again at 10:40.

11:20 photo viewpoint of Alnwick Castle.

It has been in the hands of the Percy family since 1309.

Dropped off at 11:30 departing at 1:30pm

Walked through most of the rooms in main part of the Castle

 

Walked down to the gardens where there are a couple of cafes but I opted for a gelato for lunch.  Very warm in the sun. Around 18c according to the weather app. On reflection, Margot Moore,  I should have given the castle a miss and headed straight for the gardens as you did, as there wasn’t any time let to see any of them. :(

We all met Charlie at the appointed time and are now on our way to Durham Cathedral. According to the buses temperature reading it’s 16c in the bus and outside 23c

The 1.5 hrs we had there passed fairly quickly.

Michelle arrived early to pick us up and we were all ready. Left Durham just before 5pm on our way to Gisborough Hall Hotel.

it's now after 10pm and I'm heading for bed.  I'll finish this off tomorrow and post photos tomorrow.  I need a good nights sleep.  Night all.

We arrived at the Manor House (Hotel)  around 6ish from memory. Being just the 6 of us it was a very fast check-in and I don't think it was done through the usual reception area. We were given our room keys,  ticket  off our choices for our 8pm dinner sitting, shown where our rooms are (very close by) and told how to get to the dining room.  

I spent the next hour or so getting close ready for our 2 night stay and doing some hand washing,

When it came time to leave for dinner Roseanne and I were leaving at the same time as Charlie, so he showed us a shortcut.

I bought a medium wine. Very expensive.  Thankfully I only had the 1. We were also given a free wine with dinner.  The meal was delicious and plentiful, so much so that I couldn't finish the cheese & biscuits that I opted for the dessert.

In bed by 9:30ish and light out shortly after.

Sunday 14th July 2024 - Transfer day from Ibis Hotel to Malmaison in Leith

I switched the light off at around 8:30 last night.  Had a bit of a coughing night early on and then slept through to 4.22am and then back to sleep.  Finally woke up properly, so got up, showered and dressed ready to go down to breakfast at 7am.

Back in the room just after 7:30 and decided to check my paperwork for the tour of the Royal Yacht Britannica.  I thought I had booked for 1:00 - 1:15pm.  Nope, had booked for 11:00 - 11:15am, which means I'll have to check out of this hotel a couple of hours earlier than I planned.  Today is going to be another nice day, cloudy and no rain expected.  There isn't anything that I have the time to visit, before I leave this hotel.

Ibis reception offered to call a taxi for me, so that saved my walking back to the Radisson Blu, as I knew there was a taxi rank outside that hotel and it was only a 5 minute walk away. I left the Ibis some time around 8:30ish and was at the Malmaison about 15/20 minutes later. I know that I had had my luggage stored and took my first photo on my walk to the Royal Yacht Britannia, at 9:11am

I found where I had to go and the guys checking people said that I might as well do the tour then and there, rather than come back later. I was pleased about that. It’s only about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

After I finished the tour and had taken plenty of photos, I realised that I should have been writing down the names of the cabins or spaces.  I’ll do my best when I post the pics on Flickr.

I’m currently sitting outside a restaurant just across from the tour hotel, after having a light meal and sipping a glass of  Chardonnay,

I got a bit of a shock when I read the “welcome” letter from Charlie, the TD, welcoming me on their "Highlights of Great Britain" tour, as that isn’t the tour that I booked and what all me paperwork refers to. Once I checked the Britain tour online and saw that it started in London, I knew that the letter was a mistake.

The temp has dropped from earlier, the sky is looking very cloudy and the wind has picked up a bit. Think I might do a quick walk around the block and then spend the rest of the afternoon in my room at the hotel. I’ve only walked 6,5k steps so far. On second thoughts I’ll give the walk a miss as it’s started to drizzle lightly and I don’t have my brolly with me. 

Back to the room and have showered, washed my hair and dressed for this evenings meet and greet in an hours time. The hairdryer needs to be fixed though, as the heat is only tepid at the best.

There are only 6 of us on the tour. Leonard (Len) & Cynthia (Cyndy Romaniello  from the USA.  Duncan & Jacky Bridal from Australia but are English. They live about an Hour north of Sydney, Rosanne Hill from Victoria, near Albury/Wodonga and little ol me.  Had a delightful dinner and will be departing from the hotel at 9am tomorrow.  Must remember to put the main luggage out at 8am, so it can be taken down to the 18 seater bus.  Breakfast is from 7am.

And so begins another tour.

I'm having another early night.  Have been coughing quite a bit today but nothing for the past hour or so, so perhaps the worst of the cold is over.

Night all.  Only 7,162 steps today. :)

Saturday 13 July 2024 - Another free day in Edinburgh

I think my early night last night was a great help.  My light went out around 8:30 I think and I first woke up just after 4am.  Went back to sleep and surfaced again around 7am.  I'm certainly not coughing as much as I was yesterday.

It's a 'drizzly' day here today.  I went down to breakfast and just had orange juice, cheese, ham and toast.  Because its drizzly, I decided to visit the National Museum of Scotland, as it's all of about a 4 minute walk from the hotel and its indoors. I took a few photos while there and will post on Flickr.  The Museum is  open from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Fabulous museum. Actually it's just down the road from GreyFriars Bobby & GreyFriars Kirk, which I visited when I was here last week.

I came back to the hotel around 11:30 and will go walking again soon, once I update this blog.

I decided to go for a walk to Dean Village.  The reports I have read about it say that is pretty etc etc etc, and supposedly it's only a 15 minute walk from here.  I think it was a bit further than that, but that's okay. I certainly added the steps to the pedometer.  I'd only done around 5,000 before I went to the Village and by the time I got back to the hotel it was around 14,000.

That's it for today.  I've added some photo's on Flickr but they are pretty crappy. :)

I'm having another early night or should I say, an indoors night.  It's only just after 4:30pm but I'm not planning on going out again.  I'll have a TV night and catch up on what has been happening around the world.

Friday 12th July 2024 - Free day in Edinburgh

 I had a crappy night last night. Kept waking up every couple of hours. Thankfully got back to sleep almost straight away.

Finally got up and went down for some breakfast. Just had some OJ, and eggs on toast. Not particularly hungry. When I went up to reception, Lois was just about to leave. Said goodbye to her.

Check out time here is midday.

Last night when I bought a drink before dinner the barman told me that they don’t take cash, so I put it on my room, hoping I could pay cash when I check out. Spoke to the concierge this morning and it’s a “cashless” hotel. Radisson Blu on the Royal Mile. I was hoping to avoid any exchange fees & bank charges.😁😁

Caught up with Richard shortly after 8:30. He lives in Lincoln and my next tour goes there, so he happily gave me a few suggestions on where to eat or places to visit during my free time there.

I finally checked out after 10:40 and received a very nice surprise. I told the girl on the desk that there should be a charge for a glass of wine from last night. She said that it isn’t showing up, so there is nothing for me to pay, so no credit card charge. I walked around the corner and up the road to the Ibis Southbridge and they are holding my luggage until I check in properly. That was before 11am.

Went for another walk up the Royal Mile and then walked down again. Along the way up, there was a memorial service being held by the Scottish Fire & Rescue Servise, to remember Ewan Williamson, who died fighting a pub blaze, 15 years ago.

11:30 and I’m currently sitting in a pub “Deacon Brodie’s Tavern” having a small glass of wine and will order some food shortly.

Another small glass of wine and some Haggis, Neeps & Tatties to eat. I enjoyed what I had last night so I hope this is similar.

It was and again very tasty. It was a starter and I did finish it all. 

Once I finish my drink I’ll go walking again & take a few photos. The crowds here are humongous.

Wine glass measures here in Scotland are, small 125ml, medium 175 ml and large 250ml and the  wine is poured into the appropriate size metal container/cup and then from there, poured into the glass. In case you all didn’t know that. 😀

After lunch I came back to the hotel but they didn’t have a room ready, so I spent some time sitting in the bar watching TV.

I got Into a room shortly after 3 and when I was checking the ticket for my visit to the Palace of Holyrood for tomorrow, I realised that it was for today & not tomorrow. Duh. Grabbed my handbag and started walking and 15 minutes later at 3:30, I was there.

It was interesting hearing how it all came to be and how it was enlarged over the years. 

After finishing that tour I then went to the Kings Gallery to see the “Dressing the Georgians” exhibition.

Walk back up the Royal Mile and was back at the hotel by about 5:30. 

I’m having an early night tonight. I’ve been coughing for the past 2 days. A dry cough, so once I upload this AND the photos, I’m heading for bed and an early night. 

EDITED: 12,587 steps today.

Thursday 11th July - A traditional Scottish Evening

 I was woken around 2:30 this morning, by a text message saying “Hi mum, I’ve broken my phone and have a new one. Will you call me on it?”

I blocked that number and deleted the message. I  haven’t received that one for a few years. 

I eventually got up around 6, showered and washed my hair and then packed the main luggage, as that had to be outside the room by 7:15, so it can be picked up and transferred to our Edinburgh hotel via coach.

Down to breakfast around 7 and after that I went for a walk along side the River Ness. Richard had mentioned that there was  nice walk and to take the 2nd bridge, to walk back on the other side. I don’t know the distance but I walked 5,480 steps and it took about 45 minutes.

Had a chat with Maama and Perry who were in reception when I returned. Then went to my room to collect my backpack and then went back downstairs to check out and then started to update this while people watching, until we leave here just after 10, to walk to the train station. 

Richard informed us that Scott Rail have cancelled the booked seat allocations, so it will be a free for all once we are on the platform. 

I thing we all managed to get on the same carriage and find seat and the train departed on time at 10:50.

First stop Aviemore. Arrived at 11:25 and departed there at 11:36.

Next stop is Kingussie. Arrived at 11:47 but only stopped for about 2 minutes. Off again at 11:49.

Scenery is green and rolling hills. Scottish black faced sheet and all white sheep in some of the paddocks.

Next stop is Blair Atholl. Arrived at 12:21 and departed at 12:22.

Pitlochry. Arrived at 12:31 and departed at 12:32.

Then there was Dunkeld + Birnam. 12:44 & 12:45.

Next stop is Perth. Arrive 1:00 and depart 1:05.

Stirling is next. Arrive 1:33 and depart 1:38

Haymarket 2:14 & 2:20. and then Edinburgh Waverley

We were at the hotel around 3pm by the time we sorted ourselves out at the station and walked to the hotel. 

I’m in room 437. No particular view but I don’t plan on spending time in the room looking at a view.

We are meeting in the bar at 7:15 before being piped into dinner at 7:30.

I haven't been able to upload photos from today.  The internet connection is horrendous.  Will try again sometime tomorrow. 

EDITED: 10,863 steps today.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

I woke up with the alarm today and went down to breakfast just before 7:30. After breakfast I went for a short walk. Took a couple of photos of Inverness Cathedral and then went to the local Tesco’s to buy some food for lunch today. The weather was overcast.

We departed shortly after 9am and this time we are on a 20 seater bus, which is very cosy for the numbers we are. It is now raining and I think it’s set in for the day. Raincoat & brolly onboard.

We had a stop at 10:20 at the Landour Bakehouse, Cluanie, for coffee or comfort and were back on the road by 10:45. Not raining there.

Kyle means narrows

We crossed over the Skye bridge onto Skye and had a short photo stop around 11;15ish

We were on our way again around 11:40, heading back to Eilean Donan Castle where we arrived shortly after 12 noon. 

We were supposed to have a guided tour but instead we are doing a self guided tour. Meeting again at 2:15 or before, if we have seen all we want to see. I had seen all I needed to see by about 1:30 and I had left my fruit salad lunch on the bus, so couldn’t  eat that. I’ll have it for a snack later this evening. 

We all started heading to the bus about 1:45 and it was then decided to do a group photo. Then Alan our driver offered to take a photo using all our camera’s/phones. 15 minutes later we were on the bus and heading back to Inverness where we have been told that it has rained all day. 

We have been blessed with a dry day, once we were out of Inverness this morning.

I didn’t make a note of the time we were back at the hotel but I think it was around 4:30ish

We are all meeting in the lounge shortly before 6:15 and then heading into dinner. Main luggage has to be out early tomorrow morning, so It can be bussed to Edinburgh and we will just take hand luggage on the train and then walk from Waverley station to Radisson Blu. It’s about a 10/15 minute walk from memory.

Dinner was quite good. I had a potato & something soup. I think there was more of the something but it was very flavoursome. I had a fish meal for the main and a brownie & ice cream for dessert. Very yummy.

We then went to another room where there was a talk given by ??? about the history of the Loch Ness story. A great presentation. I’ll try to get the name of the presenter from Richard, our TD. He did tell us but I didn’t pay attention Or more likely, I can’t remember.

After that finished, I headed back to my room to pack up, ready for our train trip back to Edinburgh tomorrow. 

Night all.

Hoping to get some photos on Flickr before I head for bed. :)

EDITED: 5,325 steps today.

Tuesday 9th July 2024 - Urquhart Castle on legendary Loch Ness & cultural Inverness

A lazy start this morning.  I didn't go down to breakfast until after 7:30.  Just had toast and coffee.

When I went back to my room, I did a few days worth of hand washing. As I'm not having the room serviced daily, it gives me the opportunity to leave the washing hanging to dry for a couple of days.  After that I went for a short walk up the road past the Cathedral, which is only about 3 minutes from the hotel.

The group all met at 9:40, boarded the bus and were on our way to Clansman Harbour, where we were departing from on our Loch Ness cruise to Urquhart Castle.

The cruise departed at 11:00 and we arrived at the ruins about 20 minutes later.  It was obviously huge before it was blown up, as there are substancial pieces of it, over a large area.

I grabbed a bite to eat and also watched a 15 minute film on the background of the Castle and it's demise. Quite interesting.

We were being picked up at 12:50 to be taken back to Inverness and then the rest of the day was at leisure.

I had planned on visiting Inverness Castle but it's closed for renovations, before being re-opened in 2025. Instead, I visited the Victoria Markets and the Eastgate Centre shopping mall.  The only thing I bought was a comb from Boots chemist.

Did you know that the Unicorn is Scotland's National Animal??

We were supposed to be taking the Kyle Line train trip to Kyle of Lochalsh tomorrow and then drive to Eileen Donna Castle BUT Richard (our TD) has just come around, to say that the train has been cancelled, we will be bussing to and from the Castle. :(

Thought I posted this yesterday.  Seems that I didn't.  :)

EDITED: 10,770 steps today.