Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Let’s Back Up a Bit and Look and the Fun Stuff



Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy

The good news is that the Blue Meanie is on it’s way back to Dublin, then home where I can fix it better than it was. The past few weeks have been a blur with no time to add any details to the quick and easy Facebook stuff. So, sitting here in Doolin, Ireland, rain pouring down and wind blowing enough to cancel the ferry trip we wanted to make to the Aran Islands, I have a chance to fill you in on the great stuff we’ve been doing, with and without the car. When last we talked, we’d made it to Edinburgh so I’ll pick up the story from there. 

Edinburgh was one of the few places we prebooked rooms, knowing it would be tough just dropping in and finding a place. Given our troubles in Inverness, this was a wise choice. I’d used a variety of search sites whilst planning this odyssey, and booked us for two nights in the Sherwood Guest House. Great decision. Vivienne our host was marvelous, reacting with “this is me being gobsmacked” at the TR. She’s a great hostess, and the food was wonderful. The house dates from the 1800s and the conversion is interesting. Our potty was down the hall and pretty tiny, but it was our own. Evidently it was in the space of the original house’s dumb waiter! 

Early on our first morning, we were off to see the sights and asked about a good kilt maker. She directed us to a lovely place at the foot of the Royal Mile, the heart of the shopping areal of Edinburgh. Nicolson’s. Great place and a lovely young lady to help us. Lovely and, well, tactful. Told her I needed a new kilt as the old one was from our wedding, 36 years ago. She smiled and said she was sorry the old one had shrunk. She then explained that I might need an extra yard, due to my “Scottish Gentleman’s Figure.” All measured up, and this time in Watson Tartan (my actual Scottish family name) rather than the Clan Buchanan I had before. It should arrive in October. 

That finished, we headed up the Royal Mile. I mean UP. It ends at the Castle. Castles are built on top of hills. Usually, steep ones. No one explains this in the guidebooks! We stopped and shopped and browsed, found a few trinkets for the natives back home and generally enjoyed puffing our way along. About 11:30 we needed to head for the train station and meet a long lost cousin from the Watson part of the family. Given our track record of missed meetings, we hoped for the best. First bit of confusion was about the station. Cousin Lorna called it “Prince’s Street Station”, but it goes by the real name, “Waverly Station.” We made a leap of faith and found it, sure enough alongside Prince’s Street. took some wandering and I was headed to the info booth to ask about trains from Glasgow, when who pops up behind me? Cousin Lorna and her husband, Robert. Amazing! 

We headed for lunch BACK UP THE HILL (this time using a taxi!) and found the “End of the World” Pub. Great place, good fish and chips. From there we wandered all the way up to the Castle, shopped a bit, chatted and there they left us, off to a meeting with friends. Great to see family we’ve never met, and great to keep a connection with the Auld Country. 

We plodded up and about the Castle, seeing the usual tourist stuff. The Scottish Crown Jewels were impressive, as was the Stone of Scone, now returned to it’s rightful place after several hundred years of captivity in London. The entire place is well worth the trek up hill to see it all. 

The next day, we were off, and Sean the Occasionally Reliable as Long as He’s Not in a City, sent us down the A702 to meet up with the M74. This was an amazingly beautiful road. One of the nicer drives we’ve done. Our plan at this point was to head through the Lake District, and then to Blackpool for a couple of days and a laundry stop. We got off the M in Carlisle, intending to see some of Hadrian’s Wall, and that’s where disaster struck. I’ll spare you all the details. It meant being stuck in Carlisle for several days while we got things sorted. You can see the previous blog for details of that. 

The one good thing was that Carlisle is an amazing town, and one we got to know quite well. Under the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse place to get stuck. I’ll tell you about our adventures there in the next installment, so TTFN. 

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