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The day started with us, once again, sleeping in. We were up late last night. Trista and I sat up until about 1 in the morning. We packed and checked out of the hotel but left our bags at the hotel in their luggage room. We scrounged but could not come up with the money for the bus into town. The cash machine was not working but they directed us to a cash machine by a little market a few blocks away. That machine was also out of service! At home you can buy something at a store and pay with a card and get change back. Not in Scotland; at least not at the market we were in. So we stood at an unused check out line and took all our money out of our pockets and purses and just came up with enough money to get the bus into town!

We finished out bus tour on our same tickets by visiting the Royal Yacht Brittania. I had not been that excited but it was really interesting. One thing of note; the only double bed on board was one Prince Charles brought when he married Princess Diana and they used the yacht for their honeymoon. All the rest, even the queens, were just singles. Sort of weird! Overall, the ship was very luxurious. It is now rented out for corporate dinners and such.

After the tour we searched(!) for a cash machine before returning to our hotel. Trista used the internet there to make us a reservation in Dublin and then informed me we should already be checking in at the airport! We took a taxi to the airport-made it. Then we flew to Dublin Ireland for the next stage of our trip. It was about one half hour bus ride into town and a short walk to our hostel. The hostel was nice and clean and we had our own room with our own bathroom. That was nice but we just did not have enough bed space and their was no couch or anything else to sleep on. We will have to look for somewhere else to stay.

First thing this morning we used the computer to try to book a room in Dublin. We had no luck. Either the rooms were to expensive , wouldn’t let three people stay in them, or were not available for the whole time.

Then we decided to eat breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet but once we saw how awful it looked we decided to skip it. Sort of embarrasing leaving the dining room after we had taken a table and been directed to the buffet. We took the bus into town and ate at a small place called SNAX. It was located sort of in a back alley/street off Princes Street. We had a traditional scottish breakfast: egg, back hash brouwns, sausage, black pudding and tatlie scone. It also came with beans but no thank you! Black pudding is also called blood pudding and is just what it says; pigs blood cooked with a filler so it gels together. It was okay. I did not tell Chloe what it was until after she had eaten. She ate some of it but was disgusted after she learned what it was and said it made her feel yucky the rest of the day. Tattie scones are a potatoe scone and a variant on a gridle scone. A gridle scone is basically a scone cooked on a gridddle instead of being baked. Trista did not eat the black pudding but I did try it. I did not really care for it or their sausage.

We got on a different tour bus today. I find it interesting to listen to the different information we hear from different guides. We got off at the Edinburgh Castle today. The bus lets you off at the bottom of a hill in town and we walked up. First we had a guided tour outside which was very interesting and we hadn’t even entered yet. Then we toured inside. The self-guided tour took three hours. As you look over the walls of the castle you are on the top of a large hill and can see the whole town. It would have been a perfect place to defend.

On the way up the hill we had noticed a woolen textile mill and decided to stop in. They were in the process of making many different wool items, blankets, sweaters, shirts, etc. The place was set up to also be very educational and explained how the whole process worked. The store part sold the items they were making and they also shipped out items. We did not find it less expensive to buy Scottish woolens here at the source but perhaps that was because they are on the way to the castle and so many people pass by.

After finishing the bus tour we visited an open air market. It contained foods and crafts for sale. Of course, we managed to find our way back to Princes Street for some more shopping before riding the bus back to our hotel at the end of the day. We had pizza delivered for dinner.

We took the public bus into downtown Edinburgh today. After finally locating the correct place we bought tour tickets for the bus. The busses are the type you can get on and off of as often as you like. The tickets are good for 48 hours and also good for admission to Hollyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle and the Brittania Yacht.

It seemed like a pretty good deal so we started the tour. It went all around the city with a guide telling us points of interest as we went. We got out at Hollyrood Palace. I enjoyed looking around the Palace. I have very much enjoyed the Royal’s living spaces we have seen. Of course there was a gift shop and we all bought a few gifts to take home. We could not visit the castle because it was SO windy it was closed. They were afraid someone would blow off the hill.

We ate at Jimmy Chung’s for lunch. It was a buffet and was quite good with reasonable prices. We then did some more looking in shops. I expecially enjoyed Jenners as I had never been in one before. We returned to our hotel fairly early. I think we are all tired and so feeling a little down. For probably the first time on this trip I went almost immediately to sleep.

We took the public bus into town today to do some shopping. That almost always puts Trista and Chloe into a good mood. It worked pretty well until Trista’s feet started hurting because of her new boots.

First the public bus is just around the corner from our hotel. Nice. But things didn’t start out so well. We had some trouble figuring out our coins for the bus and since the driver does not give change it had to be exact. The driver got impatient and was rude to us. Maybe she is fed up with tourists.

But we got off the bus on Prince’s street and spent most of the day going in and out of shops. All the shops are on one side of the street and on the other is a park. The castle is up above and can be seen from the whole town. When I first heard the name of the street I thought it was Princess street. However, the street is named after King George III sons. We ate at a KFC in Prince’s Mall. It was okay but KFC in Europe has no mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, corn, etc. It is chicken and fries. Weird.

We all bought some things either for ourselves or gifts for others. Then we took the bus back to our hotel when the shops were closing. We ate in the hotel bar. It was expensive but not as bad as some places.

We got a late start today. We used the rental car and I asked at the desk about using reverse. The clerk was able to come out and help me. How embarrassing! It just involved pulling up on a lever as you shift into reverse. Very simple if you know what to look for.

We spent a great part of the day looking for a place to park anywhere within walking distance of town. The city was so very busy. Much of the street is marked “Loading Only”. We finally found a spot to park but I am not sure it was actually public parking. It was only one hour parking with no “meter feeding” allowed.

Trista had spotted a Subway restaurant on one of our drives through this part of town and wanted to eat there. I think it was the missing home thing. She has been gone a long time. So we walked quite a ways to get there only to find it was only take away. We ended up walking back and eating in the car.

After walking around town for a while and seeing how the buses worked it was time to return the rental car. We got VERY lost. I thought I had been doing the wrong side of the road driving quite well but then I drove around cars waiting in the left lane and I ran a red light. We were almost hit by a small van. The signs were so different and the people drove so crazy. (In fairness, they probably thought I drove crazy too). I knew it was time to give up for now. I was glad to find my way to the airport, return the car and take a taxi back to the hotel.

We just ate in our room.

We ate at a cafe on our street. It advertised, on a board outside, an American breakfast of eggs and ham. That sounded good but were were really disappointed. The eggs were sunny side up and barely that. The ham was cold. The waiter and a Frenchman who appeared to be a regular made fun of us. Not a great start to the day!

But then we rode to Versailles on a double decker train. We had great views of the area. The walk was relatively short to the palace. It was all worth it! The palace and gardens were beautiful. The gardens went on for what I think were miles. We walked out as far as we could on that level but the view of the gardens went on forever.
The palace had an audio tour which was very helpful. One disappointment was the hall of mirrors. Chloe had especially been looking forward to seeing it but it was under construction and the mirrors were not all in place. After the self directed tour we had a guide to show us into the King’s private quarters. She spoke with an strong French accent so I had to pay attention. The palace, built by Louis XIV, was constructed around a chateau belonging to Louis XIII. It was transformed by additions in the French classical style.

After touring the palace we visited the town of Versailles. It a large city with just under 100,000 people. We found a shopping area and everyone found things to purchase. When we were returning to our hotel we were stopped from getting on our last connection on the Metro. Armed soldiers told us we could not get on but would not tell us why. They told people they would have to find alternate ways to get to their destinations. We would have to walk a LONG way. After procrastinating for quite a while we noticed people getting on the metro and after checking with the the soldiers we were allowed to get on. Yeah!

Friday we left Paris for Edinburgh, Scotland. We learned that we could save much money by traveling on Ryanair. However they do not fly out of the main airport, de Gaulle, in Paris. We traveled by Metro to Porte Maillot. There we caught a bus to Beavais Airport, which was about one a half hours away. It was very hard to travel with all our luggage on the Metro. Trista had the heaviest suitcase but she also took my backpack for much of the time.

The bus trip was uneventful. At the airport we ate a snack that was very overpriced. I had a moment of anxiety when I was checking in and was told I could not take a backpack and a purse as carry ons. However, they let me leave the backpack open and set my purse sort of in it. Makes no sense. As soon as I had checked in I just took the purse back off.

The plane was a boeing. There were three seats on each side of a narrow aisle. We had to pay for any snacks or drinks. We had the smallest Pepsi I had ever seen, 150ml I believe.

We had flown into Glasgow but were actually staying in Edinburgh. Upon arrival we picked up our Hertz rental car. We had reserved it from Paris on the internet. I believe Hertz cheated me. They did not give us the price I had been quoted but I could not make them change it and they were the only rental agency available to us. THEN the biggest shock of all; the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car! The car was a manual six speed. Also, it was hard to remember to drive on the left side of the road. I made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on a two lane road. It was very dark and we drove on curvy roads through many small communities. I also could not figure out how to get the car into reverse. A few times we had to push the car in the wind and rain! We did eventually arrive safely at the hotel. We ate at the hotel restaurant and it was very overpriced.