Scotland....aka Freedom.

For our last weekend in the UK, we headed to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our flight was scheduled for 5:55 pm, so we requested to leave work early. We came back to the room and got everything together, leaving the nurses home around 4. Of course, then we had to take a bus followed by a train to get to Gatwick airport. By the time we arrived at the airport, it was just after 5 pm and we were starting to get nervous. We saw this huge line, or queue, that we thought was the line to get our Easy Jet plane tickets. After standing in line for a few minutes, Suze decided this was ridiculous and went to investigate only to discover that we were actually standing in line for security. We raced over to the Easy Jet counter only to have the man tell us that we were too late. The flight was closed! He referred us over to another desk to figure out what to do. We waited in another queue at that desk. When we got up to the lady and explain the situation, she responded that yes, the flight did close at 5:15 pm. It was 5:19. She called down to the gate to see if the flight was on time and if they would accept 2 passengers without checked luggage. Apparently, they said yes, and she took us back to the first Easy Jet counter we were just at. There, yet another man was to print out our tickets. He checked us in, but then couldn’t get Suze’s boarding pass printed. So another agent had to print her ticket. Meanwhile, we are sweating bullets. Suze had heard a man walking through the security line call for any passengers on our flight. So we run to the front of the line where a man says for all passengers with a 6:10 departure or earlier to follow him. He starts walking really fast towards a different part of the airport, with Suze and Bekah right behind him and another 15 people behind us. We get to the front of this emergency security line, for lack of a better term, and he starts asking to see people’s boarding passes. When the people told him that their flight was not until 6:20, he got really angry that they were so far ahead in the security queue…literally about to go through. He handled the situation really poorly and the passengers got quite irritated. They were arguing back and forth, and we were just willing the line in front of us to go faster as we were now down to about 20 minutes to take off. He threatened them that if they did not show their tickets and move out of the way to the back of the queue, then they were not flying today. He even went so far as to tell the security agents working there not to let those people through. We didn’t stick around to see what happened though, as we were rushing through security. We then began RUNNING through the airport with our carry-ons in tow. As we were running down the corridor towards our plane, we see yet another queue! We were still running though, dodging people. And then we realize, it really was a line and we were to wait in it. Despite the fact that it was now 10 minutes before take off. This line was waiting to get the tickets confirmed before we could go into that area of the airport. We waited there a good 15 minutes or so with no one giving us any indication of what was going on other than to tell us to move to one side or the other. Meanwhile, all the flights on the board for that area report that they were closing. We make it through running to the plane, only to be one of the first few people to board. Then much to our delight, our flight was delayed an hour! We don’t know why. And then on top of that we had a technical problem that also had to be fixed before we could take off. Needless to say, there was no need for us to have run through the airport as we did. (Are you exhausted yet?)

We arrived in Edinburgh shortly after 8pm and headed for the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel. When we arrived at the hostel, we were told that our room was in another building just down the street, the random red door labeled 34A. We opened the door to our accommodation and immediately identified the dodginess. The stairs leading upwards were concrete with about every 5th one or so carpeted. Of course, our room was on the third floor. After dropping our stuff, we went out in search of food. Bekah had been craving spaghetti all week, so we went to this little Italian restaurant just down the road called La Rusticana. It was absolutely delicious and tasted like a little piece of Italy. We split a half bottle of house merlot which was quite smooth and nice. Bekah had chocolate panna cotta for dessert, which she decided was not quite as good as the panna cotta in Rome, but was still delicious. After dinner, we went for drinks at a nearby pub where we had seen they had Foster’s for less than £2. We were enjoying our drinks at the bar, when Suze tells Bekah that these guys were checking them out. They were Scottish and quite drunk. But in the end, they bought us a Kronenberg beer, even though that is not what either of us was drinking and Bekah had requested shandy.

On Saturday, we got up early and had breakfast at a little place where our hostel offered a discount. After breakfast sandwiches and coffee/tea, we headed out to face the day. We began the day at the Edinburgh castle. The weather started out quite nice, and there was even a little sunshine. We had to wait in another queue to get into the castle, and it was quite an expensive entry fee. Bekah even had to pay for the audio guide, which was usually included in an attraction’s price. Inside the castle gate, there was a mob of people watching a ceremony. Turns out, it was in celebration of the Queen’s birthday. Even though her actual birthday is in April, apparently they celebrate it in June. We toured around the castle at our own pace. It was a traditional castle with large gray stones and lots of cannons. They had a beautiful tiny chapel, a memorial to fallen soldiers, and even a cemetery for dogs! The crown jewels of Scotland were also there. Upon leaving the castle, the rain came in and sputtered on and off for the rest of the day. This turned out to be a mixed blessing for Bekah, whose allergies were ferociously attacking. After Suze purchased a teapot that she had been eyeing in one of the shops, we discovered that we were very close to our hostel. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant on our street and it turned out to be the closest thing to real Mexican we have had since we arrived in the UK. Next, we walked the Royal Mile, a shopping area at the foot of the castle. We then headed to Arthur’s Seat, a former volcanic formation on the edge of Edinburgh and from which you can see the whole city. We climbed up it, huffing and puffing the whole way. It was a nice view from up there and we enjoyed that the city had a bit of nature that close by. After our hike, we were hungry again and stopped for afternoon tea. We then climbed the Scott monument in the middle of town. It is a beautiful old looking building with a kind of gothic feel. We climbed up to the top (287 stairs) for 4, 360º views. The staircases were tiny and winding. We do not know how anyone who is the least bit tall or wide could make it up. At one point these two small Japanese girls passed us coming down as we were going up, and it was a ridiculous sight with us pressing ourselves against the wall for them to squeeze past. It did offer magnificent views, but was a difficult climb, one we were still feeling the next day. After the climb, we went for a pre dinner rest in our room. For dinner, Suze wanted breakfast so we went to a pub where they serve breakfast all day. It turned out to be a pseuo- American diner complete with an Arizona state road map on the front of the menu. With Suze’s meal, came haggis and black pudding. Suze was brave enough to try both. Bekah did not try either. Suze was not a fan of either. After dinner, we went back to our pub with the £2 pints.

We awoke before 6 to catch the shuttle to the airport. We made it back to London without a hitch, not at all like our last experience. After a bit, we headed out on an adventure to find Wimbledon. It took us quite some time to find the bus stop. We knew where the bus would come to take us back from Wimbledon, but when we went there we could not find a bus stop going in the opposite direction. We finally found it one street over, and waited and waited for the bus. Just when we were about to give up on it, the bus came and we hopped off at the tennis center. We then had our very last high tea in London at the café thereL. It was delicious and served on white Wedgewood china. But the place itself was not really that classy, surprisingly enough. Ta Da.


Word of the Blog:
Haggis – mashed up sheep innards
Black Pudding – sausage with blood (lots of blood)

The traditional Scottish dishes include haggis and black pudding, neither of which are too tempting or delicious.