londonpenguin

Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236I hate having to say goodbye at breakfast, but James started telling my table about our own primaries, and that was enough for me.I took a city bus out to Leith to see the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is now moored permanently there. I have a vague memory of it coming to Seattle sometime in the early '80s. It was decommissioned in 1997 and was the last of a long line of royal ships stretching back to 1660. Queen Elizabeth christened her in 1953, and "Britannia" was a very popular name with the people. The Queen said it was the only place she felt she could truly relax.It was initially commissioned for King George VI, but he died before it was finished. The Queen and Prince Philip then took a keen interest in the ... read more

Geo: 56.4104, -5.46972(quote from Thomas Crawford)I sat with Martin at breakfast this morning. He's been guiding for around 35 years. Before that, he was an archeologist for a while, and he owned a restaurant. He's an interesting guy, but I wish he would talk linearly (is that a word?). He'll start lecturing on a subject, then it's like he gets distracted by something shiny so he'll start going on about that, and then it's back to the original subject but the reversal was so quick you don't even realize what's going on. When we're walking around a town or whatever, he'll stop to talk about something and then abruptly, "Follow me!" And he darts off. It's like following Willy Wonka through the chocolate factory, only there are no snozzberries.James, on the other hand, is almost taciturn. ... read more

Geo: 57.4767, -4.23145The pigeons did go to sleep last night, but they were up really early!I haven't mentioned the various hotels' breakfast buffets. It's mostly standard stuff like bacon, sausage, eggs (mostly scrambled), cereal, fruit, yogurt and small pastries. However, there's also baked beans, broiled tomatoes, mushrooms, and haggis. This hotel also has fried eggs and potato scones. The potato scones don't look very scone-like: they are made of potatoes (obviously) and look more like naan bread. Tasty though.It was very, very cold this morning and trying to rain. We got on the coach and drove to Culloden battlefield, the site of the last major land battle fought on British soil. In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie began a campaign to take the throne (the yearlong series of battles is known as "the '45"). He had a ... read more

Geo: 56.5851, -3.99899I was awakened by the sounds of other hotel guests getting ready. I lay in bed with my eyes closed for a while and then realized that I'd been lying there for a long time. Why hadn't my alarm gone off? I finally opened my eyes to look at my clock: only 5:45. Sheesh! I fell back to sleep for another 35 minutes. Other than that, it's very quiet around here.It was another glorious day, though definitely nippy. We walked for 15 minutes to the other side of the loch to the Scottish Crannog Center. We learned a bit about crannogs on the Ireland tour, but this was more in depth. This loch, Loch Tay, held up to 30 crannogs in the Iron Age (500 BC). The Scottish Crannog Center works under the auspices ... read more

Geo: 55.9503, -3.18761"Edinburgh is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again." -Alexander McCall SmithWe had a local guide today named Liz. (She also guides for Rick Steves.) She walked us over to the old town via Princes Street Gardens. This is more of a park than gardens, but there are some well-tended flower beds. The space, which sits below and between Princes Street and the volcano on which the old town is built, used to be the Nor' Loch. (The loch was originally carved by glaciers.) Because the people of the old town would empty their chamber pots down the side of the rock, the Nor' Loch became completely polluted and reeked to high heaven. When it started to stink in ... read more