DonnaandKristy

The beds at the Parliament House Hotel are absolutely divine. SO comfortable that it's hard to get out in the morning. I rose at around 8 and went for a walk. I passed another old cemetery and, being a sucker for old cemeteries, I had to go in! I found an Alexander MacKenzie which was exciting as that was the name of my grandfather. It wasn't him but it was still a thrill to see his name. I must be getting a bit daft in my old age! I also found a old monument with a skull and crossbones. Seemed a bit macabre but who knows what the prevailing attitudes were in the 1700s. I continued my walk up to Hollyrood Palace which is where the Queen stays when she is in Edinburgh. I bet she ... read more

Today we are going to Edinburgh! I am so excited. My grandparents emigrated to NZ from Scotland and I have always felt a yearning to see their country. We woke up at our usual time and enjoyed our last English breakfast. Yesterday we had looked on our map and spotted a Operating Theatre Museum over by London Bridge and we decided to go there before our flight to Edinburgh in the late afternoon. We checked out of the Nayland but asked if we could leave our bags there for a few hours. They were surprisingly nice about it and offered to lock them in a room in their other hotel just down a bit. The museum was near Guys Hospital. I have to admit that we wasted quite a bit of time wandering around looking until ... read more

We didn't have a particularly good night. It was quite hot and our room is right next to a road which was busy with traffic all night. During the night we decided to open the curtain and window which cooled things down a bit. Unfortunately in the morning we both woke with an itchy rash! We've decided that tonight we will use our silk sleeping bag liners to counteract the (what we assume) are bed bugs. We're sharing a double bed but we don't think that is causing the heat problems. No matter. We're in London! At about 8 we went down for our first English breakfast. Breakfast consisted of a choice of cereal, tea or coffee, orange cordial, a boiled egg, slices of cheese and ham and toast which you make yourself by feeding pieces ... read more

We had a slightly quieter day today after our hectic last few days. We spent the morning doing chores. We took our laundry down to the laundromat a few doors down. I doubt we would have ever worked out how to use it though! We studied the instructions for quite a while and tried to translate them with the help of a dictionary. Finally an older man came to our rescue. Clearly bemused at our stupidity he explained in rapid French what we should do. Our complete lack of comprehension just confirmed his belief in our foolishness. Sighing with the air one takes when dealing with a silly child, he gestured that we should give him some money. We handed over a few coins and he inserted it into a machine on the wall, pressed a ... read more

We woke again last night. At 3am this time. We had another wee chat. Kristy went back to sleep but unfortunately I couldn't. Room service did not leave us any towels yesterday. At 6.30am I decided to go down and ask for some. I found out the French words for towels (serviette) in our French phrase book and went and successfully requested some from reception. I enjoyed a leisurely shower in the rather temperamental shower (which leaked rather profusely on the bathroom floor!) By then Kristy was awake. She was somewhat perturbed to realise that I was going to wear my Air France white t-shirt and black pants for the day. Her perturbation arose from the fact that she would also be wearing her Air France t-shirt and black pants. Apparently it is simply not 'done' ... read more