London, Scotland, Ireland, and Paris 2022

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What a day we had today!! We gave up breakfast at the hotel because we were taking a 1-day Outlander Tour and we were supposed to be picked up at 7:55. The bad part was it was a taxi ride away from our hotel. We had previously arranged for a taxi so no problem. We wanted to be early as we didn’t know what the traffic would’ve like so early in the morning.

We got to our meeting place which was near the Haymarket Train Station. While Marsha and Shealyn went to Starbucks for breakfast, I decided to go to the train station and check it out. We would be leaving for Beatrix Potter and the the Lake District from the train station. So I find the ticketing counter and start asking questions about how early we need to be, how to get to the platform, etc. The ticket agent says “When are you traveling?” I reply, “Tomorrow.” “Ummmm, You might want to rethink that,” he replies. “there’s a train strike tomorrow. You’re not going anywhere tomorrow!”

We talk further and I learned that our tickets are good for today or Thursday. This is just a one day strike just for show of solidarity, for now. It only affects the day of our tickets. He assures me there is a train that will get us where we want to go, but the last one out is at 6:56 pm. Now remember, we are just about to get on a bus for an all day Outlander tour! I have to process all of this!

We go ahead to our meeting place and get on the Greyline Tour bus. It’s a pretty full bus, but makes several stops. Finally I hear my name, “Rebecca Wilson party! You’re on the wrong bus!” “You’ll have to get off here and wait for your bus!” I was furious. I offered to show that driver my tickets when we boarded and he kinda of laughed at me and said he didn’t need to see them. Now if he’d only looked, he’d have known we were not supposed to be doing his tour. As it turns out the tour company sent us the wrong time. Our pick up was at 8:55. It actually gave me time to plan what to do about our trip to Windermere and the Lake District

During this vacation season most hotels and bnb’s are booked up, but I find a bnb that has a double and a single room….just what we need. They allow check ins until midnight, so if we have more train troubles it won’t matter if we arrive late.

We enjoyed our Outlander Tour. We started at the famous Fourth Bridges. There are three bridges that span the Firth of the River Fourth. One is very new and for all traffic. One is for public transportation only, and the third is a railway bridge. The railway bridge is a World Heritage UNESCO Site. It had the world’s longest spans (541 m) when it opened in 1890. It remains one of the greatest cantilever trussed bridges and continues to carry passengers and freight.

Our second stop was Falkland, which was the Outlander Inverness. It was a beautiful but quaint little town. Sadly the castle wasn’t open yet but we got plenty of pictures outside.

You must know that on this tour I had no clue what I was looking for or at. I have never watched Outlander. This was for Shealyn and Marsha. So I won’t be able to tell you what are the filming location portrayed in the series! I got some great pictures of old places though!!!

Next was the town of Culross. I do know that they painted all the houses in this town for the filming, then repainted them back to their original color. It was another cute town with old buildings and narrow, cobblestone streets.

We had lunch in Linlithgow. We tried a couple places but they were full. Marsha said she’d be happy with the Subway she saw down the street, so we headed that direction. We were excited to have Subway. AND they had a soda fountain…..with ICE!!! We couldn’t be happier!

The rest of the tour was visiting Castles. We went to Blackness, Linlithgow, and Doune. Again, I know not what they represent, but they were great picture taking opportunities!

Once back at our hotel, we got it in gear, loaded up Our luggage, called a cab and headed to the train station. The train was delayed, then delayed again. We finally got on the right train, headed in the right direction.

We had to change trains at Oxenholme to get to Windermere. I’ve gotta yell you the train attendants were all so helpful. Even the passengers were helpful. We’ve been gone for 24 days and have lots of heavy luggage. The only snafu was we couldn’t get a cab at Windermere Station, so we had to walk. It wasn’t long, but sure was difficult…..we were all dragging luggage!

Once we found our guest house we couldn’t get in. We couldn’t get the phone to work and no one responded to my emails. It was 11:40 pm. We were tired. We wanted to go to bed. We finally got someone to come down and get all the info to get is in our rooms. They’re small rooms, but adequate. So it’s good night all! I’m tired!

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