UK

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Preparing to leave Hong Kong at 4am to fly to London is not the best plan. When you add up the daylight traveling time the day grows to about 26 hours. But on the positive you don’t get jet lag. The trip in clear skies flying to the north of the Himalayas is stunning. Then the Gobi desert with snow covered mountains. Europe was under clouds so missed seeing anything from before Moscow to the North Sea.

London is great. I did the hop on hop off bus tour to see all the tourist sites. It is an easy city to get around. I visited Harrod’s and saw a watch for ₤114,500; the price of a Maserati in Australia. I know which is better value, the watch doesn’t come with the standard passenger seat accessory. Missed two friends that I planned to meet but that’s travel I suppose.

It was great to be able to stay and catch up with friends and meet the other house mates. A comfy couch, friendly company after a day on the beat and a big Friday night, what more can one want for.

It was wonderful to have a chin wag with my cousin and his lovely wife after a lifetime since the last meeting. I’m looking forward to the next time.

Like Hong Kong I could have spent a lot more time there but Scotland called.

The Edinburgh Castle took up most of Sunday. Saw the Scottish Crown jewels and learned lots of history. They were a pretty severe group when it came to punishment according to the records.

The road down from the Castle is wild. There are a lot of Scotch whiskey shops. To date the most expensive was a neat ₤6000. I don’t think I’ll drink that value in wine in the rest of my life. It would be interesting to have a sip. I’m looking forward to a whiskey tour before the end of the week.

We found a little pub among the 100’s and had a dinner of haggis, neeps and tatties. That’s a blended mixture of sheep offal, mince, oats and spices with mashed turnips and mashed potatoes. The haggis is staple food and down the road the Turks at the kebab shop deep fry the haggis in a tempura batter. A heart attack in every mouthful which I’m not touching.

The Britannia is anchored here in Leith. A great couple of hours to see how the selected few live. It’s quite an amazing ship with a 60’s feel about it. Lots more about that when I get home. Jodie and I then visited a sports car club. Ogled over a replica 57 Alfa, a real De Loren, and a very bent Lotus Elise( so sad).

This morning I was wandering Princes St in Edinburgh and I heard a Cookoo bird. I found a flower clock in the garden which was a centenary addition to the Princes Street Park. I then visited the Gallery and saw paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Rembrandt to name a few. It was interesting to see Monet’s Boats in Harbour beside Boudin’s Villefranche Harbour contrasting the ships reflection by Monet and the typographical style of Boudin. I also saw what may have influenced the boys from Little Brittain in Paulus Jansz Moreelse’s “Cimon and Pero”.

Royal Mile hosts the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which I had planned to see last year. I have spent a few hours here and will visit the Hub Café.

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