Edinburgh Day 1

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I started my journey yesterday, when my neighbor gave me a ride to the Beacon Metro North Station. The journey to Grand Central Station was uneventful, but once I got outside, the airport shuttle service I had used before wasn't there anymore. Admittedly, I hadn't used this service in the last 4 years. In all my preparations for this trip, I didn't check this....I naturally assume it would be there. I asked the nearby newspaper vendor and he pointed me in the right direction, the location was moved to a few blocks away. Considering I was taking an international flight and the horror stories I heard about long lines at security check at the airport, I was nervous until I found the shuttle location, paid and sat down. As it turned out, the rest of the trip went very smoothly -- since I checked in and got my boarding pass 24 hours ago -- I dropped off my luggage and went through security very quickly. I was at my gate by 6:30pm for my flight at 9:00pm.

I took Aer Lingus with a layover at Dublin. So, we went through immigration at Dublin and another security check, then a short flight to Edinburgh. At Edinburgh airport, I took the Airlink 100 bus to city centre. Once I got to the address listed on the B&B website in New Town part of Edinburgh, I couldn't see the house number. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the address was not at street level, but below, what we would call the basement.

I quickly checked in and cleaned up....it was about 2:30pm. I decided to see the National Museum of Scotland and Scottish National Gallery since they were open longer on Thursday. I really liked the National Museum of Scotland, it has little bit of everything: Scottish history, Science & Technology, Natural Science, Costumes through the ages, but best of all, the Science & Technology exhibits are kid friendly. The displays were such that the kids could touch things and see how science works.

By now, I was hungry, so I got some Indian food to go and sat at the Princes Street Gardens and ate as I people watched. (As an aside, one of my goals on this trip is to maintain my weight. Let's see how I do!!!) One of the travel writer's philosophy I follow (to a point) is Rick Steves. He preaches travel on a budget and be a local as best as you can. Picnic is one of the best ways to save money, which I do quite a bit when I travel. (By the way, I only ate half of my food and saved the rest for tomorrow's lunch.) With lunch/dinner done, I moved on to Scottish National Gallery which was right across the street.

I have to admit, I am not very artistic. If the painting of an apple doesn't look like an apple, it goes right over my head. Needless to say, modern art is not my cup of tea. So, I viewed the paintings and sculptures with interpretations from my guide book. In any case, I know what I like when I look at a painting or sculpture, and that is what is important. I was there until they kicked me out at 7pm.

Originally, I wanted to go on a Ghost Tour or Literary Pub Tour which start at 7:30pm or 8pm, but the jetlag caught up with me. I was too tired, so I went back to the B&B. As I was writing this blog, I could barely stay awake. Even though I knew I would wake up at 4 in the morning, I went to bed by 9pm.

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Photos

Edinburgh Pubs
Signs like this are all over the area to entice customers

Prince Street Gardens
Ferris wheel to rival the one in London?

National Museum of Scotland
Main Lobby

Museum
Long history between the Scots and the English

Chess pieces
These were found on one of the islands in Scotland

GreyFriaris Bobby terrier, famous for visiting his owner's grave everyday
There was even a movie made with Richard Gere