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Published: August 20th 2008
Scottish Welcome
Ron and Shona welcome us to EdinburghEdinburgh
Well, here we are in Edinburgh. The Ramada Jarvis hotel was very comfortable and the food was good. I had a laugh to see that we had a downstairs room and most of the oldies had an upstairs room. That was OK but there was no lift in the hotel.
We had a good walk around the local shopping centre. Did not buy a thing!
The bus took us into Edinburgh around 3pm and we had a couple of hours walking around the town. The streets were extremely narrow and busy - lots of tourists visiting for the Tattoo and the Fringe. Saw quite a number of street performers.
The Tattoo was FANTASTIC! Very well organised, the crowd moved well, the security checks were fast and thorough. The walk up the Royal Mile to the Castle certainly raised our anticipation.
Climbed the stands and found our seats which were very narrow but cosy. The weather held off and it was not at all cold. In fact Karen sat in the stand in a shirt.
The Tattoo was a dream come true - one of my life’s ambitions to visit Edinburgh and attend this show.
The show itself runs for around 90 minutes. Edinburgh Castle was beautiful.
Our return to Abergele was via Gretna Green - a little disappointing because it is now just a commercial enterprise.
We were both quite impressed with the motorways - a three lane highway to Edinburgh and back!
Abergele to Beer
It was now time to leave our wonderful hosts Ian and Kath in Abergele after a fantastic couple of weeks.
Kath dropped us in Chester where we picked up a hire car. We had a walk through the old town. Unfortunately I left camera in the car and now I regret that I did not get any photos - the town is full of Tudor buildings that are absolutely stunning! I will be back to have a better look.
On to Beer in Devon. Karen navigated and I drove. Only one missed turn (my navigator was asleep). The drive took around 6 hours but we did have a couple of stops. I did not count the number of roundabouts that we encountered but there was a large number.
This was my first attempt to drive on the M5 motorway. The speed
Edinburgh Castle
What a fortress. limit was 70mph but many cars passed us at much faster speed.
We met Jim and Dee in Honiton and we followed them down the very very very narrow lanes to Beer.
Jim and Dee took us to Seaton for fish and chips which we ate on the seafront. Also had a pint of Guinness in the Hook and Parrot at Seaton.
After tea we went back to Beer. This week was the annual Regatta Week. The place was very crowed and jumping! We walked down to the beach and watched the fireworks. Had a pint in the Anchor. Walked back to the car and saw a fight outside The Dolphin hotel. Jim and Dee said it was the first time they had seen any trouble in Beer.
The next day we returned the hire car to Exeter airport. We saw a bad motorcycle accident on the A30- it looked quite serious at the time.
Jim and Dee took us into Exeter. We had lunch at the Double Locks hotel on the canal - what a quaint little place for lunch.
We had to try and stay out of Beer to avoid being spotted.
Edinburgh Castle
Another view of the castle. Neither Marwood and Joy or Anne-Marie knew we were visiting. Drove through some absolutely stunning countryside. Saw many places including Exton, Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, East Budleigh, Otterton, Sidmouth and Branscombe. On our return to Beer we almost stumble into Uncle Marwood - we had to reverse back up the narrow lane to avoid being spotted!
We had tea at the Fountainhead Pub in Branscombe. What a place - I never cease to be amazed by the age and beauty of these places.
Surprise!
Jim and Dee have organised a BBQ today to enable Karen to surprise Marwood, Joy and Anne Marie. The surprise certainly did work!
The weather was terrible - we had an indoor BBQ. There was around 30 people all stuck inside. It was a great surprise, a great BBQ and a great day!
The next morning proved to be a chill out morning. The afternoon allowed us to tour around to Seaton, Axmouth, Shute Castle, Axminster (where the carpets are made). Stopped and looked at Wilmington Church and then on to Red Cottage where Karen’s Nanny was born.
We then went onto Offwell church to see Nanny’s grave and had a lovely look
Tattoo
The Edinburgh Tatto - yes I made it inside the church.
That’s it for this week.
Bye from a wet, cold, windy but thoroughly excited Karen and Jim.
PS - the papers here are saying that this may be the wettest August since 1912!
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Katie
non-member comment
HI!!!
Hi Mum and Dad, Looks like you're having an amazing time!!! Keep up the good work. I am enjoying reading your blogs every week! Nothing new here. It's bloody cold here too. It snowed in the Hills today! Aaron says hi too. Miss you lots!! Katie xoxo