Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Day 8, September 23 Running Errands

Good morning to you all. Today was an errand running day. We had several things we needed to get done so we made our list and headed out for the # 27 bus, taking us down to St. Andrew's Sqaure. This time we sat at the top of the double decker bus in the very front seats. Basically there is about two inches between you and the light posts, statues and other buses as our bus driver flies around corners and up and down the narrow streets. I may not ride in those seats again! Jenel, I do feel a little like Harry Potter when I'm on those buses. We got off the bus just outside Waverly Train Station.

We already have our tickets for an upcoming trip to London but we are also going to the Cotswolds so we needed to pick up our tickets for that part of the journey. We spent a few minutes looking around since this is the first time for me to be inside the station. We saw a lot of interesting people and a very cute dog..a Yorkie I think. Was he getting on the train? 
Our next stop was about 4 blocks away where we stopped in to get our internet connection "topped up".




We were not able to get normal internet in the flat without signing a year's contract. So you can buy a gizmo that goes into your USB port and you purchase gigabytes to use. When you use them up, you "top up" or pay an amount to add more bytes. Pay as you go, if you will.



After that we stopped into the bus store where we purchased bus tickets. You use them rather than having to take your coins with you on the bus. It's just easier to keep tickets in your pocket than all those coins. After that we headed up toward New College so that David could get some books from the library there. We pass by Princes Street Garden. There are many, many benches on two levels running all along the garden. As you can see, people bring their lunch or books and enjoy the view for a bit. You can see them better in this second shot.

In this shot you can see the bridge going over to what is called "Old Town". This is the very oldest part of the city dating back to the 1600 and 1700's. All the buildings are built closely together and come to an abtupt end. The reason is because there used to be a loch there and the buildings were built right up to the edge. But eventually the city forefathers decided to extend the city and so they draind and filled in the loch. But rather than blocking the view of the historic buildings, they built Waverly Train Station down in what used to be the loch. Across the bridge and to the left is historic "New Town" which the city began to develope in the 1700 and 1800's.


At the edge of the gardens is a bronze cast of the "City Centre. David is setting up by the castle which of course is at the highest point and I took the shot for toward the end of the Royal Mile. The other streets shown are Queen Street and George Street. 


Tomorrow we are renting a car (Yes, David is brave enough to drive on the wrong side of the road) and driving up to The Highlands. It's about 180 miles north of here and is supposed to be some very beautiful scenery. We will stay in a little city called Inverness at the foothills. On Friday, we are going in search of the Loch Ness Monster so we let you know if we find her! If we have time we will drive over to the Isle of Skye where the Cairn Terrier dog breed was developed (Mugsey, we are going in search of your ancestors). We hope to be able to blog from there but if not, we will return to Edinburgh on Saturday and join back with you then. So have a wonderful day and cheers from Scotland.

1 comment:

  1. The scenery looks amazing. They have actual hills there! I really like the architecture of Old Town. If you get some time to explore it, snag some pictures from up close!

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