Today should have been Days 1 and 2 of our trip, but because of Hurricane Debby, we had to push back the start of our journey. That meant we only had half a day in Edinburgh, but I will still take you through the day.
We spent Monday night at my brother’s house, about 50 miles from where we live. We had no power at our house, and neither did he, but he has a whole-house generator. Our flight was scheduled to leave Tallahassee at 5:02 PM, so we had plenty of time to drive to the airport.
We parked our car and went inside the airport to check in. We were flying from Tallahassee to Charlotte, then to London Heathrow, and finally to Edinburgh. We were upgraded to First Class for the first leg of the trip. All that really meant was that we got to board first and were given a drink while everyone else boarded. There was a lot more legroom, and the seats were wider. During the flight, drinks were served in real glasses instead of plastic cups.
We arrived in Charlotte and bought a couple of sandwiches. Our flight to London was delayed by 30 minutes. Jay and I had seats with extra legroom. We were both seated on the aisle across from each other. I chose an aisle seat because my knee has been bothering me, and I need to stand up occasionally.
The flight was uneventful, just long — about 7 hours. At Heathrow, we arrived at Terminal 3, and our flight to Edinburgh was departing from Terminal 5. We had to take a bus to Terminal 5 and go through security screening again. We also went through passport control. Luckily, the lines were short and did not take very long.
Our final flight lasted about an hour. We picked up our checked luggage at baggage claim and went to find the car and driver I had reserved. It was about a 30-minute drive to our hotel.
The hotel we are staying in is nice. It is right across from St. Andrew Square and only about a 7-minute walk from Edinburgh Waverley train station. One thing I do not understand about hotels, though, is why they have steps that you have to drag your luggage up, followed by a very heavy door that is hard to open.
We are staying on the fourth floor. To get to the room, you have to go around a lot of corners — it is like a maze. The room is small by U.S. standards. It has two twin beds pushed together, but each has its own bedding. There is one good-sized window, though not much of a view. It looks out onto the building next door.
The TV is huge. I think it is the largest TV I have ever seen in a hotel room. It takes up half the wall, and the window takes up the other half. The bathroom consists of a sink, toilet, and shower. The sink is also quite large. The shower is wonderful. It has a rainfall-style showerhead with two settings, plus a handheld shower attachment. You turn them on and off by pressing buttons.
Overall, it is a very nice room, even though it is small, and it is in a great location.
We went out for a walk after we arrived, but it was very windy. I cannot walk as far as I used to. Eventually, I told Jay that I wanted to go back to the hotel, though he could continue exploring the city on his own if he wanted to. He walked me back and decided to take a shower instead before we headed out for dinner.
After his shower, we went out and ate at a restaurant near the hotel. We also stopped at a grocery store to pick up some snacks for later. Then we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
