Edinburgh

Dear Friends,

Recently, I posted about our trip around the British Isles.

I want to tell you about a shore excursion, which almost didn't happen. Our first port of call was Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and a beautiful city. Before our trip, I argued with folks that it was pronounced like 'Edinburg.' Considering the spelling and that we were in an English-speaking country, I thought it was pretty clear. My wife said it was actually pronounced like 'Edin-borough.' A short visit with Siri showed that she was correct (to my chagrin).

We booked our cruise too late to sign up for any planned excursions, so we were ashore on our own—"ship sails at 6:30, be back by 6:00."

Trains are ubiquitous in the British Isles, so we set out to find a train to downtown Edinburgh.

Immediately after leaving the ship, we found a couple of local gentlemen directing the passengers to cabs, tour buses, etc.

Our gentleman was clearly a native—he had red hair, a red/gray beard, and a kilt. Martha, Ava, and I asked for directions and listened intently to his response. He pointed to a path that ran eastward. We thanked him for the directions and set off on the path.

After walking about twenty yards, I turned to Martha and said, "I'm glad you were there. I didn't understand a word he said."

Her smile turned into a frown. "I didn't either," she said, and we both looked at Ava.

"Nope. Sorry," she said.

My logical brain was dismayed, but Martha and Ava would not be denied. They were both up for an adventure.

"Let's keep going," they said. "Surely we'll find it if we walk down this street." Our friends Tim, Verna, and Tom just came along behind us.

A brief tangent: We laughed at the fact that the guys' names (Kim, Tim, and Tom) had an excellent economy of letters. You can spell all three names with only five letters.

Back to the story...

After walking a half mile, we came to a place where two different streets looked promising. Ava took one of them, and Martha and I took the other. At one point, we stood around for about ten minutes, discussing which way to search next.

Finally, we found the train station. We bought tickets to go into the city.

Another hurdle: We had no idea which direction to go on the train to get downtown. There was no route map posted. For fifteen minutes, no one walked by, and no train appeared.

Then, a young couple entered the train station. Hoping we could understand their response, we asked which direction to take the train. The man pointed to the left and said, "Go that way. This is the last stop for the train."

Almost immediately, a train showed up, and we rode it to downtown Edinburgh.

When you have a disc injury that affects your feet and legs, you know that uneven pavement is the most challenging surface to walk on. If you don't carefully watch your steps, you're going down.

Cobblestone and flagstone streets were everywhere in Edinburgh. I was dragging quite a bit when we got back to the ship.

Here's a picture of a street in Edinburgh. The big home on the hill is the Royal Residence—where the Royal Family lives when they visit. And note the Starbucks on the right. They're everywhere!

Here's a weird local thing. The tree in the picture below is in our front yard. For the seven years I've lived here, this tree's leaves changed from the top and worked its way down the tree. We had a tree striped with green, yellow, and red bands.

But this year, the tree is changing randomly. Two weeks ago, it looked like a green tree with yellow polka dots. Weird, but still beautiful.

Have an outstanding day!

Cheers and Regards,

Kim

PS: I personally read and respond to all messages you send to me.