The Stone Lion

Dad, is this the stone lion of which you drew the picture?  This one is outside the war memorial in Edinburgh Castle.

Mary Queen of Scots

We visited the room in the castle where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI of Scotland who became James I of England when Elizabeth I died in 1603.

Patterns

Okay, so I like patterns, and Nancy caught me taking a picture of the castle door.

The Castle Guards

After breakfast we headed off to do the Royal Mile.  Before long we were at the west end of the mile, which was Edinburgh Castle.  These guards had to be bribed before allowing us into the castle.

The Apartment

Here is the living area and kitchen of our apartment on Dalry Gait (gait means street) in Edinburgh.

After Dinner

Here's the restaurant where we ate dinner.  Afterwards we went hunting for a grocery store to buy breakfast food.  Now we're back at the apartment, chatting, relaxing and, of course, sharing pictures of grandchildren.

Re-connecting

Pat and Phil arrived mid-afternoon.  We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and reminiscing.  Before long it was time to scout out for dinner.  Three of us had fish and chips.  Guess who didn't.

We Have Arrived

The flight was fairly uneventful: waking us at midnight for a meal and at 3:30 for a croissant, which is 8:30 over here.  We have never had an easier time getting through customs.  After picking up our luggage, we search for a pay phone to call the people who were to let us into the apartment.  Now we're talking ordeal:  first waiting forever for a young Asian woman to get off the phone, then searching for another phone, trying to remember what coin was what failing to do the number correctly numerous times, asking for help--twice--and finally getting voice mail.  We took our chances and just took a cap to the let office.  In no time we were in the apartment.  I E-mailed Pat and Phil to let them know how to find the apartment.

At Newark Airport

We left at about 1:00 this afternoon, stopping at Bingham's for a birthday cream puff.  Nancy had caramel apple pie.  The traffic was light until we hit mid Jersey--oh, and the accident just before the Delaware Water Gap.  I dropped Nancy off at the terminal and the car in the long-term parking lot.  There were no issues with checking in or getting through security.  We ate dinner--including fried dill pickles.  Nancy did what she does so well--knit.  It's a sweater for Aldon--but don't tell him.  We were at gate 82 at this point but we soon had to move to gate 96, before learning there would be a delay due to maintenance issues.  We were, however, on the plane soon after 10:00.

On the Road Again

We will soon be flying out of Newark--on Tuesday evening--to meet up with Pat and Phil Rasch, our Aussie mates, in Edinburgh.  We will arrive Wednesday morning and they will be driving up from Whitby later that afternoon.  They've been touring Paris, Dejon, London and York since they left Adelaide on May 10..Once we meet, the plan is to tour Scotland, Wales and Ireland together, with one night's stay in the Lake District, i.e., Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and Beatrix Potter country.  I have marked on the map where we are staying and for how many night in each location.