A Long First Day

We had easy time dropping our bags and getting through security. We met at the bar beside our gate in Terminal 3.

We had a good flight (airplane flight), dinner was all gluten and nightshades, so I only had the chocolate truffles for dinner. Arriving in Glasgow it was gloomy & rainy weather - no surprise there.

The customs was the easiest I have ever seen, they just watched us walk by without asking any questions.

It took longer to get our rental. The plan was for the girls to drive in Scotland, but the booking through Expedia was in Bill’s name. After trying to fix the booking online and on the phone with no success, it was decided that Bill would drive and we would spend extra for Sheila to be the second driver.

We are happy with our new Hyundai Tucson and it has enough room for all our luggage. There was some grinding of gears, drifting into other lanes, and hard braking but Bill was getting the hang of driving a manual on the wrong side of the road before we arrived in Edinburgh.

We parked by the Airbnb, again it took a while to pay for parking because the app would not work and we had no coins, so Bill had to call to pay over the phone.

I was hangry and had to pee so we ducked into the theatre and ordered our first Scottish breakfast at Wetherspoon. Again the app did not work here, had to go old school and order at the counter. The meal was not great but satisfying and made us a bit sleepy but also gave us energy to explore the area.

We did 1/2 of the Royal Mile and checked out some great gift shops along the way. Our accommodations were ready when arrived back at 1:30. We freshened up and had naps for a couple of hours.

There were some great restaurant and pub recommendations made by our hosts, so we made reservations at The Ship On The Shore in Leith district and walked down. It was a fantastic meal, the food was amazing, and Joanna (from Greece) provided awesome service! The highlights were our crab salad, my smoked fish plate, and the seafood pie (had a lobster claw in it!).

Joanna recommended a great pub, Dirty Dicks (short for Richard) on Rose Street that she used to bartend at. The guys really enjoyed their flights but I was falling asleep (the one hour on the plane and my nap this afternoon has not been enough).

We decided to walk down to the Abbotsford to try and connect with Karen’s uncle Sinclair but I think we were too late. We had a great time there. We sat at the bar and Alex did a great job chatting with the guys about their whisky while Sheila and I enjoyed the beers and ambiance. I really liked my S’mores Port (tasted more like raspberries than marshmallows). The most entertaining part of the evening for me was poking fun at the other bartender’s (Dan) musical preferences after he dissed Drake.

We walked back to our place and Bill decided to head to bed. Sheila, Doug and I went to a hotel lounge bar a few doors down to have a nightcap. Doug won the first round of Bitch Rummy.