Picking up where we left off yesterday due to needing sleep. We only got about 2 hours of sleep on the plane because of a crying baby.

We did get to the other side of the airport and the plane took off at 6:08 pm EDT. In Raleigh it was 80 degrees and sun. We put our suitcases overhead and our backpacks under the seat in front. Only problem was Karen seat in front had a bar so her backpack did not fit and stayed between her feet, very uncomfortable.

The meal was served at 7 and we had a choice. Rick chose chicken with mushroom gravy, rice with peas and carrots while Karen chose a pasta in tomato sauce with sautéed spinach. We both had a roll, salad with oil and vinegar dressing, cream crackers with Swiss cheese and a fudge bar and water.

During the flight the screen in front of us could show movies and films but what we enjoyed was the information screen showing where we were, the speed, temperature, how far we had been and how far we had to go. It also showed where the plane was over the ocean. Lots of turbulence almost the entire trip. During the trip the outside air temperature was minus 65 degrees.

We landed at London Heathrow at 6:20 am London time which was 1:20 am EDT. It was 60 degrees and raining. We had flown 4,071 miles most of the time at 38,000 feet taking us 7 hours and 12 minutes. Our connecting flight to Edinburgh was set to take off at 9:25 am.

We landed at Terminal 3 at Heathrow and had to go to Terminal 5 for our next flight. That as a 10 minute walk to a bus and then a 20 minute bus ride to Terminal 5. Then we had to go through security lines twice. One was near the Customs area and had to be checked, get our photo taken and then went to another check where we had to show our liquids in the clear bag, which wasn’t even mentioned in RDU, and be scanned. Finally proceeded to the gate area.

Not that simple. The flight was going to take off about 15 minutes late, not so bad. Then a few minutes later it was to leave about 10. We decided we had plenty of time for breakfast. We found a place where we could sit down and eat. It was called The Crown Rivers. Rick ordered a bacon, fried egg, cheese on an English muffin and Karen had a bacon butty which was like very thin sliced ham on buttered white bread. We both had coffee.

The flight finally left Heathrow at 11:05 and flew at 17,000 feet with the temperature being 50 degrees and drizzle. We landed at Edinburgh at 12:02.

Our hotel, really a bed and breakfast (although the breakfast was not included with the room) was a 30 minute bus ride to downtown. Our innkeeper Lewis was most cordial and gave us maps and showed us things he thought we might like to see. It probably took him 45 minutes to an hour to go over the promotion of Edinburgh We found our room to be very small but very comfortable. Lewis told us the house was a manor house at one time and that our room was likely a storage room. A small bathroom (folks on this side of the ocean call it a toilet) had been added but was so small only one person at a time could get in. It did have a jacuzzi tub.

We dropped off our luggage and took off for a hop-on, hop-off tour of the town, which has about 600,000 residents. Tom, our guide, did a great job of telling about the town and some great stories of people who live or have lived here. Among those now is J.R. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, King George who had a problem with bad breath and liked the ladies, spurred the nursery rhyme, Georgie Porgie pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry. Tom also said the term “graveyard shift” came because the medical school in town needed bodies to work on and students were digging up bodies to sell to the school. The town hired people to stay at the graveyard at night to keep the “body snatchers” out and thus they worked the graveyard shift.

Also famous folks from Edinburgh included famous author Sir Walter Scott, who has a monument that looks vaguely like a space ship and is known as the gothic rocket. Another was Scottish national poet Robert Burns, who also has a monument. One we found interesting was Dugald Stewart, a Scottish philosopher. I’m sure I must be related to him and Karen learned that she’s related to Mary Queen of Scotts. So we must be royalty. And finally Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in addition to the Child’s Garden of Verses.

After the tour we struck out to find some authentic Scottish food but didn’t have much luck, believe it not. It was getting late, it was definitely cold with temperatures in the 40s and a light sprinkle falling. Since we did not have lunch and were really hungry, we opted for Hard Rock Cafe. We spent a while looking for our bus stop, rode the bus back to our room and were asleep after about 20 minutes.

Tomorrow we’ll recount our first full day in Edinburgh. I can tell you now (only because I’m getting sleepy) we walked nearly 6 miles on Tuesday and saw a lot.

Our bags were packed Sunday morning and we were ready to go. We figure the suitcases weighed about 27 pounds each and our backpacks weighed about 25 pounds each. We agreed after lugging them through our flights that we will check them next time.