Saturday August 10
So this is the beginning of our post-Trafalgar holiday. Anything that goes wrong will be my fault.
We grab breakfast at the hotel, before we catch a ride with the coach to Edinburgh Airport. This is his second and final shuttle trip, ensuring everyone who is flying out gets to the aerodrome on time.
We aren’t flying out, but we are picking up our car from there.
We leave about 0720, and say goodbye to everyone at just before 0800. From the coach stop, they turn left for the terminal, we turn right for the rental centre.
We are hoping to get away early, and get a head start on our day. The booked pickup time is 1000, but we might get lucky. We don’t. The car isn’t there. It won’t likely be there till 1000. Bugger.
While I’m waiting to be disappointed, I’m standing behind a French couple who have just flown in. Like everywhere in the known world, you need a credit card to put a deposit on the hire. They don’t take cash and they don’t take debit cards. That’s pretty universal. The French couple have a debit card and no credit cards. So that conversation was destined to last a while, and end badly for them.
I think I mentioned that to get an automatic, the ‘entry level’ was a Jaguar XE or similar. A couple of weeks ago I checked the app again, and it had magically become a BMW or similar. The woman told me it would only ever be a Jag or a Beemer. Today it’s the Beemer. But I need to wait till 1000 to get it.
While we’re waiting, Sarah wants hot water for her teabag. I do the walk to the terminal looking for a cafe. Just inside, next to a Marks & Sparks supermarket is a Starbucks. I get a coffee and they’re happy to give me a large hot water for Sarah. On the way there, I passed the train station. Handy.
Being the sort of guy who notices weird stuff (and is oblivious to much more important stuff), I noticed a surprisingly functional ashtray. Yes, I know. An ashtray. Listen. I don’t get to choose the stuff that gets my attention.
As fascinating as all that minutiae is, just wait for this. To fill in time, Sarah went to buy some on-the-road nibbles at the M&S. This is Sarah’s ‘ashtray’. Wherever we go, she’s got to check out the local supermarket. Are we made for each other or what?🤦🏼♂️
So 1000 comes around and the car is ready. We load up, and we’re off. Now I’ve never driven a BMW before, so I just need the minimum survival level level to get on the road. Yes it’s an automatic, but just changing between F, R and P is proving to be challenging.
We accidentally trip over the GPS controls, so tell it the first place we want to go. Rosslyn Chapel, of DaVinci Code fame. It’s just outside Edinburgh, about 20 minutes drive.
Once we’re on the road, I notice that the GPS on the central screen is pretty good. It also appears, in a slightly different format, on the control screen in front of me, tucked in beside the speedo display. But wait, there’s more. This car also has HUD, so I’ve got 3 different versions of GPS to choose from.
I also noticed that this is a diesel. Bugger, I hate diesel. Let me clarify. I’ve never driven a diesel car, but since the VW debacle, and what I’ve heard and read about emission problems, I hate the concept of diesel. I see it is banned in some parts of the world, and expect it to go the way of the dinosaurs in the not too distant future. For those who are interested in this topic, and anything else car-related, check out John Cadogan at autoexpert.com.au. Not only is he hilarious, but easy for even thickshit auto-philistines like me to understand.
Anyway, we make it to Rosslyn without drama. I think I only took a wrong turn once, so that’s pretty good for a new GPS. Couldn’t take photos inside, but took a couple of the outside. It’s amazingly detailed for a small chapel, and is famous for having a wide range of styles represented.
After Rosslyn, I program in our fist English destination, a town called Keswick in the Lakes District. Should take a bit over 2 hrs. The drive from Rosslyn is very nice, good roads, very picturesque, lots of wee villages. Nice.
We get quite a distance when I say to Sarah that we may be driving all the way to England on these second tier roads. That would be nice.
No sooner had I spoken the words, we sweep around a bend, and here is the on-ramp to the 6-lane motorway. Ah well, it was great while it lasted.
The motorway is actually pretty good, and we can pick up the pace a little. We’re so glad we took the detour to Rosslyn. If we hadn’t, we would probably have spent almost the entire drive on this motorway.
The other difference is the rain. At Rosslyn and through the villages of the Scottish countryside, not a hint of rain. Within a few minutes of hitting the motorway, the rain started. Sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes torrential. Visibility isn’t flash either the wake turbulence of three lanes of vehicles, many which are trucks or buses. Ah well.
So this is the beginning of our post-Trafalgar holiday. Anything that goes wrong will be my fault.
We grab breakfast at the hotel, before we catch a ride with the coach to Edinburgh Airport. This is his second and final shuttle trip, ensuring everyone who is flying out gets to the aerodrome on time.
We aren’t flying out, but we are picking up our car from there.
We leave about 0720, and say goodbye to everyone at just before 0800. From the coach stop, they turn left for the terminal, we turn right for the rental centre.
We are hoping to get away early, and get a head start on our day. The booked pickup time is 1000, but we might get lucky. We don’t. The car isn’t there. It won’t likely be there till 1000. Bugger.
While I’m waiting to be disappointed, I’m standing behind a French couple who have just flown in. Like everywhere in the known world, you need a credit card to put a deposit on the hire. They don’t take cash and they don’t take debit cards. That’s pretty universal. The French couple have a debit card and no credit cards. So that conversation was destined to last a while, and end badly for them.
I think I mentioned that to get an automatic, the ‘entry level’ was a Jaguar XE or similar. A couple of weeks ago I checked the app again, and it had magically become a BMW or similar. The woman told me it would only ever be a Jag or a Beemer. Today it’s the Beemer. But I need to wait till 1000 to get it.
While we’re waiting, Sarah wants hot water for her teabag. I do the walk to the terminal looking for a cafe. Just inside, next to a Marks & Sparks supermarket is a Starbucks. I get a coffee and they’re happy to give me a large hot water for Sarah. On the way there, I passed the train station. Handy.
Being the sort of guy who notices weird stuff (and is oblivious to much more important stuff), I noticed a surprisingly functional ashtray. Yes, I know. An ashtray. Listen. I don’t get to choose the stuff that gets my attention.
As fascinating as all that minutiae is, just wait for this. To fill in time, Sarah went to buy some on-the-road nibbles at the M&S. This is Sarah’s ‘ashtray’. Wherever we go, she’s got to check out the local supermarket. Are we made for each other or what?🤦🏼♂️
So 1000 comes around and the car is ready. We load up, and we’re off. Now I’ve never driven a BMW before, so I just need the minimum survival level level to get on the road. Yes it’s an automatic, but just changing between F, R and P is proving to be challenging.
We accidentally trip over the GPS controls, so tell it the first place we want to go. Rosslyn Chapel, of DaVinci Code fame. It’s just outside Edinburgh, about 20 minutes drive.
Once we’re on the road, I notice that the GPS on the central screen is pretty good. It also appears, in a slightly different format, on the control screen in front of me, tucked in beside the speedo display. But wait, there’s more. This car also has HUD, so I’ve got 3 different versions of GPS to choose from.
I also noticed that this is a diesel. Bugger, I hate diesel. Let me clarify. I’ve never driven a diesel car, but since the VW debacle, and what I’ve heard and read about emission problems, I hate the concept of diesel. I see it is banned in some parts of the world, and expect it to go the way of the dinosaurs in the not too distant future. For those who are interested in this topic, and anything else car-related, check out John Cadogan at autoexpert.com.au. Not only is he hilarious, but easy for even thickshit auto-philistines like me to understand.
Anyway, we make it to Rosslyn without drama. I think I only took a wrong turn once, so that’s pretty good for a new GPS. Couldn’t take photos inside, but took a couple of the outside. It’s amazingly detailed for a small chapel, and is famous for having a wide range of styles represented.
After Rosslyn, I program in our fist English destination, a town called Keswick in the Lakes District. Should take a bit over 2 hrs. The drive from Rosslyn is very nice, good roads, very picturesque, lots of wee villages. Nice.
We get quite a distance when I say to Sarah that we may be driving all the way to England on these second tier roads. That would be nice.
No sooner had I spoken the words, we sweep around a bend, and here is the on-ramp to the 6-lane motorway. Ah well, it was great while it lasted.
The motorway is actually pretty good, and we can pick up the pace a little. We’re so glad we took the detour to Rosslyn. If we hadn’t, we would probably have spent almost the entire drive on this motorway.
The other difference is the rain. At Rosslyn and through the villages of the Scottish countryside, not a hint of rain. Within a few minutes of hitting the motorway, the rain started. Sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes torrential. Visibility isn’t flash either the wake turbulence of three lanes of vehicles, many which are trucks or buses. Ah well.
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