Friday August 9
So it’s raining.
We have a city tour booked, so let’s get on with it.
Didn’t somebody say “Suck it up, Princess”? No? Oh, OK then.
We pile onto the bus, and are introduced to our local guide. He’s an elderly gentleman, resplendent in kilt, Sgian Dubh tucked into his walking socks, a traditional Glengarry cap, and a cane. He looks like an extra from Disney’s Greyfriars Bobby. An yes, he pointed out that statue as well.
As we wound around the meandering streets, he gave a continuous commentary about this building and that, which school was J K Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts. As interesting and photo-worthy as much of this is, we’re in a bus full of people on a rainy day. Visibility? Not so much.
After a while, we come to the pièce de résistance of the tour. Edinburgh Castle, the walking tour.
We step gingerly from the bus, with coats, hats or brollys at the ready. We each had our tourist badge, the tour-issued bright orange receiver with purple earbud. Mr Tammy Shanter had his device with the microphone all go.
As we head from the bus up the last hundred yards to the Castle entrance, there is a heavy drizzle.
There is some confusion at the ticket booth as to who might have our tickets. After a few minutes of waiting, we seem to have resolution. The ticket printer seems to be on the fritz, so we head off to the entrance with the group printout.
We make it all the way to the guy with the barcode scanner. What’s this? Och, no. This will’na do. Y’ll hafta go back down t’th’ bott’m ‘n pick up th’ tick’ts.
We backtrack only about 10m to an office titled Group Tickets.
So a stern conversation ensues between our guide and everybody in that office. They want him to take us all the way back down to the gate booth, and he’s having none of it.
I don’t know if he realizes that we a still plugged in to his conversations.
This is just like the 12 tasks of Asterix. Any invading nation would have been on their knees within days. Don’t defend with an army. Just attack them with bureaucracy.
Eventually something prevails, and we hear a printer churning away. And we’re off, each armed with the magical talisman required to get past GO.
We head on, under the portcullis, and we are inside the walls. It’s a bit like a village in here, and that’s how castles were designed. There are a handful of buildings pointed out, and we are led into the central courtyard. This is where the guide ends his role. He leaves us to wander at our leasure. By this time it’s a pretty steady rain, and the door to the Crown Jewels has a queue. We join the back of the line, being careful of carelessly brandished umbrellas. Eventually we make it inside and upstairs to the display. Meh. We queued in the rain for this?
After that underwhelming experience, we move on to the Great Hall, where all of the infamous banquets would have been held. Then it’s off to a cafe for a juice. Now we are heading back down.
To be fair, on a (rare) fine day, it’s a nice walk, and worth a look, and there’s a bit more to explore. On a wet day, not so much.
As we are leaving the castle, it’s pretty heavy rain. The cobblestones are now more of a river. We duck into a souvenir shop to escape. Scarves and rugs up the wazoo. By the time we come out, it has gone from torrential to just a heavy downpour. We persevere and head down and around the corner to the Thai restaurant we saw yesterday.
After another very nice dinner, we don our wet weather gear, and head off. We have had a respite in the rain, so we make a break for the hotel.
After a well-earned rest, we set off again in the coach, for the tour’s farewell dinner. Not far to go, it’s a really really nice place.
And that, as they say, was our tour.
A few places we really enjoyed, many we would wholeheartedly recommended, some we will definitely go back to. Our first bus tour, and all in all a success.
So it’s raining.
We have a city tour booked, so let’s get on with it.
Didn’t somebody say “Suck it up, Princess”? No? Oh, OK then.
We pile onto the bus, and are introduced to our local guide. He’s an elderly gentleman, resplendent in kilt, Sgian Dubh tucked into his walking socks, a traditional Glengarry cap, and a cane. He looks like an extra from Disney’s Greyfriars Bobby. An yes, he pointed out that statue as well.
As we wound around the meandering streets, he gave a continuous commentary about this building and that, which school was J K Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts. As interesting and photo-worthy as much of this is, we’re in a bus full of people on a rainy day. Visibility? Not so much.
After a while, we come to the pièce de résistance of the tour. Edinburgh Castle, the walking tour.
We step gingerly from the bus, with coats, hats or brollys at the ready. We each had our tourist badge, the tour-issued bright orange receiver with purple earbud. Mr Tammy Shanter had his device with the microphone all go.
As we head from the bus up the last hundred yards to the Castle entrance, there is a heavy drizzle.
There is some confusion at the ticket booth as to who might have our tickets. After a few minutes of waiting, we seem to have resolution. The ticket printer seems to be on the fritz, so we head off to the entrance with the group printout.
We make it all the way to the guy with the barcode scanner. What’s this? Och, no. This will’na do. Y’ll hafta go back down t’th’ bott’m ‘n pick up th’ tick’ts.
We backtrack only about 10m to an office titled Group Tickets.
So a stern conversation ensues between our guide and everybody in that office. They want him to take us all the way back down to the gate booth, and he’s having none of it.
I don’t know if he realizes that we a still plugged in to his conversations.
This is just like the 12 tasks of Asterix. Any invading nation would have been on their knees within days. Don’t defend with an army. Just attack them with bureaucracy.
Eventually something prevails, and we hear a printer churning away. And we’re off, each armed with the magical talisman required to get past GO.
We head on, under the portcullis, and we are inside the walls. It’s a bit like a village in here, and that’s how castles were designed. There are a handful of buildings pointed out, and we are led into the central courtyard. This is where the guide ends his role. He leaves us to wander at our leasure. By this time it’s a pretty steady rain, and the door to the Crown Jewels has a queue. We join the back of the line, being careful of carelessly brandished umbrellas. Eventually we make it inside and upstairs to the display. Meh. We queued in the rain for this?
After that underwhelming experience, we move on to the Great Hall, where all of the infamous banquets would have been held. Then it’s off to a cafe for a juice. Now we are heading back down.
To be fair, on a (rare) fine day, it’s a nice walk, and worth a look, and there’s a bit more to explore. On a wet day, not so much.
As we are leaving the castle, it’s pretty heavy rain. The cobblestones are now more of a river. We duck into a souvenir shop to escape. Scarves and rugs up the wazoo. By the time we come out, it has gone from torrential to just a heavy downpour. We persevere and head down and around the corner to the Thai restaurant we saw yesterday.
After another very nice dinner, we don our wet weather gear, and head off. We have had a respite in the rain, so we make a break for the hotel.
After a well-earned rest, we set off again in the coach, for the tour’s farewell dinner. Not far to go, it’s a really really nice place.
And that, as they say, was our tour.
A few places we really enjoyed, many we would wholeheartedly recommended, some we will definitely go back to. Our first bus tour, and all in all a success.
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