STICKS FOR GREYFRIARS BOBBY

Train travel to Edinburgh was trouble free and I arrived at Waverley Station at around 10.50am.  I was due to meet blipfreind  P ( Memories4Me ) at The Scotsman Hotel at 1pm for lunch.  I wasn't sure where it was so decided to go there first to check it out and then have a bit of a wander.  Finding the hotel wasn't easy.  It was quite near the station ( as I found out later ) but following the map on my phone seemed difficult.  Got there in the end. 

Once I knew where the hotel was I had a walk to Princes Street and found a church which was holding a Craft Fayre so I spent a bit of time in there.  Then I had a slow wander back to The Scotsman.  I was early but I was able to sit at a table in the restaurant and wait for P.

She arrived around 12.45ish . ( she had travelled from Dundee today ) It was lovely to meet her for the first time.  She lives in Maine, USA and is in the middle of a 4 week holiday in Scotland.  We enjoyed our meal and then got a taxi to Prestonfield House -  P's hotel for the next few nights - so she could drop off her suitcase.  Then we got the same taxi  back into Edinburgh.

Next stop was The National Museum of Scotland.  A huge place full of interesting exhibits.  Far too much to see in one visit.  We made sure to see Dolly The Sheep and we went up to the roof terrace for some good views of the city.  Next stop was the cafe for ice cream.

Then we headed for Greyfriars Kirkyard to see the grave of Greyfriars Bobby.  If you aren't familar with Bobby this link will explain.  The custom is to leave a stick at Bobby's grave and I had brought 2 with me.  One is from the back lane behind my house and the other is one I brought back from Connecticut.  They are the 2 large sticks in my blip collage.  P added her stick from Maine on top of mine.  We added our travelling companions to the shot as well... Henry the special mouse who came with P and Baxter the dog who came with me.  ( We left the sticks but not Henry and Baxter )

Next we went into the Greyfriars Bobby pub for refreshments. Then it was time to get another taxi to Waverley Station where I was dropped off to catch the 6pm train and P continued on to her hotel.

By this point my phone battery had completely died but it was a good thing in the end as instead of looking at my phone I looked out of the train window.  The route passes close to the coast and I could see the sea for a lot of the time as well as lovely views of Berwick and Alnmouth, fields of cows and calves, sheep and lambs and lots of vivid rapeseed.  I would have missed it all if my phone had been working.

Got to Newcastle around 7.30pm and then a bus home... I was in the house by 8.20pm. 

So I had a really lovely day. A" Royal Day " as my Grandad would have said. Great to meet a blipfriend for the first time and have an interesting and fun time together.

Main blip shows Bobby's grave, the sticks, Henry and Baxter.  Extra 1 - a piper, a lovely thistle sculpture, P in the Greyfriars pub and a view from Princes Street.. Extra 2 - some of the exhibits in the museum - Dolly The Sheep, The Lewis Chesspieces, a beautiful dress and a replica effigy of Mary Queen of Scots. Took loads of photos today -- too many to post.

Newcastle United had a home game today.  As I couldn't go I had  offered my ticket to Neil but he was otherwise engaged ... he had a 3 years olds birthday party to attend  ( I think he would rather have gone to the match ).  So I sold my ticket back to the club.   I kept checking the score and was pleased to see Newcastle won 2 - 0 which takes them to 3rd in the Premiership table... and hopefully means they will qualify for Champions League football next season.  Fingers crossed the results of the last 2 games of the season go their way.

Steps today - 14,071