#Scotland 2015 – Sept 23, 2015

Today we’re off to Edinburgh. Return train fare from Dunbar to Edinburgh, Waverly was £24.40 well worth every pence when it meant not driving in the city or trying to find parking. And I had haggis with my bacon and eggs with my breakfast!

Unlike Aberdeen and Dundee where we had taken the train earlier in our vacation, we didn’t have to put our ticket into the machine to get through the turnstile to exit the station.

The first order of business was for me to find a new purse. My black, cross-body bag wasn’t going to be big enough to take some things home in (iPad, paperback, etc) rather than put them in the checked bags and they were perfectly acceptable to take in carry-on.

Primark, H&M, Marks & Spencer, BHS, we hit them all along Princes Street. I had seen a few girls carrying purses that I really liked when we were in Dundee – black suede, fringed – but couldn’t find any. However, I did find one that I instantly fell in love with at Debehams.

Isn’t it gorgeous? I love it! And it’s got room for all the stuff I need to carry in it… and then some.  The girl on cash took the tags off it so I could carry it even though it was empty. It made no sense to get a back to carry a ‘handbag’ in. It came with a black cloth bag large enough to put the suede beauty in and some air-filled pillows filled up the rest of the space so it looked like I was carrying a normal purse.

As we were approaching the crosswalk to Princes Gardens, one of the guys trying to sign up new customers outside the Vodaphone store approached saying he could get us a good deal on our monthly mobile phone bill. His face dropped when we said we were from Canada. Mind you, after the experience with the EE sim and top-up card, Vodaphone is looking better all the time.

Where does a writer go in Edinburgh? This writer went to the Writers’ Museum.

Works by and personal effects that belonged to Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott are all on display – each with a full floor of the building dedicated to them.

Someone had a sense of humour at one time mounting the back end of a cow onto one of the buildings on the street. But then the street is called The Cowgate. Can we say “Udderly hilarious?”

Another place we visited was the Royal Oak Pub. I’m positive I’d seen on a website that it was a famous Edinburgh author’s local. I got the wrong end of the stick but now that I know, I’ll be prepared for next time. 🙂

No authors other than me (well, at least well-known that I would recognize), but some great characters and a pub filled with charm.

After a pint and a pee we walked to Grayfriars Kirkyard.

If these monuments look like they’re attached to the houses, you’d be right… they are! Well, if your house backs onto a graveyard, at least those neighbours are quiet.

I love this bus! The sign on the front shows “Holyrood Herse, St Andrew Square, and National Ghoulery”. The one on the back shows “Calton Hell, George Scare, and Deadinburgh Castle”. I think this is something to check out for future trips to Edinburgh.

By now, we were getting hungry. According to the Edinburgh map we picked up at or near the Writers’ Museum, there was an Indian Restaurant on Rose Street. Since we both like Indian, it was perfect. We made sure we started our trek on Rose Street close enough to Waverly Station so we could walk by Robertsons on the way for our curry.

There aren’t a lot of trains that stop in Dunbar so we didn’t want to be stuck waiting until late to get a train, but we had purchased ‘cheap same day return’ tickets which normally restricts you from riding the train at rush hour hence eating a bit earlier than we normally would.

Well wouldn’t you know. The Indian restaurant was closed! They didn’t open until later. After the ‘rented’ ale at the Royal Oak, we both needed a loo – badly. Thankfully, TGI Fridays was across the street so we legged it there for a meal… and the toilet.

We must have asked half a dozen ScotRail employees what the earliest train was we could get back to Dunbar with the tickets we had. Finally, we got to the right employees and as luck would have it, we could get the next one. Because there aren’t many trains that stop in Dunbar, the rush hour restriction is lifted and you can travel on any train which is good to know for future train travels.

We’re not sure what the delay was, but when we got close to Dunbar the train stopped and we waited for about fifteen minutes before moving again. When we did get to our stop, it seemed that everyone else on the train (well at least one carriage) got off. Obviously, a lot of people commute to Edinburgh for work.