From the ferry
We had another transit day yesterday as we left Ireland behind and made landfall in Scotland. We had some suspense as Storm Ali started bearing down on the British Isles on Tuesday and we were scheduled to take a ferry between Ireland and Scotland that morning. Fortunately for us, the winds did not arrive until Wednesday and the sailing between Belfast and Cairnryan in Scotland was very smooth and uneventful.
The ship was quite large, with two truck decks, and various lounges including a restaurant and even a spa. We saw signs that you could upgrade to a stateroom, which seemed excessive for a 2 1/2 hour crossing. The bus ride took longer, around 4 hours. Much of it very scenic, so we we did not mind the length too much.
Neat lighthouse
From the bus
Also from the bus
Wednesday morning in Edinburgh greeted us with pouring rain (Ali had arrived) and we even began discussions of buying an umbrella, which was anathema to us Seattleites. By the time we did manage to step outside for the day, though, the rain had eased considerably and there were even patches of blue.
Tami had to get a shot of this place!
Side street heading up to the Royal Mile
We made our way up to the Royal Mile and took a tour of Mary Kings Close, a remnant of 17th century Edinburgh. The closes are small side streets, really more just steep staircases or ramps leading down from the Royal Mile which forms the backbone of the city. The small and crude living spaces of the close were covered over by new buildings on the Royal Mile and people still lived and worked underneath the new buildings. Sanitary conditions were appalling, as we know they were in the 1600’s, but throw in living without daylight and the constant presence of diseases such as the plague, and it makes for a rather gruesome living situation.
A plague doctor. The thing that looks like a beak was stuffed with herbs to take away the smell, as it was thought the smell was what carried the plague.
As we emerged from the depths of the close we found that the high winds were continuing with sporadic blasts of rain showers mixed in, so we opted for another indoor activity and went to the National Museum of Scotland. The museum is immense and we only saw a small portion, but Mike was taken with the bicycle collection and Tami was delighted to see some of the Lewis Chessmen.
Grand hall in the museum. Suzie said she has been to corporate events held there.
Lewis chessmen
Edinburgh is, of course, the land of Harry Potter creation and inspiration, so with Julie’s guidance we found some of the interesting related sights in the city. Greyfriar’s Kirkyard contains the graves of folks whose names may have inspired character names in the book. You can actually buy a map showing the graves with Harry Potter names on them. We found Potter, Riddell, McGonagall, Moodie, and several others on a dark, stormy, gloomy day. It seemed entirely appropriate. We also went by The Elephant House where she purportedly wrote the first book.
Best graveyard we have ever seen!
We potted Potter!
Just cool
We met up with our friend Susie for a delicious dinner at the Ox, a nice bar and restaurant near our apartment. We met Susie on our last adventure, the Uncruise trip to Alaska, and since she lives in Edinburgh she gave us a fantastic and comprehensive guide of things to see, do, and eat in and around the city. It was great fun to see her again and introduce her to Julie and Lisa. We had a wonderful meal with the best of company and hoped for better weather tomorrow.
Dinner with Suzie
Money troubles –
When we arrived in Belfast last Sunday we immediately got some cash at an ATM since we were in the UK and needed pounds sterling. We knew the rest of the trip would be in the UK so we got more than we needed for NI. On arrival in Edinburgh we went to use some of the paper money and found people scrutinizing it very closely until they found where it said “Pounds Sterling”. Then we noted, too, that the bills said either Danske Bank or Northern Bank on them. It was Irish pounds sterling!
We stopped in a bank to see if we could exchange them for “regular” pounds. No go since we did not have an account and we really didn’t want to open a bank account in Scotland. They said that the twenty pound notes were good, but since the five and ten pound notes were paper and not plastic, no one would take them. What?!?!? We got them from an ATM in the UK! So we headed back out and did try to buy something with a ten pound note. Nope, it’s no good. So then we tried a currency exchange place. Nope, but he suggested trying the post office, as the bank guy had also said. Hmm, the post office. Seemed a little strange but we hunted down a post office and got a number to wait in queue. Apparently post offices here take care of all manner of issues, including travel money questions and biometric something-or-others, whatever those were.
Our number was finally called and we explained our dilemma. The helpful lady behind the desk took a good long look at each and every bill and then reached in her drawer and counted out the equivalent amount in nice, acceptable bills for Scotland, including plasticky fives and tens. Yay! The funny thing was that half the bills say Bank of England and half the bills say Clydesdale Bank. As we learned from our Scottish friend Susie, if we were to take those Scottish Clydesdale notes down to England, they may or may not be accepted, depending on where in the country we might be. Sheesh.
We would have some very colorful and varied pictures of pound sterling currency to accompany this rant, but as Mike pointed out, we would probably somehow get in big trouble for putting reproductions of currency on our blog. We’ve had enough money trouble for one week!