It’s finally here! I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a couple of years and most especially this year as you know.
I arrived in Edinburgh around 11:30 am local time on Saturday (around 5:30 am back home). A couple of thoughts....
First, I think it is odd that at Heathrow you might exit your plane outside and then take a bus to the terminal. It’s not bad necessarily, just odd. Except if it was inclement weather. Then that would be bad.
Second, the plane to Scotland was old. Like propellers old. I’m not used to seeing that when I look out the window.
But anyway, arrived in Scotland (with luggage - yay!) no problems and met up with Magan and Darrell at the airport. Then we separated to check in to our hotels. They took the tram - I took a cab. Checked into my adorable little hotel. I love it.
Everything is perfect. This trip is going to be amazing.
And then 2019 rears it’s ugly head.
And I fall walking out of the hotel. I didn’t realize the threshold was higher than the stoop and rolled my ankle. Went down hard. I had to just sit there for a few minutes I was in so much pain. I tried to walk it off. I caught my uber as planned and went to meet Magan and Darrell for lunch, shopping, and then a walking tour.
I might have made it a block before the pain was so bad I told them to go on without me. And I went back to my hotel.
Upon my arrival, I was asked how I was doing and I burst into tears. The pain was so bad. Jack the concierge was so kind and gently insisted I go to the hospital and then he went with me. Stayed with me until I went back to a doctor.
Say what you want about universal healthcare but I was in and out in less than 2 hours. And it didn’t cost me anything.
tl;dr I rolled my ankle. Ouch
So I went back to the hotel. They upgraded my room for me and even got me flowers. And I spent the rest of the first day of vacation with my foot elevated and iced.
I also had dinner in bed. And it was delicious.
Ice and elevation did the trick. Well in that I was able to put minimal pressure on my foot by the time I fell asleep. Of course it was still painful and swollen, just mildly less so.
Woke up Sunday and immediately went back to icing my ankle and had breakfast in bed (porridge aka oatmeal). I successfully managed to get dressed and waited for Magan and Darrell. When they arrived, we stowed their bags in my room and headed out to the Glenkinchie Whiski Distillery tour.
I feel like I should take a moment and say I have never had Scotch. And once I knew we had this on the agenda I decided to wait until I was in Scotland to try it. Most people I spoke to prior to my trip seem to hate it.
Spoiler alert: I kind of liked it. I definitely prefer the smoky whiski but I found it quite pleasant over all.
The tour was cool and we ended by tasting 4 different ones. Oh and they are environmentally friendly with little to no waste throughout the process. So that’s cool too.
Once we were back in town we picked up our bags and said goodbye to the wonderful staff at my hotel. Dropped off our bags at our Airbnb. Well Magan and Darrell did. I asked the Uber driver to drop me off closer to the castle. I still had to walk a bit but thankfully skipped the stairs. I tried to take a photo of them going down but the sheer volume didn’t really come across.
Also when we dropped off our bags, Magan and I erroneously decided to ditch our coats. It was very cold and very windy at the castle.
oh! And on my walk up to the castle there was a girl hanging out with her beautiful pet OWL and if you know me you know what a struggle it was to keep walking past them. But last entry for the castle was 3:00 pm and I had 15 minutes to get there. Had I been uninjured I would have had time. But I am so I didn’t. I did snap a quick pic because it was looking right at me.
The castle is quite lovely and very old (parts date back to the 1100’s!). And the views were spectacular. I was slow but I managed to get around and see everything.
Afterward we walked back to our flat - we walked down a thousand steps (I freely admit I could be exaggerating but it is a LOT). Luckily down is significantly easier. Also I wasn’t in a rush.
Back to the flat. It’s super cute and we have a great view. Sat around warming up and catching up on social media for about an hour before heading out to dinner.
Dinner was at this cute little pub across the street called the Beehive Inn and it has been around for 400 years. Food was quite tasty but also we all realized we had been so busy we skipped lunch. So possibly anything would have tasted good at that point.
Back at the flat and off to sleep. We have a busy day ahead. Monday’s agenda: Holyrood House Palace, train to London, hopefully some shopping, and dinner with Afy and Sandira. I can’t wait. 💜
