This morning we took a tour that included a two and one half mile cliff top walk with views of the Atlantic. Our guide said it would be a “leisurely stroll.” My first clue that it may not be all that leisurely was that every other person going on the tour was dressed in high-tech hiking clothes and shoes, carrying back backs and wielding fancy hiking poles. I felt like yelling, “Wait! There’s been a huge mistake! I’m not ready for this; let me off this bus!” But instead, I just sat there quietly, feeling like an idiot in my sweater, jeans and black leather riding boots.When we arrived at the cliffs, the tour guide kept admonishing us to watch our step and not to get too close to the cliff edge because the sandstone can get a bit “slippy.” An understatement. For two and a half miles we walked on some of the roughest terrain imaginable, over land covered with big rocks, mud, sand and tall grass. We climbed three fence stiles, walked up and down numerous steep hillsides and practically crawled across several muddy ditches. I barely had time to note the scenery because I was so worried about: A. Falling down and busting myself, B. Trying to see where I was going with a hood that kept falling down over my eyes (did I mention it was raining?), C. Ruining my good leather boots, D. Sweating through all of my inappropriate clothing and, E. Keeping up with the “leisurely” pace without looking as if I were about to pass out.When we arrived at our destination, everyone else looked rejuvenated and ready for another go. I was hot, sweaty and breathing hard, my hair was bedraggled and my boots were splattered with mud. Oh, and as a final indignity, I slipped and fell flat right at the end of the hike.The upside: We saw Iron Age Brochs by the ocean and Skara Brae, a 5,000 year old village that was buried until 150 years ago, spectacular ocean views and archeological digs. So, in the end, as our Scottish guide pointed out, “It was a fine, soft day.” For some of us, anyway.

An Iron Age Broch

Our busiest day yet!  We punched a time clock on having a good time today.  Tendered to Edinburgh first thing this morning and first visited Edinburgh Castle, next the Royal Mile and after that, Holy Rood Castle where Mary, Queen of Scots, reigned several years before being imprisoned and then later beheaded for her alleged role in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I (short version of a very long, miserable story).  

The first thing Doug asked me this morning is if I had on comfortable shoes.  I looked at him and said, “If your standard is that my feet won’t be bleeding by the end of the day, then yes.”  I’m not sure how anyone trails around on cobblestone streets, trudges up and down hills, slogs through castles, ruins and churches without feeling like one’s feet have turned to bloody stubs by the end of the day.  On the bright side, I met all of my Apple Watch exercise goals with ease.

We were in a tour group today, as we often do on these cruises just to make sure we see all of the sites (again, punching a time clock).  We always have “favorite” characters of the day.  Today the honors go to Mr. Photog and Miss Selfie.   Mr. Photog was an awkward, nerdy guy from somewhere in the U.S. (I’m guessing Omaha) and had two enormous cameras strapped on with a really serious back strap type contraption.  He took a zillion pictures of everything.  He even made the tender captain stop to take several pictures of seals on a buoy.  Our second contender was a woman from China.  She had extremely heavy eye makeup

and straight across heavy bangs.  Surprisingly, the rest of her hair appeared to be in longish Shirley Temple ringlets.  The entire day she held up her iPhone on a selfie stick and posed for endless selfies with historic stuff in the background.  “Here’s me in the front of the oldest church in Scotland, here’s me in front of Holy Rood, here’s me in front of everything in Edinburgh.”

Oh, yeah, the Firth of Forth.  We were either riding on a boat on it, or looking at it, or probably both several times today.  

We have spent the entire day on the ship with 900 of our closest friends (Doug took issue with my count of 500). I have barely spoken to anyone (except for Doug) all day and when I have, it has not gone well. After breakfast, two nice couples asked us to play Trivia with them and I said, “No thank you, we’ll pass.” They looked at me as if I had let out a stream of swear words. Okay. My next foray into polite conversation was this evening in the Lady’s. As background information, they have a recording of birds chirping in all of the women’s restrooms. (Can’t speak for the men’s because Doug doesn’t hear high frequencies.) I said something mildly amusing to the lady washing her hands next to me and she looked at me blankly. Then I said, “I think I hear birds chirping.” No response. Finally, tonight at dinner in the buffet style restaurant, I was reading the tiny signs explaining the food and one said “Veal Breasts.” I turned to the lady next to me and said, “Aren’t veal too young to have breasts?” Birds chirping.

We got up this morning with the goal of making it to at least one WWII something before we leave London.  I would like to wax witty about the Imperial War Museum, but I’m pretty sure one can’t wax witty and especially about a war museum. It is a superb display about War I and World II, with a myriad of interesting artifacts like spitfires, tanks, uniforms, cannons, guns and so forth. Quite sobering.  Time well spent and once again, it was free. On the way back to the ship we decided to come by boat down the Thames rather than by taxi (the taxi would be on land, not on the Thames, of course) just to mix it up.  The trip was narrated by a young man who obviously had not narrated anything before in his life, but his enthusiasm made up for what he lacked in polish.  In the middle of the trip he brought around a bucket to ask for tips.  His way of asking was, “Any appreciation?” over and over.  It seemed to work well for him. These Viking boats are small enough (around 500 people?) that you tend to see the same people over and over.  That can be both a good and a bad thing.  One guy we are already trying to avoid is a guy who has a laugh exactly like Peewee Herman. http://youtu.be/CYIKw91sAWE  He laughs both loud and often.   I would offer my deepest sympathy to his traveling companions, but they might think it’s an endearing quality. Tonight we sail at 8:45 PM and head for Edinburgh.

So, I suppose you know by now that I had a bad blog day yesterday. Nothing went right for me, largely due to,the weak WiFi on the ship. But just in case you were worried sick,  I’m back on track today. So, onward and upward!

First we took a cab from our hotel in Westminster to the wharf in Greenwich.  It was black, not gingham check as the one pictured below.  We spotted our ship and made a beeline to get on board, just in time to have an al fresco lunch.  (Actually, I think al fresco is a dumb way to say eating outside, but I wanted to impress my bloggees). Whatever.  We watched tour boats go by on the Thames and generally kicked back and rested up after a morning of doing absolutely nothing. After lunch, we checked out our room and the rest of the ship.  Then later we mustered at our muster station.  It went fairly well as far as musters go. Pictures in semi-chronological order of the exciting events of our day:

A preview of the plasters I had to buy at Boot’s Pharmacy for my sore feet after today’s activities. This morning we blithely set out walking thinking we were going to Churchill’s War Rooms.  When we arrived, there was a queue a mile long with at least a two hour wait, all in the hot, baking sun.  Summer in Europe.  So, on to Plan B: The National Gallery.  It’s free of charge, by the way, and there are absolutely no security measures.  It’s also humongous, so there were thousands of people there.  Seems a bit of a security challenge, doesn’t it? I love art museums, and the National Gallery was the perfect way to while away the afternoon.  Here’s me photo bombing the Van Gogh.t

Arrived at our hotel about 9:30 A.M., but couldn’t check in until 1:30 P.M. Our hotel has a comfortable lounge with food and drinks, but lounge chairs are just not enough when you are starved for sleep. Finally, they let us check in at around 12:30 P.M. We took a solid three hour nap this afternoon and then went for a walk about in our hotel’s general neighborhood. So, on to the Pubs.

 

Noisy, too many lights, random announcements and weird food. Someone went pail and clammy in row 33.  The best thing about an airplane is that they don’t try to wake you up and take your blood every four hours.  I just couldn’t add pictures of me unceremoniously flopping around all night, trying to get comfortable and sleep for a bit.  The first picture is Delta’s promise for a relaxing, enjoyable evening.  The second picture is the hard reality.

So it’s around six P.M. and we’re off to London Heathrow. .

Doug is here too! Long trip ahead. Time to settle in!

SO . . . I’m trying to pack (not really; no serious packing has happened) and also trying to set up a travel blog post because one of my friends suggested it today. Quite the learning curve, I’d say. Good grief! Should I add a picture of the things I have packed so far? Okay, I will. Four pairs of random shoes: black low sandals, gold high wedge sandals, black suede low boots, black leather higher boots. Bet you can’t guess where I am going with this shoe wardrobe.