2018 Sotland and England

The best place to begin is probably not with the most recent disaster: the spillage of a full mug of hot tea all over my backpack, fortunately not all over the computer (but very close) when there are so many others that might thrill more, such as having left my computer at TSA screening, but, again the idiocy of this oversight did not exceed crisis proportions for too long, since, owing to my abundance of training, I was able to race down one L O N G escalator, along a moving sidewalk, and up an equally L O N G set of escalating steps to the place where left-behind items congregate, and, with the help of an agent, was able to retrieve it, then race back over the course in time to board.  

Exhausted from the trip and the anxiety permeating this adventure, I stumbled into the hotel just before 8:00 a.m., and, using the worst technique possible, to wit, "Hi!  I have a reservation, and I know that check in time is not until 3:00 p.m.  I did ask for early check-in, but realise that that usually does not mean 8:00 in the morning," sought to evoke pity and lodgings right then.  "Let's see what we can do," he kindly replied, and then, after hitting some keys, added, "There are no rooms of the type you booked available, but I could give you an upgrade......."  He didn't exactly GIVE the upgrade; the fee was a chunk of change, but I would have paid triple to get into a room and get sorted. Willingly inserted the card into the machine. And yes, the upgrade was really nice. A tall skinny extra hot latte from the Starbucks three doors down worked wonders.  Refreshed, I headed out on a rare, beautiful, Edinburgh morning to pick up a slew of pre-booked train tickets and acquire a EE SIM card. Fortunately, there was an EE store close by, and I say fortunately because I had tried three other places, but none were to be had.  I think Alex must have bought the last one.  

I saw a bus:

 Have I not left home?  Am I Schlemiel gone to Warsaw?

Errands successfully accomplished, all but one, that is.  I have some old £10 notes that have to be turned in for the new variety, for merchants will not accept the oldies, so, as advised, I headed to the first bank I saw to make the exchange. "Oh, no," said the lady after she asked if she could help me, which, quite clearly she could not.  "We don't take those."   "But you are a bank," I countered.  "But we don't make those exchanges.  You have to go to London."  I wanted to say, "Are you bloody crazy? London?"  Apparently.

On many street corners there are guys like this guy.  A sign in their, "Please put your donations here containers," reads, "£1 to take a photo."  I paid and shot.

 There was a guy making art out of sand.  Of a truth he wasn't doing much of anything.  I am suspicious that he brings his piece, already made, before the tourists arrive.

Now THIS here is a dog!

There were lots of tourists heading for the castle.  When I reached the ticket booth, the line was reminiscent of those at Disney World during school vacation, in the middle of the day.  The closer it got to noon, the denser the crowds became, so I left this zoo to go to the real zoo.

Fortunately, I was awake enough on the bus from the airport to notice that there was a stop directly in front of the zoo.  "Even I can manage that," I thought.  And I could, and it was a perfect day for such an activity.

What coloration!

Birdicus whose titulus I do not knowicus:

Yeah!  You think it was me?

Well, it was those guys, especially that old fellow in the middle:

Now, as any zoo goer knows, a visitor will not get to see all the specimens on a given visit, because the animals are out of sight or hard to spot, hiding in a cave or something, but, Bertus, what ever did you do.......or not do to merit banishment?

A rather flamboyant dragon made out of little bottles:

Methinks it is time for a dip:




My favourite species of the day, after the two giant pandas, was the Malayan Tapir.  I was so sad not to be able to get his snout.  Definitely worth a look-up on line.

A hunting and gathering expedition in the freezing cold lower level of M&S yielded some decent provisions, at least enough to get started. Having a frig in the room is major perk #1. Oh, and along with the "it's on us bottle of water," there is a bottle of beer.  How is that for a welcome!