Our bed and breakfast hotel was tiny, but the reception staff and breakfast made up for it. The hotel was in close walking distance to 3 tube and/or train stations – Kings Crossing/St Pancras, Euston and Russell Square which made it extremely convenient for us to get around to see the sights. Some of those sights: Tower of London, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey (loved the tour), Buckingham Palace (just ok… , but did get to see Kate Middleton’s wedding finery and the wedding cake on display), Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower Bridge, the London Bridge (visited the Borough Food Market nearby –enjoyed some delicious paella!), window-shopping at Harrod’s, and picnicking at Hyde Park. A hop on/hop off bus tour, along with a Thames river cruise, also afforded us the opportunity to see a lot in our short London stay. Of course, we made time to visit some great local pubs each evening to relax and unwind over fish and chips, steak and kidney pies, and beer. Travel tips: Don’t try the chicken wings in England!!!; Don’t follow Fred up the emergency stairway in Russell Square – spiral staircase equivalent of 14 floors.
I'm a mystery reader. If you are so inclined, a good series to prepare for and/or recall all those London locations you visited – the Arthur May & John Bryant (Peculiar Crimes Unit) series, by Fowler.
Edinburgh was so much fun, but we only had a day and half to spend there. Fred rented a car at the Edinburgh airport and we wended (if you want to call it that) our way to the little village of Aberfeldy, which is just north of Perth. It was quite a harrowing adventure to watch Fred maneuver a big ol’ SUV - driving on the left side of the road WHILE managing a manual stick shift with his left, rather than his right hand. When you get off the freeways, most of the roadways are tiny lanes – at least that was the case in the areas we visited. We both loved the tour of The Famous Grouse whiskey distillery which was a half hour’s drive from our bed and breakfast in Aberfeldy. The next day we dropped off the car at the airport back in Edinburgh and took a taxi to our hotel near the Edinburgh Castle. Travel tips: Don’t EVER rent a car in Edinburgh and try to drive into the city yourself – Edinburgh is a maze of convoluted streets; Make sure your carry-on is wheeled -- I pulled my back with my Rick Steves carry-on/backpack and had to buy a wheeled suitcase to carry my backpack in - hah! (It has been challenging trying to manage what will be 3 months of travel with a 20 pound carry-on!)
My favorite mystery series for Scotland is the Hamish Macbeth series by Beaton – set in a fictional town on Scotland’s west coast. We didn’t have time to get to this area, but the books are so much fun, I thought I’d throw them out there. (The PBS series doesn’t come close to the characters or storylines of the books, but Robert Carlyle can be fun to watch.)
