March 24, 2017. Fun day in Edinburgh

LOCATION:  Rural Scotland.  About an hour northwest of Edinburgh in Fife

WEATHER:  Sunnier.  Highs in 50s

 

We awoke in Edinburgh with this lovely view of the green from our hotel window.

We walked around the neighborhood and found a delightful deli for a goat's cheese quiche breakfast...

Instead of paying for the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, we bought an all-day pass on the regular bus line.  We left our luggage at our hotel, and off we went.  We hopped on the first bus that we saw, and it took us to the Queen Terminal, where the Queen's Royal Yacht, the Britannia,  is moored.  We splurged and went on the tour, which was well-done.

Here is Captain George steering the yacht.

Then, First Mate George enjoying a pint in the officers' lounge after a hard day at the helm.

The yacht is beautifully and very tastefully done up.  Lots of famous people have been fed in this  dining room.  

And this is the lounge area with a piano bolted to the floor, so it won't slide around at sea.  I'm sure the tiny house we are  building will look just like this!!!!!

The yacht has now been decommissioned (I think it is due to not being politically correct any more) and is used for special events.

After the tour, we took the bus back to the city center, stopping to look at the Edinburgh Castle.  Then another bus to our hotel to pick up our luggage and for a late lunch.  Then, instead of taking the airport express to the airport to pick up our rental car, we used our all-day pass to take the local bus there.  It took more than an hour!  We really got our money's worth.  

 

We picked up the rental car which of course is right-hand drive with a manual transmission.  There is no way that I could drive this!  George did quite well, and we only got lost once.    

We arrived at our next housesitting assignment, this one in Cupar, Scotland.  It is in Fife, about an hour north of Edinburgh.  We are only about 10 miles from the famous St. Andrews Golf Course.  The homeowner gave us an orientation about the care of 2 cats and 3 chickens, our charges while we are here.  The couple are French.  She is a professor at the University of St. Andrew.  They are off to Toronto for 10 days. 

 

DINNER:  Our homeowner made some chicken and French fries.  The 6-year-old wouldn't eat any chicken (due to the recent purchase of their 3 chickens) so had fish fingers.  Cute.