Stardate: 23 April 2019 - Greetings from Edinbrrrrr!

And how welcome this chilly weather is after our week residing in a London furnace, not to mention outings every day in woolies when the outdoor temperature was 25 degrees. But we did enjoy London and I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't - so big, busy, multicultural and historical. Fabulous.

We are now ensconced at 1/1 Forest Hill, Old Town, Edinburgh, a mere spit from the statue of Greyfriars Bobby -  like me, those of you who are pushing 87 years old will fondly remember the old Disney movie of that name from about 1933 when all of us were wee bairns.  It seems just like yesterday!

We had a slightly inauspicious start this morning - we had booked a car to take us from our furnace to Kings Cross station at 9.15am.  It would have been at most a 10 minute walk but we had a lot of luggage (particularly with Geoff's skis, hatbox full of fedoras, piano accordion etc) so we thought a ride in a stately minivan would be the ticket.  Our driver turned up at the appointed time and off we went, with all going well for at least one minute until we hit traffic gridlock. We moved maybe 20 metres in 25 minutes, at which time our driver said it was unlikely we would be at Kings Cross for our 10.30 train. So out we scrambled in the middle of the traffic (it wasn't going anywhere) and legged it to the station.  We did pay the agreed fare though as the the driver was so apologetic about the gridlock and seemed to take personal responsibility for it. 

Arriving at Kings Cross station we repaired immediately to the First Class lounge where we were offered a refreshing cup of tea and a biscuit as well as The Times newspaper.  Lefty comrades, I did read it but would hasten to add that I sneered and scoffed at every article.  I also cursed Rupert Murdoch and his idiot sons, so I hope I have redeemed myself.

I'm sorry for the (thus far) absence of pictures. They were all taken here in Edinbrrrr and Geoff will be reporting on that imminently.  One more thing before I hand over:  I learned today that the West Ham United Football Club club song is "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles".  Good grief.  They should listen to the Canberra Raiders rugby league club song "The Green Machine" and see how it's done.  Over to you, McSnorkypants!

                                                                                  ***

Our new digs seem quite acceptable, if not exactly looxoorious.  First impression is that it's very well located.  Old Town is pretty much in the middle of where you want to be in Edinburgh.  Now, when I say it's not looxoorious, here is the panoramic view out our front window.

 It's not really as bad as this makes it look.  It's in a dead end end lane and you have to go up the steps on the left to get in.  We hope that the dead end will mean no passing noise at 2 tomorrow morning.  We'll see.

The street from which the dead end lane runs looks quite promising.  Three pubs within about 50 yards.  Further reports to follow.  A promise, not a threat.

We're on the ground floor ( I gather quite an attraction in Edinburgh, where apartment buildings as tall as 6 storeys have no lifts), and so we also have a beautifully manicured back yard, as you can see.  Note the bowling green-like lawn and drifts of tulips and snapdragons.  I think that immediately over the back stone wall is Greyfriars Kirk and graveyard.








We've already done a supermarket run (an essential start upon arrival at a new destination), and found some modest local architecture.

I'm sure there are many more impressive examples of Edinburgh architecture (Edinburgh Castle probably counts in this regard), but this is the best we can do in the couple of hours we've been here so far.










In summary, we've made a good start, and it will be onward and upward from tomorrow.  If the weather is good that'll be great, but if not we'll make do with some indoor attractions.  Await further developments!