Off to Scotland 24 September

It rained today, all day; it rained when we left St. Albans at about 9:30am and it was raining when we arrived in Edinburgh some ten hours later. In fact, it rained the entire time we were on the road. Even when we stopped for lunch in Ripon, about midway, it continued to rain.

The drive up the A1, the Great North Road, clearly fit into that category of trying men's souls. Richard did a stellar job of piloting and Pauline navigating -- with the help of their SATNAV system when it came time to skirt traffic snarls, particularly around Newcastle.

Oh, and about that lunch in Ripon -- another curious twist of events. Pauline had booked lunch for us at the Royal Oak and yet no one said anything about the village being one of the major stages of the (then) upcoming World Cycle Championships. We learned the hard way, of course. When we arrived at Ripon in the driving rain we discovered the entire city center was closed for the races -- naturally that's where our restaurant was located. And when we tried to park in the one-and-only car park it turned out to be flooded and thus unusable. We had no sooner cancelled our reservations -- the restaurant was no help in suggesting alternative parking -- anyway we had no sooner cancelled than we snagged a parking spot on the street near the edge of town.

A short walk into town past the cycling and racing stalls and we soon found ourselves in a dry, quiet corner of the Royal Oak Inn, Ale & Dining House.

The hassles aside, the place was quite nice, good service and the food very tasty; Susie and I had fish-and-chips with mashed peas, which were really quite tasty; Richard and Pauline had the ham-and-eggs. It was a much-needed rest stop, particularly for our driver and navigator.

After lunch it was back to the car and off to the A1 heading north. Once we hit the greater Newcastle area, traffic began slowing and our driving crew opted to get off the major motorway and head in a more direct fashion to Edinburgh by taking the A696.

The highway was a nice change from the major motorway of the A1 and a lovely drive through a part of the country we had visited some five years before with R & P when we took on Hadrian's Wall. Unfortunately, the weather was the same then as well: rainy and a bit chilly.

It was dark and yes, still raining by the time Richard piloted us all into Edinburgh's city center, and after correcting one wrong turn we found our room for the next four nights: The Dynamite Club at 2 Cambridge Street, in the shadow of the Edinburgh Castle.

Standing in the street in the rain we said our farewells to R & P -- we'll meet up with them sometime Saturday morning for the return drive back south.

After settling in we made our way back outside, around the corner and grabbed a rice bowl and a glass of wine at Wagamama's for dinner. Then it was back to the room and to bed.

Tomorrow it's the heart of Edinburgh and tea at the Balmoral. Stay tuned!