ON TO EDINBURGH

This was not a good day to be Virgin.

The TransPennine Express

Our time in the Lake District ended, this was a travel day from Arnside to Edinburgh.

The plan was pretty straightforward; the execution wasn’t.

The plan was to catch the local train out of Arnside and take the twenty minute train ride to Lancaster. From there we would take Virgin Rairoad’s TransPennine Express, leaving every half hour, going directly to Edinburgh’s Waverly Station. Total time, roughly three hours.

The start went off well, even considering the quarter mile trudge from the Fighting Cocks to the Arndale train station, in the rain, dragging our rolling duffels. The 9:30 train arrived spot on time, and we headed down the tracks to Lancaster.

It was then that we learned that the tracks were closed north of Carlisle for maintenance, this being a holiday and all. As an alternative, Virgin Trains was providing buses, and a three hour bus ride from Carlisle.

At  Lancaster there was more good news from the big red V. There was also a shut down between Lancaster and Carlisle, so the Lancaster train would only go one stop, to Oxenholme.

Here’s the itinerary after Lancaster:

Train from Lancaster to Oxenholme.

Queue for bus to Carlisle

Queue for taxi to Carlisle

Ride 4 people and driver in a four person taxi (do the math) for 45 minutes to Carlisle

Queue for bus to Edinburgh.

Queue a little longer for bus to Edinburgh.

Take three hour bus ride on full bus to Edinburgh.

Arrive Edinburgh at 3:30 pm.

Say goodbye for the day to “Virgin Airlines TransPennine Express Rail Service.”

Things got a whole lot better after that. A brief taxi ride took us to the Scott House, or B&B for the next three nights. The Scott House is a big, old, well appointed, Georgian row house in a nice and convenient part of town. A four star B&B with a 5 star rating. We were met by Jemima, the owner (not the same appearance nor size as “The Aunt”, she noted), and shown to our rooms.  The rooms are both huge, and nicely furnished. We flipped, and Marty got the one with the poster bed and seating area.  I found this place on TripAdvisor, they’re also on AirBnB. If you ever come to Edinburgh, remember this one.

From the Scott House. It’s a 10 minute walk to the Royal Mile, and 20 minutes to Edinburgh Castle.

We can also say, at the end of our first evening, the Scott House is less than a block from a terrific pub, a good pub, a so-so pub, and The Olive Branch, an outstanding little bistro.

I’ll relate a couple of conversations Marty and I had with others during the day. First, on the 45 minute, close quarter cab ride, we shared the cab with a Mother and her adult daughter, off for several days in the Scottish Highlands. We all shared some of our travel experiences.  During the discussion, we learned they were from Manchester. The daughter is a teacher, and even noted that some of her students were at the concert when the terrorist bombing occurred last week. I noted how horrible that was for those students. She noted (and I swear this is true) that “it’s really good to see how the city is pulling together.” Now, I know I’m a crank, but I wanted to ask her, “pulling together?” To what end? Is there any anger? Is there any resolve to prevent this from happening again? Instead, I said, “I’m sure it is.”

The other conversation happened in the good pub I mentioned above,   

There was an elderly gentlemen sitting in a booth by himself. He was wearing a hat that said “US Army”, had an American flag on it, and several medals sewn on. He was probably a Korean War veteran, we didn’t find out for sure. We did find out that he was from New Hampshire ( pretty clear from his accent), that he was traveling with his wife, and he’d just stepped out to the pub. Before we left we were both able to shake his hand and thank him for his service. That opportunity made my Memorial Day a little more special. I hope he felt the same.