Last night's post ended rather abruptly because my internet time was running out. So I just stopped at the end of a sentence and hit publish. Good thing I did since my screen went to a login about 20 seconds later. The fun of shared internet in a lobby of a hostel. The first night, the music was a plus but last night it was really loud.

It is hard to believe but we are back in London now, our travel week has come to an end. We are in the common room at Gloria's hotel. Krista is getting ready to leave to come home tomorrow afternoon. I still have three more days, which I hope to take at a little slower pace. We have moved so rapidly through all the places that we have been that I don't feel I have quite realized that I am really here, traveling around the UK.

After the post last night, we went on a ghost tour of Edinburgh, which started at 9:30, making it suitably spooky. The guide told us a lot of interesting stories about suicides, murders, murder/suicides, the leper hospital, hangings and why the people were hung, one contemporary story of a murderer who thought he was a vampire. I will spare you the gory details, but feel free to ask if you are interested. We went into a graveyard and saw some interesting spots, then went high up on a peak above the city called Calton Hill. It afforded incredible views of the New Town and the Firth of Forth in one direction and the Old Town and Arthur's Saddle from a different vantage point. It was somewhat scary walking up the hill, as there were not lights on the path (hence the great night view of the city) and no guard rails. But at the top of the hill, the wind was strong and it began to rain. Then instead of following the path, our guide took a shortcut, coming down a significant part of the hill on slick uneven grass, terrifying me.

After we left Calton Hill, we came to an interesting passageway called 'Jacob's Ladder'. This is one of several sets of steps leading from a street on one level to one on a dramatically different level. This particular set of steps has four or five flights of steps, quite narrow from side to side. The steps themselves are somewhat uneven. It was still raining and they were covered with leaves, making it a real adventure. I clung to the rail and held up the 20 people behind me, but I descended safely. We then hiked back up the Royal Mile to the Bank Bar where as part of the tour we got a much welcomed free pint. The bar had live music, far too loud and suffered from the overheating we have found to be common in most of the places we have been. Apparently the low 50's seems pretty cold to folks all around the UK.

I have loved every minute of the trip, even the parts where my feet hurt up to my hips. Edinburgh was the most challenging as it is incredibly hilly. I don't think there was any level ground. I couldn't properly enjoy going down hill or down steps because I knew that it was inevitable that we had to go back up. But all that aside, Edinburgh was my favorite of the places we visited. I think I would enjoy a longer visit there, with time to explore some of the places that we just touched on during this trip. And I would love to do more traveling in Scotland, there was a minibus tour that went from Edinburgh to Hadrian's Wall with various interesting sites along the way. So much to see there.... perhaps there will be another trip some time.

We got up this morning and caught a train around 9AM for London. We took one train to Warrington, then switched to what was supposed to be an express to London Euston. Unfortunately there were mechanical problems affecting the first four carriages (we were in one of them) and they stopped and all of us in those four cars had to de-train. We caught another express just a few minutes later and arrived uneventfully in London.

Soon after, we walked from our hotel to Covent Garden to shop in the market there. It is an interesting mix of upscale shops, market stalls, street performers, restaurants. While shopping at a jewelry stall we heard a string quartet, a while later we walked through an area where a tenor was singing opera, a bit later there was a man with a six foot tall dragon with about a twelve foot wingspan. I found it to be a pretty fun place, although by that point in the day we were all really tired.

We had dinner at Pizza Hut because Krista wanted to see if they were different in London. Conclusion - yes, quite different. I had a Tuscani pizza special with chicken and portobello mushrooms on a pesto base. Surprisingly good for Pizza Hut.

This morning when we left for the train station, it was absolutely beautiful. Probably mid-fifties and sunny. But in typical UK fashion, by the time we were 30 minutes outside Edinburgh, it was gray and foggy and just a little later it was raining. By the time we got back to London, it was sunny here and it seemed to be in the low sixties. It was an amazing fall London afternoon. And fun to see all the adults in some type of costume walking around, ready for Halloween.

Gloria is planning to take Krista out later tonight for a snake bite. I believe that this consists of cider, lager (which I think is American beer) and black current. I have been invited to join them since none of Gloria's friends were available to go along, so it wouldn't be too embarrassing to have Mom along. So, I guess I will take advantage of the opportunity to experience London night life (hopefully a tame example).

Tomorrow afternoon Gloria suggested that perhaps we should go to one of the places on her list that is required for her class, she has quite a few she still needs to see. I think this is quite enough.