We decided to make a quick overnight trip to Edinburgh on Monday. There was some family debate about the pros and cons of taking the train versus driving. The hotel we chose didn’t have onsite parking and Edinburgh has a lot of pedestrian only zones and one way streets – so I decided that the train was a better option. What have you heard about the reliability of trains in Scotland? I don’t remember any issues when I used them regularly many 
years ago. We were not lucky as the train we planned to take from Stewarton to Glasgow never showed up. There were a few folks on the platform who were equally confused about the lack of any notification and one lady with a mobile app said the next few trains had been cancelled with no notice or explanation. A quick call home and my Mum and Dad came to the rescue and shuttled us up to Glasgow to catch a train there. It’s interesting that all the station signs have a Gaelic translation as I don’t think there’s anyone in Stewarton who speaks the language or ever did.
We parked in Buchanan Galleries and my Mum was on a mission to get us to the station for Edinburgh and on a train as quickly as possible. I struggled to keep up dragging the suitcase behind me down Buchanan Street. We sprinted to a train that was just leaving the platform and less than an hour later were making the short walk from Waverley station to our hotel. We left our luggage and went out in search of lunch. The terrace at the Dome on Rose Street was just a block away and we enjoyed a very nice pizza and salad al fresco.
Suitably sated, we set out for a walk around Edinburgh – down into Princes Street Gardens and then up Castle Terrace to the Castle Esplanade.
This is a picture of the General Assembly building for the Church of Scotland and this is where my graduation ceremony was held back in 1985. Interestingly we went for a celebration lunch at the hotel that we stayed at on George Street.
We walked down the Royal Mile as far as Jeffrey Street, where I lived in a flat at number 21 in 1984, with Andy Bull and Stuart Johnson. On the way I pointed out the phone box where I would come to call home and McD forced me inside for a picture.
I chuckled to see the Baked Potato shop, the “Tempting Tattie”, still in operation right across the street from the flat. My Mum and sister had a story to tell about coming to pick me up when we vacated the flat and spending hours cleaning while I sat on the couch eating a potato from that shop – funnily enough I don’t remember that at all.
We headed back to the hotel to change for dinner at the Witchery at the top of the Royal Mile. The views out over the Firth of Forth to David’s homeland of Fife from the hotel room were quite impressive.
We weren’t sure what to expect from the Witchery – it got great reviews but we were worried it might be very touristy with less than great food. The setting is amazing with lovely old dining rooms and décor.
Our waiter was quite terse to begin with but we were able to warm him up and he gave some great recommendations. We started with steak tartare and then Diana enjoyed a beautifully cooked lobster thermidor while I had scallops.
We walked down the Royal Mile after dinner to the Malt Shovel, a pub that Andy Bull and I frequented when we lived on Jeffrey Street. It still has a similar feel but the bar area inside has been completed reconfigured – not what I remembered at all.
To cap off the night, we took a taxi to a speakeasy I had read about on Rose Street. It’s called the Bryant and Mack Detective Agency and is the perfect 1920s style speakeasy inside. The menu is delivered in an envelope marked “Confidential” and the bill comes in a “Case Closed” envelope.
Breakfast on Tuesday morning was back on Rose Street. We found a little pub with a cozy restaurant in the back and I enjoyed black pudding and eggs. I enjoyed the mural on the wall which included a caricature of the great Scottish comic Billy Connolly.
The rail trip back to Stewarton in the afternoon was smooth and uneventful – showing Diana how it should work.
Tuesday night took us to Braidwoods outside of Dalry for dinner. This is a restaurant located in a small farm house in the middle of the countryside and has only 7 or 8 tables. It has a Michelin star, the only place in Ayrshire with that award, and has retained it for 19 years, making it the longest running such recognized restaurant in Scotland.
What an amazing meal we had! Most of us had roe deer for our main while Diana chose lamb – both absolutely delicious.
I got a bit ahead of myself and forgot about the amazing appetizers – parmesan tart, pea soup, a beautifully arranged quail breast, and salmon terrine. You can zoom in on the menu for more detailed descriptions of all the ingredients.
We got a decent view of the Dalry church on the drive – the same church where my Mum and Dad were married 55 years ago. A big thanks to Elspeth for being the designated driver for our group.
While commenting on Elspeth and David’s wedding picture, I remembered the pictures of Will in his kilt and my Mum pulled out the album with these pictures. Didn’t he look great in his wee kilt?
Wednesday was our travel home day. The plane from Heathrow to Chicago was one of the 380 double deckers and it took a bit longer than expected to board. Just long enough for us to be impacted when a fire alarm caused an evacuation of the air traffic control tower. Diana decided to take advantage of the delay to get a nap in and seemed to think it was fine to have all her electronics spread around on her table prior to take off.
The delay was just long enough to cause us to miss our connection in Chicago. British Airways did a great job of having a hotel booked for us and onward flight reservations confirmed. We left the hotel at 5am to catch our 7am onward flight and of course that was delayed another 4 hours due to a tire change. We got home just in time for me to participate in a meeting that I had hoped to join. It wasn’t all bad – I appreciated the chance to stretch out and relax for a while after the transatlantic flight. I liked this champagne piano in the Chicago airport and we did enjoy the sunrise over downtown from the lounge.
And then it was back to the baking temperatures of Dallas after such a nice respite. We returned just in time for the record breaking hottest days of the year. Penelope registered 108 degrees at 6pm and we had 6 consecutive triple digit days. Whew – that’s hot!
All the travel downtime allowed me to finish “The Chessmen” by Peter May. This is another of my birthday books from Mum and Dad and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s a murder mystery set on the island of Lewis (where they do still have a lot of Gaelic speakers) and centers around a group of friends who were in a Celtic band in university that became quite famous. I enjoyed all the Scottish references and felt the remote island life was brought to life very well. The Lewis chessmen that play a role in the story are a real thing – they are carved from walrus ivory and were discovered in 1831 on Lewis. They are one of the few complete, surviving medieval chess sets and have very distinctive characters.
The band in the novel reminded me of the Scottish band Runrig that I haven’t listened to in several years. Many of their songs are sung in Gaelic as well and they have been popular for many years. Here’s a song from their 1981 album “Recovery”. I really enjoyed reconnecting with this music.