This morning we boarded the bus and bid farewell to York, land of Harry Potter as we set our destination to bonny Scotland. As we continue our journey further north the signs of civilization begin to disappear as we head into Northumberland in the very northern regions of England.  Our first stop is in the small town of Durham with a population of about 50,000.  Durham is the location of the aptly named Durham University, and is mostly a university town, though there is a Durham Cathedral and a Durham castle also.  In fact, some of the locals are so proud of their town, there are a couple of locations in the square where volunteers stand in orange vests just in case any visitor had a question about Durham.  Cam did warn us though, that if you did ask one of these volunteers a question, that we’d best be prepared for at least a one hour lecture as a response.

But our mission here was only to use the toilet (the English call rest rooms Toilet on the signs) and maybe a cup of coffee.  We decided on lattes at Starbucks and wandered the streets of Durham sipping our coffees until it was time for the bus to leave.  We did manage to avoid the volunteers, though I did get accosted by a schoolgirl who looked to be about 10-12 years old looking for me to respond to a survey as part of her geography class about public transportation.  I did my best, but I’m not sure my responses were helpful. 

As we made it up to the top of the hill to see the Durham Cathedral, we did notice a bunch of tents setup with student protesters calling for the University to divest.   I assume this is similar to the student protest in the US about Israel and Gaza.  We did see one or two interesting shops that we would have liked to enter, but they didn’t open until 11:00AM.  But at 11:00 we had to get back on the bus and continue our journey northward.

Our second stop was a visit to a remaining portion of Hadrian’s Wall.  Built in 122AD, it marked the border between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north.  Though large portions have been destroyed or repurposed over the years, there are still some segments left.  This particular section is located in the village of Heddon on Wall.  It is just wide open and looks like most any other stone wall except for the signage.  It is amazing to think that these stones were set by romans almost 2000 years ago!  Since the wall is unprotected, I was even able to get a picture of Jody sitting on the wall.  Next to the wall was a field containing a beautiful brown horse that we quickly named Hadrian’s horse.

After spending just a few minutes taking pictures on Hadrian’s Wall, we returned to the bus and headed for our last stop on the way to Edinburgh.   It was only a few minutes later when we crossed the border into Scotland, nothing special, just a blue sign.  A little while later, we stopped at a roadside plaza called the Jedburgh Woolen Mills.  Located on the outskirts of the town of Jedburgh, it’s really just a roadside stop for tour busses, with various wool products and souvenirs, it also contained a small restaurant so that we could get an afternoon snack of cupcakes and sparkling water.

Back on the bus, our final destination of Edinburgh had arrived.  Our hotel, the Leonardo Royal, is located right at the top of the Royal Mile, leaving all the best souvenir shops and pubs within walking distance.  We arrived at about 3:30 leaving us two hours to explore before dinner.  Not wishing to miss an opportunity, we wandered down the Royal mile and checked out a few of the shops.  Jody found a great Celtic symbol t-shirt, but we decided to wait for tomorrow’s tours before buying anything more.

One thing we did notice along the Edinburgh skyline among the churches and castles was this modern, oddly shaped curly spire in the sky.   We assumed it must be some sort of modern art museum and were surprised to discover it was actually a W Hotel, owned by Marriot that they call a “ribbon hotel” but that the locals have dubbed the “poop emoji hotel” and that there is evidently a huge controversy over the design.  To me it just looks ridiculous, and I can’t believe anyone would seriously want to build this bizarre design, but I guess all publicity is good publicity, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that looked at the skyline and said WTF is THAT?

At 5:30, we boarded the bus for the 10 minute ride to a restaurant called Merchants in Old Town Edinburgh (Old Town Edinburgh is medieval, New Town Edinburg was built in the 1700s).  The food there was delicious and we both had salmon with mash potatoes, greens, and a cream sauce.  We also had Scotch Broth , and a heated brownie with ice cream for dessert.   We ate at a long table, but mostly talked with a couple from Walpole, MA named John & Sue who were great fun.

Dinner finished around 7:45, and we were warned or encouraged that there was a big football (soccer) match beginning at 8:00 and that we should either be wary or look forward to joining in the festivities at any and all pubs in town tonight.  Being the old, non-drinkers that we are, we decided to head back to the room, and get ready for tomorrow.  We have a full day ahead of us, with a castle tour, a palace tour, and  a walking tour by a local guide during the day, leading up to another fabulous Scottish dinner tomorrow night.