Post by Kim on Dec 26, 2001 11:11:56 GMT -5
26 December
Edinburgh, Scotland
Hello to all, and hope you are recovering from Christmas!
I spent a rather quiet day yesterday myself and actually enjoyed the down time.
I've been on the go somewhere virtually every day, so it was nice to have nowhere to go. Did a bit of reading, and just relaxed. Oh, and did laundry.
Had some real excitement this morning. At a little after 0800 the fire alarms started going off in the hotel. And kept going! I went into the hall, smelled nothing, but thought maybe best get dressed. Had just pulled my pants on when
comes a banging at the door and one of the mgrs told me we must evacuate...now! Grabbed my daypack, shoved my photo album, money belt, journal and exposed film into it, hat, gloves and threw on my coat and out I went. It was well below freezing this morning, and there were loads of folks outside with nothing but their pants and shirts on. Loads of them had been in the restaurant having breakfast so did not have their coats with them. One particular elderly lady
was shivering so hard I was afraid she'd fall over. Gave her my stuff, against her protests of course. She was a little frail thing and was swallowed by my coat, but at least she was warm. Got my coat back as we were finally allowed back in, but hat and gloves still missing. I am sure she will leave them at the front desk. Fire trucks showed up, although I never did see or smell any smoke. After about 45 minutes we were allowed back in. Quite an interesting start to Boxing Day I must say. And, initially I was just concerned as I couldn't smell anything in the hall, but once they said to evacuate I have to say my innards were shaking away. I am on the 6th floor, so had a bit of time on the way down the stairs to get pretty scared.
Edinburgh....what a beautiful city this is. I have spent the past four days here, and barely scratched the surface of it. Of course I have seen all the major sights, but have walked and walked exploring all the side streets and 'closes'. The 'castle' is amazing. It dominates the skyline and is such a
perfect backdrop to the city. It is huge, once again being composed of many seperate buildings. I went there on Sunday, and spent a couple of hours, then returned again on Monday to spend another 3 or so. There are several museums
contained within it's walls, the Scottish War Museum being the largest and wonderfully interesting. It concentrates a great deal on the 'highland fighter' and I especially enjoyed that. The so called 'Scottish Honors' are held at the castle as well. These are the crown jewels and what a history they have. Much more accessible than the English ones as well. Here, you can get right up to the glass and take a good hard look at them. At the English ones you are kept back a bit from them so not as an immediate feeling as here. They have a few, very few, rooms of the royal apartment open, but basically unfurnished and just a quick walk through. <br>
The National War Memorial is here, and if this is not the most impressive thing to see. It was built right after WWI as a memorial to those who had died. It is simply amazing! And, it is current up to this very date, in that anyone of Scottish nationality who is killed in military service anywhere has his name entered into the Books of Rememberance....within 3 days they say. There are volumes and volumes of these books now, all available to look at. It's a wonderful place indeed.
continued in next post...
Edinburgh, Scotland
Hello to all, and hope you are recovering from Christmas!
I spent a rather quiet day yesterday myself and actually enjoyed the down time.
I've been on the go somewhere virtually every day, so it was nice to have nowhere to go. Did a bit of reading, and just relaxed. Oh, and did laundry.
Had some real excitement this morning. At a little after 0800 the fire alarms started going off in the hotel. And kept going! I went into the hall, smelled nothing, but thought maybe best get dressed. Had just pulled my pants on when
comes a banging at the door and one of the mgrs told me we must evacuate...now! Grabbed my daypack, shoved my photo album, money belt, journal and exposed film into it, hat, gloves and threw on my coat and out I went. It was well below freezing this morning, and there were loads of folks outside with nothing but their pants and shirts on. Loads of them had been in the restaurant having breakfast so did not have their coats with them. One particular elderly lady
was shivering so hard I was afraid she'd fall over. Gave her my stuff, against her protests of course. She was a little frail thing and was swallowed by my coat, but at least she was warm. Got my coat back as we were finally allowed back in, but hat and gloves still missing. I am sure she will leave them at the front desk. Fire trucks showed up, although I never did see or smell any smoke. After about 45 minutes we were allowed back in. Quite an interesting start to Boxing Day I must say. And, initially I was just concerned as I couldn't smell anything in the hall, but once they said to evacuate I have to say my innards were shaking away. I am on the 6th floor, so had a bit of time on the way down the stairs to get pretty scared.
Edinburgh....what a beautiful city this is. I have spent the past four days here, and barely scratched the surface of it. Of course I have seen all the major sights, but have walked and walked exploring all the side streets and 'closes'. The 'castle' is amazing. It dominates the skyline and is such a
perfect backdrop to the city. It is huge, once again being composed of many seperate buildings. I went there on Sunday, and spent a couple of hours, then returned again on Monday to spend another 3 or so. There are several museums
contained within it's walls, the Scottish War Museum being the largest and wonderfully interesting. It concentrates a great deal on the 'highland fighter' and I especially enjoyed that. The so called 'Scottish Honors' are held at the castle as well. These are the crown jewels and what a history they have. Much more accessible than the English ones as well. Here, you can get right up to the glass and take a good hard look at them. At the English ones you are kept back a bit from them so not as an immediate feeling as here. They have a few, very few, rooms of the royal apartment open, but basically unfurnished and just a quick walk through. <br>
The National War Memorial is here, and if this is not the most impressive thing to see. It was built right after WWI as a memorial to those who had died. It is simply amazing! And, it is current up to this very date, in that anyone of Scottish nationality who is killed in military service anywhere has his name entered into the Books of Rememberance....within 3 days they say. There are volumes and volumes of these books now, all available to look at. It's a wonderful place indeed.
continued in next post...