After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel at about 9:30am. The Tom Tom navigator took us out to the M6 for the trip north.
Suzy wanted to go to Hadrian's Wall and so we turned off the M6 and travelled into the centre of Carlisle to visit the tourist information office. They suggested that we go to Birdoswald because there is a Roman fort there and the wall is better preserved there.
This trip took us back towards the M6 through various narrow rural roads. Just when we were losing confidence in the Tom Tom, we arrived at the fort.
There was a small museum there giving the background about the wall and its history. We were surprised how little of the wall was still remaining. The museum said the wall was originally about 4.5m high and wide enough for the centurions to patrol. However most of the wall is now only about 1.5m high and 1m wide.
There were passing showers and it was quite cool. The car's dashboard said the temperature was only about 11C. However, about half an hour after we left, the sun was out and the temperature had risen to a balmy 15C.
We continued along the A74 until we reached the Abington turnoff for Edinburgh. We stopped there for lunch at an impressive roadside service centre (Welcome Break). This centre was more civilised than the service centres you see along Australian motorways. It had small cafes, a bookshop and even a gambling section with poker machines.
The traffic in Edinburgh was heavy and so it was about 4pm before we reached our hotel (Holiday Inn Express). We found the lane behind the hotel and managed to park close to the rear entrance to the hotel to unload our bags.
When we were checking in, we asked for a porter to help with our bags. She told us that Holiday Inn Express is a minimum service hotel and they don't have porters. The hotel room was small but had most of what we needed. It even had a pleasant view over the city to the harbour and rural areas beyond.
We'd been in phone contact with Steph during our journey into Edinburgh and she reached our hotel before 5pm. We went out for a walk along Princes Street, through the Princes Street Gardens to the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile starts at Edinburgh Castle and runs for a mile through the city parallel to Princes Street.
Steph took us to a nice bar for a drink and then on to an excellent Italian restaurant (Ciao Roma) for dinner close to where she lives. Despite the narrow frontage, it was quite a large restaurant. It was genuine Italian - Italian waiters, Italian food and Italian wine.
I had a very tasty rich chocolate desert. Suzy said I wasn't behaving like someone who's recovering from cardiac surgery but what the heck. It's not every day that you go to Edinburgh and we haven't seen Steph for months.
Our hotel has high-speed internet for a fee. Initially I decided to use my USB modem but it was very slow and eventually it gave me a message saying that I'd reached my download limit. So I decided to pay for the hotel internet service after all.
Click here to see my photos for this day.
Suzy wanted to go to Hadrian's Wall and so we turned off the M6 and travelled into the centre of Carlisle to visit the tourist information office. They suggested that we go to Birdoswald because there is a Roman fort there and the wall is better preserved there.
This trip took us back towards the M6 through various narrow rural roads. Just when we were losing confidence in the Tom Tom, we arrived at the fort.
There was a small museum there giving the background about the wall and its history. We were surprised how little of the wall was still remaining. The museum said the wall was originally about 4.5m high and wide enough for the centurions to patrol. However most of the wall is now only about 1.5m high and 1m wide.
There were passing showers and it was quite cool. The car's dashboard said the temperature was only about 11C. However, about half an hour after we left, the sun was out and the temperature had risen to a balmy 15C.
We continued along the A74 until we reached the Abington turnoff for Edinburgh. We stopped there for lunch at an impressive roadside service centre (Welcome Break). This centre was more civilised than the service centres you see along Australian motorways. It had small cafes, a bookshop and even a gambling section with poker machines.
The traffic in Edinburgh was heavy and so it was about 4pm before we reached our hotel (Holiday Inn Express). We found the lane behind the hotel and managed to park close to the rear entrance to the hotel to unload our bags.
When we were checking in, we asked for a porter to help with our bags. She told us that Holiday Inn Express is a minimum service hotel and they don't have porters. The hotel room was small but had most of what we needed. It even had a pleasant view over the city to the harbour and rural areas beyond.
We'd been in phone contact with Steph during our journey into Edinburgh and she reached our hotel before 5pm. We went out for a walk along Princes Street, through the Princes Street Gardens to the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile starts at Edinburgh Castle and runs for a mile through the city parallel to Princes Street.
Steph took us to a nice bar for a drink and then on to an excellent Italian restaurant (Ciao Roma) for dinner close to where she lives. Despite the narrow frontage, it was quite a large restaurant. It was genuine Italian - Italian waiters, Italian food and Italian wine.
I had a very tasty rich chocolate desert. Suzy said I wasn't behaving like someone who's recovering from cardiac surgery but what the heck. It's not every day that you go to Edinburgh and we haven't seen Steph for months.
Our hotel has high-speed internet for a fee. Initially I decided to use my USB modem but it was very slow and eventually it gave me a message saying that I'd reached my download limit. So I decided to pay for the hotel internet service after all.
Click here to see my photos for this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment