London, Day 4: Chasing/Waiting on RR and some other stuff rather than food porn, maybe :)

 Hi Thinning Readers,

Today, somewhat to our chagrin,  was our last day in London. ):  We all were bummed about that. 

Also a bit of a bummer is that last night's blog has yielded quite a few readers short of recent numbers. ): Wonder why.  

Anyway, it's always good when someone tells you what to put in your blog. :)

I was told I had to put this picture --

If you can't tell, it is a house made of biscuits (English for a cookie),  which was displayed at Fortnum & Masons.   Which is where we visited after high tea.  

Here's one of the confectionary cases there:

Yes, those are ghosts!!!

Okay, about our day.  It started with breakfast at the place we ate Sunday, so I won't bother repeat the pictures.  

Then we walked down to Bond Street station, about 10 minutes, going to the British Museum.

We had tickets and got right in.  And at this point we sent RR with a map off on his own, as we had been there both in '22 and '24.  We took our time, went to see the Sutton Hoo collection again, and K decided she wanted to see the Thorn Reliquary, which it took awhile to find.

One of the amazing things about this trip to the museum was the Bayeaux Tapestry stuff.  The tapestry (I'll skip the lecture about it) is on display at the museum for the first time ever.  It was made in ~1080 and they think this is the first time it's been back since around 1200.  A big deal.  I really, really wanted to see it, having studied it since I was an undergrad.  But there were no tickets till January (another long story).

So, being there, here is all this stuff.  I don't know how to explain what "all" is: jigsaw puzzles, shopping bags, shirts, decks of cards, kids shields and helmets and swords, all kinds of sewing kits.  And about anything else you could imagine.  There was an eraser like a stone with a soldier from the tapestry on it. 

We dilly dallied while RR sped through every room -- he said.  :) 

Here's the amazing purse cover from Sutton Hoo -- I love the cloisanne:

Around 2 o'clock, we headed for St. Paul's.  K was melting (it was, she reported, 14 degrees above normal today).   RR paid to go in and disappeared.  He seemed to be gone for a long time and when he reappeared, he acted pooped.  Turned out that he went all the way to the top!!!  He said it said something like 700 steps but he had to go (I'm told his kids will find this "so dad", but it was a bit crazy).  

We were running late for high tea, so made our way back to the flat and got ready.  We got to tea in time. 

I had made reservations at the Wolseley, which is across the street from the Ritz.  We've been there several times.  

Here's the pic of the carousel:

And then we made our way back for an early night of blogging and packing. 

We fly to Rennes, France, tomorrow at 1235.  We have a bunch of days coming that are one and out, so I'll have to catch you up on here.

We're all sad to be leaving here, but looking forward to the next legs of the adventure.  At least tomorrow i get to drive on the right side of the road. :)

And with that I bid you cheerio!

PS there was another episode of "bike almost hits K" ):  It missed, but it's been crazy here.  Hopefully that ends tomorrow. 

RR does London (mostly food pics)

 Hi all,

Back today with the first back-to-back blogs of the trip.  This is somewhat in response to yesterday's comment about that many words. 😂 That comment is both ironic and hilarious for all who know the writer: he has been known, especially with a pint or two in him, to let the words flow like Guinness. 😂

We did a bunch today.  It started with an attempt to pickup laundry, which was supposed to be ready when they opened at 9.  We dropped it off shortly after 9 Saturday and, supposedly, could have had it back Saturday evening (they were closed yesterday).  RR and I went down right after 9 to get it; Esra couldn't find it!!! She came back and said "come back in 40 minutes."  Why 40 minutes? We don't know.  And, FYI, I had a double load -- one might question how my life partner, who had been away from home only a day had 6 items to wash, but why would we go there??? -- so it was a bit much carrying it back.  She had it ready for us at 940, we carried it back and got on the road. 

Today's breakfast was at Bill's, the same chain as RR and I ate in two weeks ago Saturday.  There is one on Baker Street, between us and the Tube staton.  In 2023, here with students and staying just down the street from where we are this time, I frequented it enough to be both a fan and on their mailing list.  The lure today was advertised all-you-can-eat £5 pancakes.  And the special was toffee apple pancakes.  They are pictured:

RR, who those on the trip will admit can eat prodigious amounts, ordered seconds on the berry pancakes.  We are all fans of their pancakes. 

Then we set off for Hampton Court Palace.  Obviously, RR has never been and K didn't remember going. Though since there are extant pictures of our daughter standing outside there in 1996, she must have been along.  🤷 We got onto a quick train and walked across.  The gate was closed.  Turned out they were closed on Monday. 😢 someone forgot to double-check that.  That person will remain nameless and blameless.  

We then returned to London.  It was now 2 o'clock.  I tried to get tickets online, but it didn't like my card so we waited till we got there.  There was no line!!! No crowd.  We walked straight in and waited for the yeoman for 15 minutes.  I searched for a snack (I was having a lack of sugar episode), but came up empty. 

I have heard the yeoman in '22 and '24.  You can go back and read the blogs.  This guy used pretty much the same ones (I knew the one about the rope and the 2 1/2 ton porticullis was coming), but RR hadn't heard it before, so it was all good.  

He loved the place.  He was like a little kid after the tour finished, moving quickly from place-to-place: the armory, the torture chamber, the crown jewels, then the towers and the rampart.  Meanwhile, the tired parents sat on the bench and waited.  I got this shot of him, looking like the Frenchman at the beginning of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

The Tower was closing, almost to 530, and we headed for dinner. 

We left Tower Hill station on the Circle Line, we had to wait 9 minutes 😡, got off at Liverpool Street, and it was very, very crowded.  I saw the sign to the Central Line, which I had told K we were taking, and flowed with the crowd.  Up two sets up steps and then down a flight and there was enough scatter I could stop and look back.  No RR or K!!!  I waited.  I knew they kind of had to come this way.  Finally I decided to text RR (remember K doesn't have service; he does) and as I wrote the text he called.  They got caught getting off the train and lost me immediately, so stood there on the platform not knowing which way to go.  K said "I thought it was Central Line, but I wasn't sure."  Okay.  We were back together :)

I found Dishoom easily.  Those of you who have been in London with us (and it's not an inconsiderable number at this point :)) know this is our favorite restaurant.  It is now RR's.  He said he'd never had Indian food like that.  K asked the staff person for more heat because he was worried it wouldn't be hot enough (I later offered that I had pepto bismal, which Vlad had to borrow in Ulster :)).  Here's what I had.  A friend said leave a blurry shot or two -- it made it feel like we were having fun.😂

Their chicken ruby -- their take on the Indian classic butter chicken (if you know Indian cuisine)

Cheese naan.

The chef's special of the night, lamb curry, which was the bomb.  

We brought home leftovers which RR said he'd pregame for breakfast tomorrow.  He wasn't leaving that good of food at the restaurant. :) He raved about the restaurant and claimed it was the best meal of the trip (so far) and he said that bar was really high. 

We stopped for gelato at our favorite place from two years ago -- I got the dark chocolate, but not the darkest chocolate (which was like 75% cocoa)😀

Then we went to find a bus.  We did to save walking.  That ended up not working out. 

As we stood on Regent Street waiting, RR and I saw the LaCoste store open across the street. So we went to the nearest crosswalk and got halfway across.  RR and I got across but K...well, a bike ran a red light and brushed her flashing by.  Yes, the third near miss in two days.  Hopefully the rest of the trip won't have so many bikes, though I understand Amsterdam is full of them. 😒

We made it back to the flat and I'm writng this.

Tomorrow is our last day in London.  We have tickets at 1110 to the British Museum -- we know it's open :).  Then ???  We have dinner plans and then are probably coming back and crashing and packing.  

Till whenever, toot sweet 

2 Days in London (with breakfast food porn)

 Hey, ho, hey nanny yo! 

Yes, we're just back from seeing As You Like It at the Globe and that was the theme song.  More on that later. 

In case you are having trouble with the itinerary, K, RR and I are now in London for 4 days, she having joined us at Heathrow Friday as we arrived from Edinburgh.  It was really, really good to see her, if only because she doesn't fart out loud, tell bad jokes, or generally act like...something. :)  Also, I can't keep track of the itinerary either K asked during a break today what it was. :) 

Let's start with our flat.  We are two or three blocks from Baker Street station, just off the same road (Crawford Street) where I've stayed many times, including 3 years ago on my last trip with students.  They were in a flat on this street, too.  It's on the fifth floor and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  It's perfect for the three of us. 

To yesterday: the first breakfast place (there have been a bunch and there'll be more here) was like 50 feet from the door to our flat. It's called Avobar.  There was a crowd there today, too. 

Here is food porn one:

The ubiquitous avocado toast. 

Scrambled eggs on toast with bacon.

An omelet with cheese and chili paste with avocado on top.

Ciinnamon bun and chocolate croissant (which only just got eaten). 
  

You can tell, it was a bump.  

Then we jumped on the Tube from Baker Street to Westminster.

RR has never been here before.  He wasn't ready for Westminster on a Saturday, although I started with a talk about him doing Zen, deep breaths, because there was going to be a crowd and he hates crowds.  

There was a huge crowd.  If you don't know, you come out of Westminster Tube station with Big Ben looming right there above you. There were lots of pictures and several "you need to slow downs" as we made our way to the river, a look at Westminster Bridge -- no longer famous for the Wordsworth poem but for the two guys who ran their cars into people on it in the last X number of years -- and then over to Westminster Abbey.  There were no tickets left for the day, so we moved on. 

We made it up Parliament Street, stopping to see if Larry was out at the Prime Minster's residence at #10 (he wasn't), then a pic in front of the Horse Guards, then up the hill to Trafalgar Square.  

After some pics, we went into the crypt at St. Martin's-in-the-Field and had drinks.  I "snuck" a delicous-looking piece of triple-layer chocolate cake. :)

Pause on the narrative to say the side story of this blog.  Twice in the last two days K has avoided calamity.  Last night they were standing outside Tesco around closing at 11 while I looked for decaf coffee and a drunk decided he was flying (acc to RR) and stumbled and ran into her! 😡 RR happened to turn and see it coming and was able to grab her arm as she was knocked off balance to keep her from falling. :) 

Then today we were back in the crowd at Westminster and K was like a step behind me (RR had bolted ahead) and a rickshaw cut in behind me, breezing my backside. 😡  I thought he had to hit her!  I turned and she said "I saw him coming and stopped.  I knew he wasn't stopping." 

After snacks and drink, we decided to spend some time in National Gallery of Art.  It's free.  (I made a donation) RR wanted to see the Impressionists (he'd just been to the D'Orsay) and so we went into the rooms to the right (45) that end the journey of the gallery.   We looked in 45 and then into 46, where it was all Monets (spoiler alert: we're going to his home this week) and...we were all in 46 and it was crowded and RR went out and I went out into 45 and I waited for K.   She never came out!!!  RR came back and we talked and I checked in 46 -- no K.  The long and the short of it was she disappeared and I couldn't find her.  I should point out that K does not have any cell coverage and has been using wifi. Well, there were no messages. I expected one asking where I was.  In the end she showed up.  I told her that I was worried someone took her and she said "no one's going to take me."  Well, tell me that when you disappear like that. ): 

Back to the flat for a quick nap, then off to the footie.  

Yes, we had tickets at Wembley to see England play Spain.  You know, the World Cup winner and the 3rd place finisher. 

It was RR's first football game (there are going to be a lot of RR firsts). 

He got a great game for his first.  The England defender fumbled away the ball to Yamal, Spain's best striker, in the opening 2 minutes and he beat the goalie one-on-one and it was Spain 1-0 early.  I wonder if there wouldn't be rope-a-dope for the rest of the way but late in the half England scored 2 goals to go into the locker room 2-1.  It was a long time in the second half with England trying to score and failing, Spain looking second-best.  Harry Kane even missed a penalty kick.  Then Spain came back and scored two late in the second half to win 3-2.  We had food truck burgers for dinner.  No photos.  :)

And that was day one. 

Day two started with another top brekkie.  The place was WatchHouse, which has several restaurants in central London.

This is a chocolate swirl.  Think cinnamon bun except with chocolate swirl in it.  And, yes, that's a chocolate genache on top. :)

Carrot cake. The second time RR has had it for breakfast on the trip. 

Cappucino -- it's not an onion! :)

Eggs benedict (it was dark there)

This is there butter toast, which RR loved it. 

Then off to Lambeth and the Imperial War Museum (IWM).  Funny bit is that we came out of the station and K said she remembered being there (I didn't, unsurprisingly) and we followed the first and second brown historical sign and then we got to a corner and I admitted I didn't know which way to turn.  We looked at Google maps and found it was across the street, with the entrance a half block back.  We missed the huge naval guns out front. 😂

You need to know RR is a WW2 buff.  OC he's never been here, or seen anything like some of their exhibits.  Like this one -- 

and this one

The kind of Soviet tank, made in Czech Republic, they used in WW2.

From there we went back to the Tube and RR got a ticket for the 1430 into the Churchill War Rooms (he really likes this stuff) and, having been through them last year, we waited in St. James Park.  I may have had chocolate gelato though since K can't testify against me, who knows? :)

After a quick hit at Buckingham Palace (Charley didn't come out and wave to us ):) and a hard walk through Green Park (we were all exhausted), we got to the Tube and made it back to the flat. 

We decided to take a cab out for the night. The goal was Dishoom in Southwark.  The cabbie talked our ears off -- how bicyclists are killers, how he worked so hard to get his cabbie license (everyone does), some about the football, and about the district we were going into (it used to be sketch when I started going to the Globe), etc.  He charged us £40!!! 😕 

There was no Dishooms -- it wasn't open yet (someone didn't bother check the deets ):) and we ended up at Wagamama's, which some of you will have been with us to.  This one let us down by not bothering to wait on us for at least 10 minutes -- grrr -- and we got our food fairly quickly.  I was in a rush and pissed at the wait staff so forgot to feed my phone.  I had the usual chicken katsu curry; RR had salmon on noodles; K had chicken on noodles; we had chicken won tons.  I had to go to the serving station to check out, rushed the other to to finish dinner (having not eaten nearly all of mine) but we made it to the theatre at 620 for the 630 show. 

I gave RR a thumbnail, as he hasn't done any Shakespeare, of both the play and the theatre's interesting history and we sat in the lower gallery, almost straight in front of the stage.  

The play was As You like It, which I thought was a good, soft opening for us all.  OC, the Globe company sticks mostly to comedies, since it's a very touristy crowd. 

They don't allow pictures once the production starts so I got this one of the stage before -- 

 During the play, they filled the white board with free hand drawings of trees.  Although most of the gallery for musicians is obscured they had some and the guitarist rocked the production.  There was lots of music.  The opening scenes were set in Restoration dress (you know, elaborate waistcoats, high heeled shows and big wigs) and it got rather weird with the move to the forest.  I didn't think either Rosalind or Orlando were particularly well cast, but the production was full of music and the actors played to the audience -- Touchstone started a speech with "She's a slut" (paraphrasing) and the crowd groaned and he paused and ad libbed "I haven't even finished the sentence yet!" and got a laugh.  He called the crowd goats...which got a laugh.  

The finish with the guitarist in a white "wedding" dress, knee high white boots, a huge ruffle, and a white 12-string guitar, leading a couple songs, including the nth renditon of Hey nonny, was a winner.  RR said he really enjoyed it, as did we all, and we Ubered back and were done.  

And that's 2 days in London. 

Hey nonny!  

Good-bye Scotland and The Greatest Comeback Ever

HI faithful readers,

I had a big readership for last night’s “Suit Up” blog, so thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Today was our last day in Scotland; the last day the bros are on vacation, as they fly back to the States tomorrow.  We’re currently on the plane from Edinburgh to Heathrow, where we will all be waiting on Mrs. Blogger to arrive from the States to start part two of this long, crazy journey.  We’re all looking forward to it. 

I have to begin today by mentioning (cough cough) last night’s euchre game.  After I finished the blog, which they thought was waaaaaaaaay too long (😂), we had a rematch of the butt-kicking of the night before – RR and I against Db and B (aka “the bros”).  Again we got trounced in the first game, but we made a noise about being head momentarily at 4-3 (I think the final was 10-4.  The second game started poorly, but then we started setting them, B kept making it and Db kept complaining, and then a sweep of them all, and we won without doing the cow ears from 8…so 1-1.  The last game was not as competitive as Db complained about the cards changing and RR taking advantage and we won easily, maybe 10-6.  And the crowd went wild 😀 B called it the greatest comeback ever.  No hyperbole. :) 

We had brekkie at the course; I show you the salmon and scrambled eggs bc it was the good stuff. 

We were at Gullane Golf Club today, playing #1 of their 3 courses.  It is a much touted championship course, it turns out appropriately famous for its “climb to the summit.”  This pic gives you an idea – you can see most of East Lothian (the county) from the top. 

But first the club: it is old.  They talk about a course there since the 16th century and the one we played dates from 1882.  We pulled into the modern clubhouse building and parked (the orange van went into a van lot), only to find out that was the clubhouse for 2 and 3 and the clubhouse for one was the colonial building – the white one on the left in this pic.  

We were guided to park around back and couldn’t get in the back entrance (🤷‍♂️) so walked around where Eleanor sat at the front deak.  She found out we were the Hicks party at 1104 and sent us back to the car for our clubs and she would meet us to let us in the back door. 

We got in without her (RR was in the glass porch and let me in and I let the other two) and I went to the locker room and changed shoes and put in my contacts.  There was much discussion what to wear for gear on a day with wet, heavy wind and maybe 16 degrees (I’ll let you do the math, Sean 😁) RR ended up in 4 layers and I wore 3, never getting the 4th out of the bag.  OC the top layer was my short sleeved rain slicker – which blocks the wind, too. 

We climbed the hill fairly gradually up the first three holes with the wind in our face.  It was about 15-20 mph (again my face is wind burned).  Nae fun.  (you know they say in Scotland “if there’s nae wind, there’s nae golf” 😁 crazy buggers).   

The view from the top of 3 was amazing – you can see the whole course below you and the Firth and the ubiquitous safety ship that was sitting within site at Muirfield yesterday too (maybe I have a picture). 

Then you played down, turned right with the wind now off your left, then right again on five and six, back up the hill, wind at our back.  The view from the top of 7 is world class.  You can see Muirfield in the near distance, and Renaissance (where they are playing the Scottish Open till 2030).  To the west you could see the high buildings of Edinburgh and Arthur’s Seat (easily), which is the dominant physical feature of the city. 

I did NOT fall over anyone’s bag today, though Db told EVERYONE he met the story (as he had to have a trolley for his bag so the caddie to drag it 😂) 

We played in almost exactly 4 hours, giving us plenty of time to make our plane.  We had a pint -- ok, maybe some had two -- and I had a ploughman's sandwich that was so big I had to share it 3 ways.  😂 

We had arranged to drop our clubs "near the airport" at a DHL store.  Or the Ship Sticks app thought it was a DHL store.  We pulled in where Google told us to, which was a series of store fronts.  None said "DHL."  ):  The one was a post office and grocery and Db went in to ask.  The woman at the till said that this was it.  The guy behind the counter came out to the car to look at things and we packed up.  It took a few minutes. I was the first one in and he pulled up an app on his phone and scanned the code on the tag (it's got a name; I had to search all over to find one) and said okay.  But we all left the clubs in the aisle of the bodega -- clearly they were not used to handling golf clubs.  We wondered out loud on the drive to the airport if we'd ever see our clubs again and then RR got a text from DHL saying his clubs were checked in, then we all did, and we were all satisfied that at least the driver on Monday would be wondering where they were. :)

And now we're in London.  We have plans.  Saturday we're going to the footie at Wembley; Sunday we have tickets to the Globe; Tuesday we have reservations for high tea.  We're also supposed to find some tanks for RR...rumor has it there are several places here with him.  He loves tanks.  :)

And there we are.  Hang on for the next edition; who knows what might happen.

Till then...

From Rain Gear to Suits up

 Hey oh!

Back in Scotland.  Three days to cover.  I warned Db that his lips would be tired by the time he got through this one.  He didn't actually object.  And, for those of you here for it, the food porn will be voluminous. 😀

Let's start with today.  Because. 

The four OG's played the Muirfield, the course of the Honorable Gentlemen of Edinburgh Golfers (the initials were on all kinds of things, including the caddie vests), which is about 20 miles east of Edinburgh.   As you might expect from the title, the club is older than dirt, and this is there third golf home, which rather explains the location.  

But anyway.  There's some argument whether this is the best golf course in the world.  Having just played it, it lived up to that. Might be my favorite course ever.  And that means beating some bangers just on this trip. 

Here's the thing about the HGEG -- everyone says part of the experience is staying after for their lunch.  So, we planned on it. The HGEG has standards, rather strict ones, which include blazers, ties, and "smart shoes" (I sent a picture of what Db was hoping to wear and their golf services person said "no" :)), so we had to drag such gear with us, which none of us would have brought otherwise.  Here's the result:

For those of you unfamiliar at home, it's Db on the left, RR, then me, then B.  

One of the things about the experience is the service.  A guy greeted us in the parking lot and gave us the spiel; he knew we were the Hicks party (everyone all day did; I'm not sure if it was because we were the last visitor tee time of the day, or just their thing); a guy met us next to our parking slot in the garage and drove us down to the clubhouse; another guy picked up our clubs and brought them; another person gave us a spiel about the day and the rules, reminding us that there was no mobile use in the building, but we could use them and take pictures outside.  Then another one showed us to the locker room, where we could hang our clothes (and have a locker if we desired), to change.  

We played golf.  I suspect it will be a memorable round in some part because I did a couple things...

We're standing on the first tee and Db, who plays from tees farther back than the real old guys, had his ball teed and was stepping in to hit.  I realized I was standing right behind him -- not good form -- and took a couple steps back.  I bumped into his bag and went down on top off it.  I was all right except for the embarrassment (😡😡😡) but Db's bag was splayed on the ground like a squished spider.  They tried to bend the legs back to straight, but, in the end, ended up get a pull cart to carry it.  I owe him a new bag 😢

The second was more positive.  On 15 I hit a second shot that just stayed out of a bunker.  (My caddie, Craig, told me to play the lottery, because I played at least a half dozen shots in a way that ended up okay, even though they really shouldn't have 😁).  We walked up and it was right on the right edge of a deep bunker -- to hit it right handed I would have had to hit it chest high, choked down, etc.  Instead, I showed Craig a shot he admitted it he had never seen: I turned with my back to the hole, took my 7 iron in my right hand, and chipped it toward the hole.  It went on the green, the best weight I could have hit it, but I failed to make the putt.  He said it was a "cracker of a shot."

The course itself is idiosyncratic.  Rather the ordinary "in and out", Murifield is a double loop, with the front nine on the outside of the loop clockwise and the back nine the inside of the loop counterclockwise.  If you wonder why this is so clever: it means you never have the same wind (assuming it stays the same all round) on very many consecutive holes.  We played the first into the wind (which we were told was the prevailing wind), the second with it from the left, and the third down wind.   It makes for a bit more of a challenge. 

And we had some wind.  By the end, it might have been 20 mph steadily -- it was at least one club down extra, sometimes two .  

Funny convo: we ate with silver.  Db says "I've never eaten with real silver" and I said that we had it from our wedding but had never gotten out of the box. 😂

And that was today.  

We are staying in a caravan in Longniddry, which is west of Muirfield about 8 miles along the coast.  The coast road to there is beautiful.  And we go back there tomorrow, as you can see Muirfield from Gullane, and we could see Gullane today and it was pointed out to us. 

But finding it was painful.  It would have helped if I'd read the long text from our host better -- there was pinned google maps link there -- but it was Abbot and Costello go to the vacation center on the way.  The first attempt, on Google, using the "get directions" link on the Airbnb page, put us in a neighbor with houses.   The next, using Apple maps, led to a dead end.  The back seat (RR and B), who both own Androids (aka bricks), and were the only ones on the trip with them, were saying we were going wrong, so we listened to what they were getting and it got us to the gate house.  ):  Db got the directions, which seemed wrong, and even when we got to Gleneagles drive, we couldn't see the numbers on the units.  Finally, I looked at the picture she had sent, which had the unit's name on the side, and we identified it that way. 

After entering, we went into some shock.  Here's the common space and the one bedroom:

If you are wondering why, I had trouble finding housing for us.  I told them it was a trip called "from castle to caravan."  They thought that was good. :) I said so to Craig and he said it was problem with all the popular golf courses nearby. 

This morning (to begin the food porn -- remember, no pictures inside at Muirfield) -- was breakfast.  I found a place in Haddington, a cute market town (RR's caddie lived there) called Ozy's (he said it was pronounced like Mr Osbourne's first name), where we had an awesome brekkie.   Here you go, #1:

Avocado toast.

Avocado toast with salmon. 

French toast with bacon. 

Poached eggs on toast. 

We came in here by plane yesterday from Belfast, landing in Edinburgh.  We worked with the Enterprise rep and switched cars, ending up in a VW supervan, smaller than the one we had in Inverness.  And it's bright orange.  Easily found in a parking lot. :)

From the airport, we went to central Edinburgh.  RR had never been here, so I headed him toward the castle.  B and Db said how awesome it was from 10 years ago (there's a blog); RR bought tickets for 3 o'clock (the earliest he could get).  The funny thing is Google took Db (who drives until drinks are involved, then I drive and they all fear for their lives -- Db kept saying "move to your right, dude" on the way to Longniddry 😂 ) right up to the base of the castle, though it led us into a dead end, with pillars in the way.  I said "we'll get out here" and he cussed at me (😂) and had to back down the hill. There was a bit with the car behind, who didn't know how to do a 3-point u-turn. 

We killed the hour till 3 on the Royal Mile.  RR found a food truck with fish and chips and got an order.  It claimed the haddock was fresh from here on the Firth of Forth.  He said it was the best fish and chips of the trip. 😁 

Meanwhile,  the bros went to Rose Street to pub crawl.  We ended up joining them, and I got this picture of the Abbotsford, which is where we ended the pub crawl 10 years ago.  

When we got back to the castle ticket stand at 3, a security person stopped us and said there was no more entrance.  I asked if something happened and she kinda nodded.  Bomb threat?  We don't know. 

Disappointed, RR suggested we walk down the Royal Mile and see the palace, which wasns't open to visitors.  

As we walked up to the gate, an attendant asked if we were there for the 4 o'clock tour. I said, I thought you weren't open.  Only for private tours.  Can we get in?  He asked another staffer nearby and she said check with the ticket office (it was 5 till 4) and we hurried over and she said she had two tickets and said the price and I passed out, but then paid for them.  You see this is the fourth time I've been in Edinburgh and wanted to see the palace and something has happened.  In 2016, some minor royal was there, so no visitors.  The one year the Queen was there having a garden party.   So we went. 

It is quite the place.  Started by James IV in around 1550, it was finished by Charles II around 1670 (he was a profligate spender) and it is some pile, as they say here.  RR took lots of pictures (he said 200+ for the day) but there were no pics there.  I got busted for trying to, but I just forgot. 😁

We met them and headed east. 

Tuesday was still in Ulster (we learned the locals don't call it Northern Ireland; ponder that).  

In one of the minor f**K ups of the trip, I got the tee time wrong. I thought we had 320 and we had 220.  Fortunately, we got there about 140, so people could shop.  (the amount of pounds dropped in golf shops across this trip would float a yacht)  So there was little warm up, not that there was much warming up on a 58 degree day with a mist. ):

We were playing Royal Portrush.  It is now the Ulster represntative in the British Open rota (Muirfield is also in that rotation), which is a BFD.  

There was an argument about how good the course was over dinner.  KG wasn't a big fan; others argued it was maybe the best course we played. 

I have this shot, as it sits above the Irish Sea on this kind of cliff (not as awesome as the day before at Portstewart, but impressive) --

You can see how nice it was.  Not.  

My caddie's name was Duran, which I found hard to understand till I saw his name tag, named after the boxer, who won a world championship the year he was born.  I had some trouble understanding him.  For I don't know how many holes he said "it is 135 pound" and I had no idea what he meant.  I finally figured out he was saying "pin" and it suddenly made sense.  We had a good time.  We kidded a lot.  On the one hole he was pointing out a trap on the right side of the fairway and I said "can I get there" and he said "maybe with your third shot" 😂 

I was playing with RR, trying to win him the money. 

Not to bore you, but we finished last for the day, but Z, who had to win with him last to TIE for the win, ended up only tied for 2nd.  Db and G-man won the day, and scooted into 2nd and 3rd for the 8 rounds, winning money.  I was the banker. 

In the other contest, there were five birdies, all in the group I wasn't in ):, for a total of 38 for the week.  KG made a birdie on the 14th hole to win that pot, which was 38*8 pounds.  Nice rake. 

Neither RR nor I had a good day, shooting our highest scores of week.  It was pretty miserable.  RR never put his rain pants on, so was very soaked.  My shoes aren't totally waterproof, so my feet were wet, but hte rest okay, but my bag, towels, etc, were soaked.  We all had to work hard to get things dry, and I still found wet things (like a toboggan) today.  

The others were in before us -- they claimed 3 holes ahead.  Maybe.  They played in 4:10 and we played in just under 5 hours.  WE were the last group on the course (rather like today).  

In the bar, for our last drinks together as an eightsome, we were quick.  I collected the money, and KG collected his, and then Db says "how upset were you about the tee gift?"  I shrugged.  He tried to egg me on.  See, we get a tee gift on every course (today's was a metal bag tag with our names and the date engraved on it), and today a girl in the shop told one of us that there was one.  The starter, John, told us they were out for the season. I only asked him because we were told there was one.  

So, they tried to lure me into saying something grumpy.  It didn't work  In the end, it turned out G-man had said something to a staffer and they got us the tee gift, which turned out to be a bit lame -- a drawstring bag with some tees, a scorecard and a rubber bag tag. 

We had dinner at the purportedly best place in town, which was on the sea.  Here's the porn:

Brownie sundae.

Brownie with ice cream (yes, different thing)

Lemon posset (not as good as Monday at Dornoch)

Strawberry sundae.

Butterscotch sundae.

I don't know. 

Sea bass.

Prawns. 

Steak.

Rigatoni.

Hamburger (smash version)

Last night we had pizza at a place near the car, ad lib.   It was excellent wood-fired pizza. 

The golf part of our trip has one more day.  😢

We get into London late tomorrow so there'll be no blog till Saturday.