18th November London to Edinburgh

Today I leave London for Edinburgh. I am sad to be leaving London but I am reeeaaaally excited to be going to Scotland to spend some time with family. I really liked London this time, maybe because this time I wasn't expecting medieval London (which is what I was hoping to see back in 2001! and it kind of wasn't like that)...or maybe it was the location of my accommodation that I liked this time or that I could do whatever I wanted...whatever it was this time it has certainly made me want to return and sooner rather than later. I was reading an article on the plane about the Galapagos Islands and there was a quote by Charles Darwin which said " It is the fate of every voyager, when he has just discovered what object in any place is more particularly worthy of his attention, to be hurried from it.' Well that just about sums up the last 8 weeks for me!!!

I didn't have to check out from the hotel until midday so I decided to duck up to the National Gallery and see some more Van Gogh and Monet while I could. It opened at 10am so I knew I could see Van Gogh's beautiful Sunflowers and Monet's Japanese bridge at least, but I managed to squeeze in a few more paintings before 11:30. The National Art Gallery was founded in 1824 and it houses a collection of around 2300 paintings. The collection belongs to the people of the UK and admission is free.

I headed back to check out at the hotel about 11:45 and my taxi to Heathrow was waiting for me...I know...I'm throwing money away but the Circle tube line was closed which meant the District line trains were extra crowded and I had to get to the Piccadilly line to get to Heathrow...and my bags are heavy! So I decided to blow the budget and the hotel booked me a taxi which I knew up front would cost me 50 pounds...the estimated price on the Heathrow web page said up to 70 pounds for a cab so I was happy with 50 pounds and it took me right to the door.  I checked in and went through security...set the buzzer off (not sure why, I didn't even have my boots on) so got felt up by the security lady. Then decided to get a spot of lunch, ordered a hamburger and a 'half' pint of beer...maybe it was my Aussie accent or the waiter was just deaf because a "pint" of beer arrived!!! Haven't had much to drink since Paris...so I could be a little wasted by the time I get on the plane! 

I arrived at Edinburgh airport around 4:30pm and Aunty Marty, Uncle Rick, Brian and Sarah were there to pick me up...it was sooooo good to finally be here and with family.