We departed Paris on the Eurostar Tunnel Train out of Gare du Nord, which was not far from our lodgings. We passed through immigration at the train station, much like getting on an international flight, and a by-product of Brexit. This was day 89 in the E.U. and a day short of our maximum stay without a special visa. The excitement of the high-speed train somewhat assuaged the sadness of leaving France. We had such a wonderful experience in every country, but our hearts are in France.
The Eurostar is a wonder, traveling at up to 180 mph before entering the channel tunnel which has about a 15-minute transit time. The amenities on the train, even in coach class, were delightful and we toasted our departure with Champaigne. In two and half hours we arrived at St Pancras station next to King’s Cross. We walked into King’s Cross with an hour to spare for the express train to Edinburgh, a 4 ½ hour trip which allowed us to arrive at the Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh in time for cocktails. The whole transit was delightful, full of scenic highpoints in its path along the east coast. Such a great way to travel, especially now that our luggage has been right-sized.
The Royal Scots Club is just as we hoped, full of history of the Royal Scots Regiment. It was also cozy, and the rooms not much changed from its building in 1919 as a memorial to the fallen from the regiment during the “Great War” and as a place the survivors could be together to mend the mental and physical wounds from the war.
Our room had appropriate updates to make it comfortable for the traveler. The high-quality antique fixtures in the bathroom were clearly lovingly maintained because they worked properly and showed little wear from one hundred years of use. Clearly the Scots do not cotton to our disposable ethic for home fitments.
Edinburgh was full of tourists and the Royal Mile was jammed even in those early days of May. Edinburgh’s architecture in this historic district, is darkly Gothic, somewhat reminiscent of the esthetic of Game of Thrones, of which I have only watched two episodes. The remainder of the old city has the charm of 19th century London style row houses, though most are still stained with coal soot. We had some sun, but the overall effect was somewhat gloomy and evidence of financial struggle abounded.
The buskers on the Royal Mile were fully kitted out pipers and some had extraordinary skills. We happened into a pub and minutes after a robustly built piper came in to slake his thirst. Though there is dining of notable quality available we confined ourselves to a charming pub and breakfast at the club.
The high point of the visit was our tour of the retired royal yacht Brittania. We expected a short hour and in fact we spent 4 hours on board, including lunch in the tea room specially built on the stern galley. The docents were of our generation and well turned out in uniforms designed by the Queen’s designer and built by her tailor and very smart. The tour highlighted two things, the interesting engineering and the intricate daily routine to keep up the royal standards of presentation. The decorating in the royal spaces was comfortably yacht like and accessible. The queen was reported to have nixed the original ornate design. We could see why she liked being on her yacht almost above any other of her various abodes.
We were glad to have visited Edinburgh and circumstances provided the opportunity, but we would not go back. It was interesting, but not as much a draw for us as the French and Italian country sides.
