There is Plaid in them ther' hills!!

We have arrived! We are officially in Scotland. Let's walk back in time for a few.....

This morning was somewhat lazy...no rush to go any where or see anything. We actually slept in this morning until 6:15!! We spent the morning trying to figure out how we had been able to get all our stuff into our suitcase so neatly before. And we haven't really bought anything.

Once packed, we got back on the Tube and headed to Heathrow Airport which is about an hour traing right from the hotel. Navigating the subway dragging a suitcase and backpack did not leave a lot of room for maneuvering! But we made it. We did notice the security measures at Heathrow Airport are much more throughout and efficient. Linda apparently looked suspicious as she was pulled to the side and her suitcase swabbed for explosive residue! Then our pictures were taken by the first security stop. Then we walked to security as we know it in the states...remove shoes and jackets, put everything in the bin, etc.... Well, again Linda being the suspicious looking person she is, her bag was pulled aside and manually searched because she was carrying too many electrical items! Let's see...hmmm phone charger, hair dryer, computer power cords?!?!?? (Oh well, we understood their precautions since Heathrow has been targetted in the past by terroristic acts. Better to be safe that sorry!)

Once it was time to bro9ad our flight, we had to go through yet two more 'checkpoints'. At the first one they scanned and matched our ticket to the picture that was taken at the very beginning of the process. Then at the second desk, they scanned the ticket again and this matched to the airline records. Amazing process.

Flight was pretty uneventful. They did offer free alcohol on the flight. This was not just wine and beer... whiskey, scotch, whatever you wanted. Totally free of charge. LIMIT ONE PER PASSENGER.

We arrived in Edinburgh promptly at 5:25 this evening. We found the bus express that carried us very quickly to the City Center. Then we had to hike about a 15 minute walk uphill dragging our bags which wasn't really that bad...until it started raining about mid way! (Memories came flooding back of Sorrento Italy at 5:00 a.m. walking to catch a bus to our next destination! LOL!)

Our hotel is really very 'modern'. Again, no air conditioning. But the shower has awesome water pressure and lots of hot water!! HEAVEN!

Well, its getting late here and we want to get up early tomorrow to watch a major marathon race that will be taking place in the city. We get to meet our touring group tomorrow evening! That is always fun..More on all that tomorrow! Nitey nite friends and family.