Saturday, July 13, 2019 Travel From Glasgow To Edinburgh

Today was the day I travelled from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I was staying two blocks from the train station and there is a train leaving Glasgow for Edinburgh every 30 minutes, so I decided to take the train.

Glasgow has a very nice train station but it was very crowded. There must have been something going on in Glasgow as the trains from Edinburgh were arriving and disgorging hundreds of teenagers. The teenage boys were dressed like you would expect teenage boys to dress, but the teenage girls were, as they say over here, “all tarted up.” A little bit of unsolicited advice for Scottish parents, before your teenage daughters leave the house check out what they are wearing and don’t let them leave the house if they are dressed in some of the outfits I saw at the train station.

Coors Light seems to be very popular as I saw these billboards all over the train station.

After I got my ticket I asked the ticket agent to direct me to the departure track. After he played around with his computer for about 5 minutes he said the departure track was between track 5 and track 3. What in the world is that supposed to mean. Track 4 is between track 5 and track 3. But if my departure track was track 4 why didn’t he just say track 4. I gave up on this guy and went down to the level of the train station where the trains were arriving and departing. I finally found a helpful older gentleman who confirmed that my train to Edinburgh was going to depart from Track 4 in a few minutes. I got on the correct train and got my luggage stowed before the train departed. I am always afraid 😱 that I will get on the wrong train, fall asleep, and wind up 500 miles from my intended destination. You need to always be on your toes when you are traveling over here.

After a pleasant hour on the train I arrived in Edinburgh. I am staying at a small hotel right off Princess Street, which is the main street through the city center.

I had a little trouble finding the Parliament House Hotel as it is tucked away in an alley, but it seems like a clean and quiet hostelry.

This is my room.

Nothing fancy but it will do just fine. In order to get to my room I had to climb up three flights of narrow steps, then walk down a hallway and walk down one flight of steps. It reminds me of the place where I stayed last year in London, quirky but comfortable.

After I checked in I went around the corner for a bite to eat. I found a ramen noodle place that had a pretty good crowd so I thought I would give it a try.

This is the description of what I ordered.

Beef Tataki Ramen.

It was very good but the curry was just a little bit too spicy 🥵. I also ordered a Japanese lemonade.

Japanese lemonade tastes a lot like Sprite. I am not sure why the Japanese call it lemonade.

After lunch I went for a walk. Near the city center train station I found this lovely park.

It was a beautiful day so everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

Flowering bushes in Princes Street Gardens.

Me sister Anna is having a little bit of a setback. So St. Christopher and Abe thought it would be a good idea to find a church and light a candle and say a prayer for her.

This is St. Mary’s Cathedral.

I believe that a lot of Polish people have emigrated to Scotland to find work. A lot of the masses at St. Mary’s are in Polish.

This is the altar at St. Mary’s Cathedral. It is very sparse and spare, especially when compared to the cathedrals in Spain.

The candle in the front row is Anna’s candle. If you have a spare prayer please say one for Anna.

As I was walking back to the hotel I noticed this sign in the window of a fast casual restaurant. Why in the world would they expect anybody who is interested in busing tables or washing dishes to have a CV? They should be looking for a warm body, not someone who has a CV.

That’s it for today. I hope everyone had a relaxed and restful Saturday.

Goodnight from Edinburg.