This morning is spent relaxing. The afternoon is spent traveling. We take the train Girvin-Ayr-Glasgow and board a train for Edinburgh.

It takes just an hour between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The scenery is very much like what we experienced on the London-Glasgow route. At Edinburgh we cab it from Edinburgh-Waverly to the Sheraton resort and spa. The hotel sits at Lothian and Bread street, just a block from Princess street - the central shopping area - the Michigan Ave (Chicago) or 5th Ave (New York) of Edinburgh. Edinburgh is best known for the Edinburgh castle. It sits atop a hill overlooking the city. We can view the castle from the lounge, however, our suite faces the opposite direction. Taking in the spa we wind down for the day.

Posted by Justin Hall at 11:00 AM | Permalink

Awaking we get our first ocean view's. It's a magnificent view. Mom heads to the spa and I head outdoors to take photographs.

The wind is blowing at 35mph and light rain is falling. The sting of the blowing rain makes it a tough shooting environment. I walk the golf course, up along the beach, and visit the light house and halfway house before heading back. (754-962) Only about a dozen golfers have ventured out to play. I met up with a couple at the pool who are from Aberdeen, Scotland.

Posted by Justin Hall at 09:00 PM | Permalink

We awake to very light rain showers and some fog. Our stay at the Park Tower is complete. We trek to the Underground tube (subway), at £2 one-way, and take the Piccadilly line to the Victoria line to Euston station.

Our BritRail (operated by Virgin rail) train departs for Glasgow. The scenery along the way is stunning. There are sheep and soccer fields everywhere. The land is wide open, still very green land, and usually bounded by stone fences. (746-750, 985-1026)

Train 1015 arrives into Glasgow station just ten minutes late. Boarding the local to Ayr heads us south towards Turnberry. Too many obstructions and fast moving trains haven't allowed my GPS to find our position. We're winging it now. At Ayr we board another train - a two car, old train - and continue south to Girvin. It's raining when we offload; there are no cabs waiting. And did I mention it is now very cold and very windy. A cab arrives for two Girvin women. He promises to return and does, 10 minutes later. (A to B Taxis, Girvan: 01465 713713) Our final leg to the resort is uneventful. Cabbies here tend to be very talkative. They want to know where you are from and offer lots of advice on local flavor.

Finally, we arrive at the 800 acre Westin Turnberry. The resort sits atop a hill overlooking the water. Not much can be seen at this hour. The staff is excellent. The manager has our suite ready and personally shows us up. (967-983) "One" is the hotel's spa - workout equipment, large pool, sauna, and Jacuzzi are on-site. Want to shoot clay pigeons, play a round of golf, go off-roading, or mountain bike? This place offers it all. Dinner is fabulous. I get a pork entrée and mom has some soup.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

It's arise time. Television here is terrible. Half the channels are foreign language - either Chinese or French. The other half are BBC something or another. There are no good news or sitcoms on. We plan our day: see Harrods and Buckingham palace and relax/get acquainted. Both Harrods and Buckingham Palace are within walking distance of the Park Tower.

Harrods at Knightsbridge was the first stop. This department store reminds me very much of Marshall Fields in Chicago. It's a local store with literally everything. You can come here for your dry cleaning, fine jewelry, fresh foods and fruits, Prada/Gucci bags, electronics, men's and women's ware, artwork, musical instruments and everything in between. They have multiple restaurants inside. The escalator "shaft" is themed after Egyptians. (666-672) I find a travel book that says the Changing of the Guard only happens every other day and at 11:30. We trek over there…

We've hit it lucky! Today is the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. (550-596) The pictures tell the story here. This lasts for about 45 minutes. Weather today is nice. It's not very chilly (actually in the 50's) and no rain.

By now we are starved. Lunch is eaten at Prezzo, 17 Hertford St. Food was pretty typical Italian fare. (603) After lunch we head back to Harrods to continue looking around and for some afternoon tea.

Some thoughts about Europe so far… We are noticing that things here are much more expensive than in the US, even excluding the exchange rate. For example, cell phone service for a 1000 minute anytime plan is £85 per month. Dell computers found in the US for $500 are £700. I see an Epson printer which sells for $99 USD selling for £159. We also notice most things have a "class" associated with them. You can always buy a first or second class ticket. Even the mail goes first or second class. (607-609) Old fashioned telephone booths are everywhere. (614) Most booths even have an Internet kiosk within them. Transportation is pretty modern. You see many BMW's, Lexus's, Audi's, Volkswagen's, Peugeot's, and Jeep Cherokee's here. We have only have seen one Chrysler minivan. However, all the cabs look like they are holdovers from the 60's. (615,630) Bikes are numerous here. (612) Busses are double-deckers. (638) And oh do they love their football! (It's called soccer in the US.) Harrods has a sign that says for security reasons sports is not shown on store televisions. (652) How about that! We also see multitudes of soccer fields everywhere we go. Princess Diana is memorialized in many places. Harrods displays her (huge) engagement ring and last used wine glass. There is a Princess Diana walkway in central London. (637) Finally, take note when using an European elevator. American's are used to the ground floor being considered floor 1. Not the case in Europe - ground floors are the 0th floor.

Café Punch on the 3rd floor at Harrods is where we stop for afternoon tea. We down an order of scones and clotted cream while sipping English breakfast tea. (664-665)

Harrods is lit beautifully at night. (685-687) Every street window has a storybook theme - such as Rapanzul, Little Mermaid, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow queen, the Wicked Stepmother, and Aladdin's Lamp - which are all impeccably designed. (648, 649, 676) We walk past Harvey Nichols on the way to the hotel. (688)

We set out for a library or kiosk to find Internet access. The folks back home don't yet have confirmation we've safely arrived and we need to email them.

London is chock full of old Cathedrals. The mother church of the Diocese of Westminster is Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral. On our way to dinner we stop and tour the inside. Completed in 1903, the church contains many marble tiled rooms and the typical, huge, open worship area. I will allow the pictures to tell the story. (698-728)

Café Rouge, caferouge.co.uk in Knightsbridge, is where we eat dinner. This little French establishment has quality food. We dine and head back to the hotel for sleep. Reminder to self: next time don't bring American (NTSC) DVD's - the players in Europe only accept PAL format.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Boarded an United Airlines jet to Washington Dulles (IAD). Arrived on-time (546 - sunrise in-route to IAD) and met mom. Traffic to Dulles, said mom, was terrible. She made the international flight to London Heathrow (LHR) with just 20 minutes to spare!

The flight to LHR departs on-time. Service onboard is fabulous. Breakfast consists of yogurt, a croissant, and french toast filled with maple cream and oranges. Lunch/dinner starts with a salad and nuts. Filet is served with potatoes and asparagus. Due to fog and low ceilings we circled the field for a half-hour. Still we arrive into Heathrow twenty minutes early.

Clearing customs was a breeze. ATMs are as easy here to use as in the USA. I extract £100 at the exchange rate of $1.9426 to £1 pound. (eg it costs $194 to extract £100) Mom and I are now on a Heathrow express train to Paddington station (548).

Just outside Paddington station (London) are the bus stops. My plan was to take either the 436 or 36 bus to Hyde Park. The ticket machine just takes pounds so we buy a croissant and scone. Here's the money breakdown: pence relates to the American pennies. They have a one pence, five pence and fifty pence coin. The pound (equating to a US dollar) is also a coin. They have 5, 10 and 20 pound notes. Sure, the 36 bus we board is the right route just wrong direction! Offloading we meet a girl, 18, who is very nice and starts giving directions. We did a poor job following them and end up in a cab to the hotel. The cab ride costs eleven pounds (£11) plus tip. I tip the cabbie two pounds and he looks at me very excited. Either that was a really good tip or a really bad tip! I don't yet know.

The five star Park Tower hotel is our home tonight and tomorrow night. (639) The room is on the Executive Suite floor. It's very elegant, yet small. They have all the typical US amenities. And have even included 110 volt outlets - a nice find. Bedtime.

Posted by Justin Hall at 11:50 PM | Permalink