Weary Traveller

I faced an interesting dilemma in Dublin - i couldn't get a refund on the coach to London that had been part of the package deal. So i could, in comfort, book a night in Dublin, get to the airport, fly to Edinburgh, spend a night there and then go off on tour. The problem was that without any specials being available this would cost around £80. There's a lot that I can think of to do with £80! Like going souvenier shopping on my last day :) [Still waiting on the travel agent to confirm when that will be]. Or - I could sleep on the coah back to London (thus getting free accom for the night), then catch a coah to Edinburgh for only £12 on an internet special. This sounded like a great idea, or at least like the kind of crazy story that every impoverished traveller should be able to come home and tell [and people do look at you like you're crazy!].

The problem with this was that the coach was packed and thus there was no room to spread out and we kept getting woken up by customs etc.... The police were all kitted out impressively at customs yet once again they'd lost the bloody stamp and thus my British passport is still utterly devoid of stamps! The ferry across the sea was once again luxury though and I had time to discover (since they lacked Baileys and Bourbon of any kind) that Southern Comfort and Ginger Ale go well together. I managed to pick up a shamrock charm bracelet in the shop & make friends with some Irish coppers from Dublin off to go racing cars in Wales.

I only got about two hours sleep on the coach though; crawled into Victoria Coach Station and sat around for two hours before jumping on the next coach up to Edinburgh! I was furious at this girl who shook me awake wanting the seat next to me - when there were still seats available elsewhere; she got off much much later that day but her departure (along with most of the bus at Newcastle) did mean that I finally had a luxurious three hours to stretch out and get some kip. With the bus practically empty not only did I get my two seats but I got to stretch my legs over the aisle to the next lot of seats too :)

Edinburgh looks grand once you get past the Coronation Street suburbs into the central city and can see the castle and all. I got in pretty late and spent ages trying to find a supermarket and organise laundry and all, so I haven't seen much of the city but I'll try and get some photos when we get back there from the tour.

In my wanderings though I did manage to find Edinburgh's resident geek shop (sadly closed for the day) so that makes Singapore, London, Galway & Edinburgh so far - I can't remember if I've managed to instinctively hone in on them anywhere else :P