Rain, rain, go away....

A rainy day in Edinburgh. After a huge breakfast that didn't include the baked beans, we caught the local bus just acres the street from the hotel. Stan was determined to find the Vodophone shoanise get his phone fixed. The buildings in Edinburgh, like buildings in Istanbul and Kiev, are stone, but here they are rarely over three stories and stone is darker, from brown to actual black paint. Auburn tresses Fiona tried several ways but couldn't activate the phone with the new sim card. We continued to walk, going through a lovely park and eighteenth century cemetery to ending up at Holy Rood. We took time to see the collection of art in the gallery from the various palaces and residences of Queen Elizabeth II, about to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in a few weeks. Charles I was the first major English monarch to collect art; his substantial collection was scattered but much was reclaimed under Charles II. The 60-70 items included works of Rubens, Van Dyck, Holbein, da Vinci, as well as exquisite jewelry items, Sevres china and rare first copies of prayer book from the second print done in Mainz, Germany. Well, the above was day 1 in Edinburgh, somehow it was saved as draft. So, today, a week layer, I'm trying to remember that day. It was very cold and continued to rain. Stan was sure we had to travel the entire Royal Mile, even past the Edinburgh Castle to get to the correct bus stop. We did stop in for appropriate plaid souvenirs at little shops, but it was a long walk then a wet and cold wait for the right bus. The hot shower was greatly appreciated when we got back to our Braid Hills room. We knew to expect rain but with such warm weather in Ukraine, the colder than usual Scotland will take some adjusting