Tuesday 29th May

Ate most of what was left for breakfast & prepared for our next leg to Edinburgh.

Had a walk around some more of Floriana before catching a bus up to the bus station & another to the airport. Having allowed for various potential delays we arrived 30 minutes after leaving the unit 2.5 hours before the flight.

The Ryanair flight was fine except that there was a shortage of acceptable food & it arrived on time in Edinburgh 3.5 hours later. Having cleared passport control in minutes we then waited about an hour for the bags to arrive. It was fascinating to see how patient the locals were about this & how quiet in general, the terminal was. We looked in vain for a prearranged pickup but took the airlink bus instead & got off about 200m past our hotel. After Malta it seemed very cold at 14C with a sharp wind.

Our stay in the 'Easy' hotel proved to be somewhat frustrating as although the room overlooks the castle & is perfectly situated it was very cold & we had been told that it could only be controlled by the reception staff. Adding to this we couldn't get any hot water but we were tired & hungry so we had a meal round the corner & went to bed after Jane took some great phots of the castle in the evening light.

Wednesday 30th May

Woke up this morning to find the castle wreathed on mist & literally invisible at times. Jane had a shower but the base wouldn't drain so d*** missed out. After reporting it we were offered another room after 10am when it was vacated.

We went for breakfast at a local café as we had a voucher for the main one. d*** had a Scottish breakfast which even he could hardly face, of egg, fried bread, haggis, black pudding, baked beans & bacon on a large piece of toast, whilst Jane had toast & jam, probably a wiser choice.

We walked along towards the station where we have to pick up the car on Friday & d*** gave up & returned to the hotel.

Jane soldiered on walking to a few venues having seen a huge cue for the castle & crowds in the Royl Mile.