The day began very shortly after I made it back to my bed, we were up and at it early to squeeze in a loop on the hop-on hop-off bus. We packed up and went to check out. As we entered the lobby I was vaguely aware of a tall, well dressed older man right by me. Then Raina tapped me and pointed him out and said Hello.
Holy Shit! That’s right, Bill Nighy is staying in this hotel. And that is him! I went up to him and said, "Bill, excuse me but I am a fan and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t say anything to you." He was so nice. He was super friendly and stunningly warm and pleasant. He even asked our names. That floored me nearly, that he would care what my name was. I was so amazed that I managed to keep my head and not be an idiot in front of him. I think when it comes down to it, he just was very down to earth and is just a guy and after all it is pretty easy to talk to just a guy. We asked if we could take a photos and he was very happy to pose with me.
I cannot believe I got to meet him, and it was a truly great experience, one I will treasure for the rest of my life. What an actor, what a nice man. J
From there I was nearly peeing myself with excitement and must have looked a right idiot with the stupid grin on my face. I got to see Nick who gave me the info about Grassmarket and thank him for allowing my awesome night. He was lovely.
So we left the hotel and went to get on the HoHo Bus (HopOn HopOff) and toured Edinburg, it is a remarkable city and one I know I will be back to again, maybe even to live for a while.
Leaving there we passed through Leith (the area of Edinburg that Trainspotting is set) and then headed off for Stirling. At Stirling we visited the William Wallace monument which was great because one, I love and admire Wallace and two, I got to see his sword. Like the actual man’s sword. Wow. The spiral staircase hosting both up and down traffic wasn’t much fun, but well worth it. William Wallace was a pretty amazing guy and one of my favorite historical figures.
A few things on crossing into the Scottish Highlands.
BAM have a mountain
BAM have a rocky cliff
BAM have some Highland Cattle
BAM have some Highland Ponies
BAM have some pine trees
It is incredible. BAM
About the ponies, they are everywhere, are of the best quality I have ever seen and appear to be the only breed of horse legal in the highlands. We drove past a random paddock and saw what I really think was not only the nicest Highland Pony I have ever seen but one of the nicest horses I have ever seen. A little stallion that was honestly as good as anything I have ever seen. And a paddock full of his mares and foals.
Turns out they are owned by a riding school, for like saddle club kids. Lucky shits. So I had a ride. It was cool because the little pony really wasn’t expecting me to know what I was doing and it took a bit to make it realize I was the boss and I expected more. Then she was lovely.
As we were leaving, Raina, in an off hand tone said, “you need to be shipping more over to Australia.” So I chatted to the owner, a slightly crazy old man with no real concept of personal space, for a while longer then we jumped in the car and zoomed off, desperately in need of petrol. Turns out he seems to have thought we meant we were interested and he had wanted to talk to us more. He jumped in his car too and followed us all the way to the petrol station in town. BAHAHAH, so after a slightly awkward conversation explaining that we did not actually want to have any shipped over but just meant it in a general way, we headed off again. So much for our plan to get to the hotel early and get a good rest. A plan we have made every day, a plan that has failed, every day.
Elizabeth Wooten-Basset has suffered a very concerning neurological condition. It appears that in her old age of six days we may be seeing the end of her life. It is a great shame that we did not immediately recognize a cause for concern when she did some particularly eccentric things today, even by Elizabeth’s standards. We will be seeking medical treatment by the means of Dr. Google-Search as soon as we reach civilization. We have been performing some wilderness first aid techniques in an attempt to save her. But it does not look too good. I will keep you posted on how her condition progresses.
Tonight is a lovely B&B with friendly people, a nice room, great food and an indescribable view, a view of Loch Ness.
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