We're now approaching one of the highlights of the trip - the ferry ride to Scotland! I've never been on a big boat before (at least not that I can remember) so this was a new one for me. The boat had a couple little restaurants, a shop, and most importantly a video-game arcade! I tried to talk Mr K into a game of Dance Dance Revolution but, upon further reflection, we decided jumping up and down on a raised platform on a moving boat on some choppy water might not be our smartest move. We walked around, looked off the back of the boat, had some snacks, walked around some more, and did a little bit of reading to pass the 2.5 hour trip.
We arrived in Scotland and drove three to four hours (can't remember) to the crappiest bed and breakfast I've ever seen in my life. The house had a lot of potential from the outside, but all that fell apart when we got in. Mr K spent most of the night removing tiny spiders from his bed - they were obviously as cold as we were, which comes as no surprise when you hear that the heat in our room didn't work at all. The windows were frosted over on the inside! I spent the night sleeping in jeans, socks, and a sweater and trying not to roll out of my steeply-tilted bed and onto the ice-cold floor.
We got up in the morning and quickly took our hot, but entirely pressureless showers before heading down to breakfast. The hostess made a nice breakfast but the sense we were inconveniencing her that she exuded made it a bit harder to enjoy - as did the mild burns we sustained while trying to remove the blazing hot plates she left in a plate heater for us, while she took the oven mitt with her.
We spent the next day exploring Edinburgh Castle, which was really really amazing. We had a great day and were all dreading the return to the B&B.
We decided to leave extra early the following morning to get Mr K and I to the airport and Mom and Dad to the rental car return followed by the train station. We opted to settle our bill that night since we were leaving at six the following morning. The hostess gave us the total, which we were surprised to hear was double what we had expected (and 30 pounds PER room PER night over what local hotels charged...). There was really nothing we could do, so we paid up, packed up, and left the next day, the four of us swearing off bed and breakfasts for all future vacations. Despite the poorly run and dilapidated B&B, we still had a nice time and I think we would definitely go back to Scotland (to a hotel, of course).
After a pleasantly uneventful flight back, Mr K and I were happy to once again be in Switzerland. Seeing snow on the mountains from the window of our train coming home was a nice added treat!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hey sorry for being so slow to read and comment, but it sounds like you had a great trip! I'll be sure to ask if we go to Scotland and plan to stay at a B&B, to make sure we DON'T stay at the place you did!
I'm curious too, having been to all three areas now (and apart from the accomodations), did one stand out as a favorite??
Hiya! They were all pretty - I really liked Northern Ireland, though - we drove along the coast and it was probably the prettiest drive I've ever taken. There were a million little towns and we wish we could have seen them all!
I have to admit that I had to catch up on your blog as well. Although your trip looked good, sorry about the bad B&B's. It's funny though, as I was getting to the end of this post, that I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes, when we go on a trip, I just can't wait to get back home to Brussels. Its not as though Brussels is a picturesque city, but it's our home...our daily lives, and of course the cats!! Speaking of which, have any recent pics of Taco and Waffle? I'm sure they've grown like weeds! :-)
Post a Comment