Scotland day two

We had a great sleep in a tiny & I mean tiny wee room in Edinburgh at the Easy Hotel. There was not enough room to walk around the bed & we both couldn’t stand side by side but it had a great shower & comfy bed. After breakfast at a near by cafe we walked back along Princess St (again) to the Waverly train station to pick up our hire car which we finally got after negotiating the reconstruction that was going on around the station. Well thank goodness for Jennifer (the GPS), she had us Ocean Terminal in no time. Here we received our boarding passes for the Royal ship Britannia.
The next hour or so was spent walking around on a self guided tour with audio headsets to explain what we were seeing. The Queen & hubby can’t of got up to much as they only had small single beds, plus she would often work on official paperwork until after midnight. The only double bed on the ship was put in when Charles & Diana went on their honeymoon in 1981. The bedrooms were not opulent on the Queens request she wanted the ship to simulate a country home. There was a private sun deck with an adjoining room like a conservatory. This decked area was where all the family photo’s were taken on each voyage the family went on. Many of these photo’s are on loan & displayed throughout the ship. So of course we had to have our photo taken in that same spot as well.
The state banquet room had a HUGE table & on the walls were displays of gifts from different countries including NZ. Adjoining this room was a reception room were 250 guests could be entertained or the family would play cards, do jigsaw puzzles or play on the baby grand piano (including DIana). Apart from the royal suites we also saw the crew’s cramped quarters, the various mess halls, the police quarters (who always travelled with the Royal family). The laundry could handle 600 shirts per day and was always busy as many of the officers had to change uniforms several times per day. The Captain may have had to change up to 12 times per day. The engine room was immaculate with highly polished brass pipes. Eight engineers were rostered on at any one time to keep the ship going in tip top condition. Also on display was the boat they would go ashore on.
Then it was off on our way to Stirling via a visit to Linlithgow Palace. The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are situated in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Scotland. The palace centre piece is Scotland’s oldest and still operational fountain.
We did not arrive at our beautiful B&B in a grand old, beautifully kept, stone, two story mansion in one off Stirling’s most affluential areas until after 9pm.