Our last full day on the train. I woke up to a jolt—the train was moving. The tracks were very rough, and we were jolting back and forth all over the place! Breakfast was interesting—we could only fill our tea cups 1/3 full, or it would spill! Sean spilled his tea all over his lap! Apparently, the tracks were very wet, and we were running with 2 engines—a small one on the front, and a bigger one on the back (not sure why this is, but it has something to do with not having anywhere to turn around), and when the front engine puts on the breaks, the back engine slams against the rear of the train. Nice! That would certainly account for the jolting! I had FOUR slices of toast for breakfast. Ok, they’re small slices, but still… It is amazing how quickly the bad habits creep back in, even after 6 months.
Last night the people apparently stayed up in the Observation Car until after 3 am, singing and carousing! I feel bad for the staff who had to stay up with them, and then get up and work a few hours later. We drove down through Glasgow. It’s a much bigger city than Edinburgh, more industrial. I didn’t have much appetite for lunch. Maybe because of all that toast?
After lunch, we took a ferry to the Isle of Bute., and a coach to Mount Stuart. It’s an AMAZING house! There’s a marble hall, which is bigger than some banquet halls I’ve seen, and 3 stories high! It has tons of bedrooms, and even it’s own chapel, which is a fancy as some churches. It was just glorious! Tea was very nice there. We walked around a bit outside, but then the rain began. Fortunately it stopped when we returned to town on the coach. Deb and I headed out to find an ATM to get more pounds, and then returned to the train to pack.
Dinner was formal again, and we opted to wear our cocktail dresses with the tartan sashes. They actually looked pretty nice. We had planned to eat in the small dining room to avoid the noisy Swiss delegation. As I was putting down my bag on a chair to hold the table, I saw Sean and his mom doing the same at the next table. At that point, I had an idea! I suggested to Mom and Deb that we relocate to the large dining room, and take over that table for 8, and have Sean and his folks join us, along with Mrs. MacPherson. That way, we could “divide and conquer” the Swiss, and they’d have to sit on opposite sides of the room, which should keep the noise down a little. Everyone loved the idea, so we moved. When the Swiss came in for dinner, they were shocked to find that not only was “their” table taken, but both side tables were filled as well! The look on their faces was priceless!! So they had to go in the small dining room and split up 4 and 4. Dinner was pleasant and friendly in our car, even with a lively discussion of politics!
After dinner, we retired to the Observation Car for lots of photos, and chatting with our fellow passengers. There was a cake for Mrs. Osborne’s 80th birthday and we all sang. I had a long talk with Mrs. Doctor (as we called her). Seems Mr. Doctor had the lap band a year ago and has lost about 100 pounds. Cool! They are such nice people, and it’s amazing how totally wrong we were in our first impressions!
I headed back to my room about 11, and it smelled pretty ripe in there. I checked the bathroom, and found that the toilet hadn’t flushed when I was in there before dinner. I flushed 3 times with no success. So I went to tell Michael so he could have housekeeping come take care of it. He didn’t. He took care of it himself. He looked, flushed, looked again, and had to go get a couple huge bottles of water to make if flush. HOW EMBARASSING! I wanted to sink into the floor and die of embarrassment! When he left, I undressed and packed my last few things, and piled my suitcases in front of the door (praying that there wouldn’t be a fire!) I filled out the “how did you like your trip?” questionnaire, and finally hit the sack about 12:30.
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