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Sunday August 3rd - Flights home

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 Sunday 3rd August Flights Home Friday 1st - Glasgow Airport Last Friday 1st August I went across from the Holiday Inn Hotel to the departures desk at the Airort and said that I wanted to get some "Special Assistance" for my transitions from Glasgow Airport, through Heathrow and at Singapore Airport as I am unfamiliar with any of those. The time frame between landing at Heathrow and taking off for Singapore was 2 1/4 hours. Okay if nothing untoward happened and I didn't have to recheck in my bags at Heathrow. The time frame for landing at Singapore and taking off for Auckland was 1 hour! The ladies at the baggage check-in desk looked at my e-ticket and assured me that my bags would be checked in all the way to Auckland. They also pointed me to a service desk where I could register as needing Special Assistance. The man there booked me for all three airports. Sunday 3rd - Flight to Heathrow I had to get up at 5:00am Sunday morning to catch my 7:30am flight BA 1475 to Heath...
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Friday & Saturday 1st & 2nd August - Glasgow Airport, Holiday Inn and Cousin Julian & his wife Susan

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 Friday 1st August Glasgow Airport, The Holiday Inn Hotel, Cousin Julian & his wife Susan    Today was the day when I had to say goodbye to Sheila, who has looked after me really well and been a great host, and drive to Glasgow to get ready to fly out to Heathrow and then NZ via Singapore on Sunday 3rd August. The drive took about an hour. I had a some trouble finding the Return Rental Cars entrance, but a kind van driver said, "Follow Me", so I did and found it and returned the car all in one piece and nearly full of petrol. Next, I walked over to the airport  ... to find the Special Assistance desk where I could get help on Sunday morning with negotiating Heathrow from Terminal 5, where the Glasgow flight landed, to Terminal 2 where Air NZ departs from. In a fairly short space of time it was all organised, much to my relief. From there I walked outside and found, just like last time, that the Holiday Inn was just across the road On the other side of the road wa...
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Thursday 31st July - Chez Jules

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Thursday 31st July Chez Jules This morning I went for a walk through the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens to meet Shelia who had had an appointment on the other side of the gardens earlier. We missed each other but met back at her flat.  She was keen to have lunch out and knew of a place where we could just step off the bus and there it would be, so off we went. We stepped off at Chez Jules a little French restaurant in the middle of Edinburgh: It was down a flight of steps: Inside it was packed with people for the Edinburgh Festival:  There was a basic menu where you could order one. two or three course meals for set prices: ... and wine newly in from France: There was a blackboard for patrons messages: We both ordered Steak & Frites and I had a Deuchars beer:
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Wednesday 30th July - Edinburgh Botanic Gardens

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 Wednesday 30th July Edinburgh Botanic Gardens This morning, before we visited Helen, Sheila took me down to the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE): The main gate into the gardens was very unusual: We had a quick walk round to view the different sections like the pond: ...  in which there was a MoorHen nest: ... and one of the chicks swimming around: ... and the stream: Later we found a wildflower garden: and a Rowan Tree:
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Wednesday 30th July - Helen Laidlaw

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 Wednesday 30th July Helen Laidlaw Today at about 12:00 noon we set off for Helen Laidlaw's house for Afternoon tea. We went out to InverLeith Row to catch the Bus: ... where we caught the No. 23 bus to Greenbank: When we got into town we caught the No. 15 bus where Helen's house was, got off and walked up Comiston Avenue to Swan Spring Avenue, and then up to No. 35:  We both had a good catch-up with Helen and then it was time to go: On the way back to the bus stop we found a Rowan Tree:
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Tuesday 29th July - Ross & Margaret Laidlaw - Dunbar

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 Tuesady 29th July Ross & Margaret Laidlaw at Dunbar Today we left for Dunbar at 12:30 to visit Ross & Margaret. We got there at about 1:20 and parked in the park across the road, where we could see the Bass Rock: ... here we are at the house: ... through the front gate: ... up to the front door: Sheila had organised the afternoon tea which we ended up having in the back garden: and had the afternoon tea out there with Tam, Margaret, Ross and me: ... and had a family photograph taken: Margaret, Ross, Me and Sheila.
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Monday 28th July - Edinburgh - The Heart of Midlothian

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 Monday 28th July Edinburgh - The Heart of Midlothian Today started off cloudy but developed into a fine day! Today we were supposed to go and visit Ross & Margaret in Dunbar, but Margaret suggested that Ross was too sleepy today, so it has been put off till tomorrow. Instead today we went of to Edinburgh central to sort out some items that I wanted to tick off. First we walked down The Ryal Mile passed the Heart of Mid Lothian: ...which I believe that your are supposed to spit on. One of  Sir Walter Scott's novels was called The Heart of Midlothian which was about the trials and tribulations of Effie Deans. Then we walked on to the Hobby Shop in Leith Walk to see if I could buy a sticker of the Flying Scotsman railway engine: The shopkeeper didn't have any thing but made the suggestion that we go down to the Copy Shop in St. Mary's  Street and that they might be able to download an image of Google and provide me with a sticky label version of The Flying Scotsman. Off...
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