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Day 14: Clackmannan—>Bridge of Allan—>Edinburgh—>London

We leave the Murder Pod today. I highly recommend the Highlands Gateway and Glamping if anyone is looking for a super cool place to stay that is centrally located to Stirling, Edinburgh, and Fife. Packing up there was easy because we didn't take much out due to space! Due to Royal Mail weight limitations, we had to repack the stuff we packed to ship and haul it to London to send it via DHL. Shipping is another theme on this vacation as we left our son's necessary medicine in Maryland and had it FedEx'd to Liverpool for the low, low price of $300! A goddess of a friend answered the frantic text message, found the medicine and shipped it. She rocks! Anyway, we got all packed and headed to the Highland Games in Bridge of Allan. I wore my kilt.

Highland Games

Knowing we had a very short time to experience the games, we were there when they opened. We got our tickets and a program and made our way into the oval where all the action was happening. The first competition was Highland Dancing for little kids. So awesome! First, these little kids move much better than me or Mrs. Koog. Second, they are dancing to bagpipes. I LOVE bagpipes, as a matter of fact, I wanted to buy a set but got the firm "absolutely not" from Mrs. Koog. But it seems like dancing to them is a completely different matter altogether. Anyway, kudos to the boys/girls/men/women that competed in the dance event.

We were there to see the piper competition and, of course, the throwing heavy things competition. We got to see several pipers, including groups from India, Nigeria and St. Andrews. The music was incredible. I tried again to persuade Mrs. Koog saying I would practice for hours every day and she could listen but she never wavered from "hell no".

There were several vendors of various Scottish things from signs to kilt socks to whisky; and tons of food trucks. One would think with the amount of food trucks there would be variety. I am not kidding when I say, there were no less than 7 trucks that sold the following items: beef burgers, cheese burgers and sausages. There were 4 fish and chip trucks and 3 that sold freshly made donuts. I really needed to eat something so I opted for fish and chips with gravy and an Irn Bru. I'm not sure what Irn Bru is exactly, but whatever it is it's really good.

Finally, the people throwing heavy things competition was starting! We didn't see the caber throwers, but we did see the hammer throw. There was a guy there that looked like father time in a tartan. He had waist length gray hair and his beard was almost as long as his hair! I think he was like the heavy things commissioner or something of that sort.

After a few hammer throws, we had to bounce. We needed to drive back to Edinburgh to catch our train to groovy London. The drive was uneventful until the SatNav took us to yet another street that was closed! Luckily, Waze came to the rescue and we found the Waverley Station rental car return. After 2 weeks, we said good-bye to our trusty, down a quart of oil on day 1 rental and walked to the station.

Us, our 5 bags and 4 backpacks found some food and some seats and waited for the 15:49 train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross London. We finally see a platform number posted and we grab all our crap and head for the train. Unlike our Amtrak, the conductors are helpful and there are actual places for large pieces of luggage. Unfortunately, we found this out after we lifted all 5 bags onto the car where our seats were ticketed. The lovely conductor said we had to move the bags from where Mrs. Koog had stowed them (I had not made it that far with my set of bags). So, I pulled the bags through the very narrow aisle only to have to get off the train, run 2 cars down to where the conductor wanted to stow the bags. This made Mrs. Koog and I very nervous because both boys were already seated on the train, noses in their tablets and we were not only not seated, we were NOT ON THE TRAIN. Mrs. Koog jumped into the car as I basically threw 5 heavy bags at her for storage. I was relieved because at least she was on the train should the doors close. Luckily, we both made it on the train before it pulled away from the station. Exhale...

We met a mom and daughter and grandma from Newcastle on the train. They are also big fans of British crime shows, although to them they are just crime shows, I guess. The grandma said she's seen where they filmed my all time favorite show, Vera. Super cool, indeed! We said goodbye as they got off in Newcastle and a couple filled their seats across the table from us. I wrote the Day 13 blog on the train as Mrs. Koog and our new table mates napped.

Mrs. Koog originally thought our train would arrive at Kings Cross at 9:30pm. Luckily, she misread the tickets and we got in at 8:09pm. We were all exhausted and were so happy for that reprieve. Once in Kings Cross, we had to plant the kids in a corner of the platform with all the backpacks while Mrs. Koog and I ran 2 cars down to retrieve the large bags. Doing the reverse of last time, she threw the bags at me and jumped off the train to get back to the boys in the corner of the platform. We were all back together. Exhale...

Obviously, we headed to the most famous platform in Kings Cross, Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. We stood in a ridiculously long line with kids and adults to take our pictures against a brick wall with a sign that said "Platform 9 3/4". Luckily, there was a Harry Potter store right next to the sign to help with the magic. And, magically for me and Mrs. Koog, it was closed!

With our 5 bags and 4 backpacks we headed out of the station to the taxi stand and found a taxi to our next apartment in Hatton Garden. It was only about a mile from the train station but we were not walking with our bags, backpacks and tired feet! We got into our place and it looked pretty nice, and I took a nice, well pressured shower.

Unfortunately, the beds were clearly purchased from the torture store at the Tower of London. Holy crap, the mattress was horrible, the only thing worse than the mattress was the pillows. No one really slept, but I think I had the record for least sleep at about 90 mins.

Ugh, London...

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