Wednesday, September 26- Return to Edinburgh

Today was my 3 PM flight back to Edinburgh.  The night before I’d checked Uber and THOUGHT I saw an estimate for about $15 to get from my hotel to the airport.  I happily went to sleep with that plan.  I had a nice Continental breakfast at the hotel and realized it was silly to use the hotel gym on such a beautiful day.  I checked the map and found a park about a mile down the road, which even had exercise equipment- similar to gym machines, but simplified and with no electronics so they’d withstand the weather.  I used an elliptical trainer for about 15 minutes, watching the morning rush hour, and then ran back to the hotel.  By 11 AM I’d changed clothes and packed everything up.  I stood outside, fired up my Uber app and-  oops- trips to the airport were over US $50.  My only guess is that since Uber’s pricing varies by the amount of demand and the number of cars available, 8 PM last night was far less expensive than prime time in late morning.

Ready to head out.

No problem- plenty of time to go back to Plan A.  Things ran far more smoothly than they did on my trip in, and I was at the airport by 12:15 and landside by 1 PM.  It gave me plenty of time to find my way to the gate and get lunch.  I felt bad for the couple beside me at Passport Control; the wife was asking, “Is there any faster way through Security?  Our flight boards in 10 minutes”.  (I didn’t see them again, so maybe there was.)   The terminal was jammed, with people trying to make their way through navigating narrow openings in the crowds of people lining up for flights.  There were only two places for hundreds of people to get lunch- a newsstand with a boring selection of sandwiches and bags of various chips and sweets, and a Prêt à Manger.  Fortunately the lines at Prêt à Manger moved quickly and the clerks were cheerful and efficient- it came at a price, though.  My lunch cost $15.

Our flight was not on Air France but on its low-cost version, “Hop!”.  The only difference I could see was that we had to board a shuttle to get to the plane and it seemed like several miles.  It was an uneventful flight and we landed on time.  I fished out my return ticket for the Airport Bus from the hundreds of little pieces of paper I’d tucked away and then walked from Waverly Station, enjoying yet another stroll down the Royal Mile.   It’s always an interesting feeling to return from one foreign destination to one where you’ve already settled in and are familiar with the territory.  It was comforting- and I didn’t have to think about how to say things in French!