Edinburgh, Scotland (Day 3)

 As this was an unplanned day in Edinburgh, due to weather conditions and tides last night, there were no tours scheduled.  Regency did arrange for the shuttle to run into the center of town again.  We decided to go to the Royal Yacht Britannia as I really wanted to see it and might never get another chance.  Carl Alexander also wanted to go so we headed off this morning.  It's only about a 10-minute walk.  The charge was about $20 pp which included an audioset that you used on your self-paced tour.  The Britannia was commissioned in 1953, the year Elizabeth II was crowned, and decommissioned in 1997 when it got to be too expensive to justify anymore.  The story goes that the Queen really loved that yacht and shed a tear when she had to sign the decommissioning papers.  The clocks on board are all stopped at 3:01 which is when she was piped off for the last time.

Taken from our ship

A Lego model reportedly using about 40,000 pieces and no glue

The steering device on the bridge.  (Don't know the correct term.)  The blue in the back is the more modern one and the wood one in front is the original used for backup.

The Admiral's quarters, which includes this sitting area, a dining area, a bedroom, and a bathroom.  His office is across the hall. The Admiral was the captain of the ship.

The Admiral's dining area

Usually this vehicle, or one like it, was taken along.  It was hoisted up and stored in this "garage" area.

If there wasn't a suitable vehicle available at the destination, this Rolls Royce was brought along.  In order to fit into the garage space, the front and rear bumpers had to be removed.  It is actually much shinier than it looks like in this picture.

Carl and us on the rear deck where the family would gather for outdoor activities.  This big light was from a Victorian yacht, I believe.

The Royal Bell engraved with the commissioning year of 1953. 

An aft facing enclosed room

The Queen's bedroom with its single bed.

Prince Phillip's bedroom, with its single bed, that connected to the Queen's room.

The "honeymoon" suite is the only one with a double bed.  It was used by Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Charles.  All of them ended up divorced.

This is the Ward Room (relaxing room) used by the officers.

The dining room for the Officers.

The china and silver storage room

The formal dining room.  Dinners for local dignitaries were held here and a typical dinner could be held for 16 or more.

It would take hours to set up for a formal dinner as everything was carefully measured so as to be exactly right.

This was Her Majesty's office where she received the "red box" every day.  It was flown to her wherever she was.  I loved the family photos on the table.

This is the "living" room where the family and their guests would gather.  There were game tables and an electric fire.  The Queen wanted a real wood burning fireplace, but when she learned that a crew member would have to be there at all times when a real flame was burning, she settled for an electric one.

This is in the reception ("drinks") room right outside the living room.  I love that the sideboard was built to fit exactly into the rounded corner of the room.

There was a regular crew of around 200 on the yacht.  And when the Queen traveled she would bring her staff which could be as many as 45 and up to 5 tons of "luggage'.  I hope that number included the car.  I didn't hear how often she actually used it, but it was a fair bit, especially in the early days.   My camera started acting up so I didn't get a photo of the laundry room, but it was quite large.  The crew paid a nominal amount for their laundry - like 20 pence for a shirt and 60 pence for a whole uniform.  The Queen's items were done on separate days from the crew's and I don't think she was charged.

I'm so glad we were able to go to this museum.  It was a real treat to get a glimpse into this glamorous place that was also a family retreat.  There was a gift shop, of course, and I left a few more dollars there in exchange for some nice souvenirs.  

After a nice lunch in Compass Rose for a change, we headed off to a large supermarket nearby.  It was sort of like a Walmart but with way more groceries and less other stuff.  We picked up a couple more cans of Pringles in paprika and smokey bacon flavors along with a nice bottle of Scottish scotch Whisky.  Then a little napping and reading before Trivia where we got one point again.  I was sitting on my balcony just watching the port activity when I saw Captain Luksa and his 6 year old son, Leonardo, return from a trip into town.  His wife and son have been on board since Copenhagen and they have been on a couple of our tours.  He is a very sweet boy.

Terry Bishop gave a talk about Belgium's role in WWI and then it was off to dinner at Sette Mari where, once again, we made a meal out out of the appetisers.  We didn't feel like going to the show of a magician/comedian but instead stayed in the cabin to watch the sail away out the lock.  The winds must have been favorable.  

Getting towed into the lock.

Not a whole lot of room.

It will feel good to get back to a bit of motion as we've been stationary for too long.