Finally finished a lengthy trip to Canberra, Australia.  Door to door took about 32 hours.  First leg from Dulles to LAX, then the long haul to Sydney, and finally short hop to Canberra.  It was a good trip though.  The long flight we had lie flat biz class seats which made a HUGE difference in being able to get a solid sleep and getting to AU not feeling like an absolute zombie.  But after all that way all you can think about is a shower and I was nicely surprised to walk into my room at the Historic Hotel Canberra and see this as my bathroom ;)

Australian breakfast of champions

In flight entertainment for the trip to Sydney

Me and my best mate bob chillin on way to LAX

So the journey begins

This past weekend I took some time to hop a train and head north to visit Edinburgh Scotland for a quick 24 hours of walking and picture taking. I booked a return train trip on Virgin Trains and got a pretty good hotel deal on Tripadvisor for just under $300.

My train left early Saturday morning from the London Euston tube station.  I boarded the train and we left the station at around 7:30 for a roughly 5 hour trip up to Edinburgh.  I am a big fan of traveling by train and this was no exception.  It was smooth and relaxing and it was really great to see the countryside as we headed to the north.

I arrived into Edinburgh at 12:15 and set out to find my hotel. It was right up the road from the train station and in a perfect central location to tour the city.  After checking in to my room, I headed out to see the city.  My first stop was the Edinburgh Castle, which I had pre purchased tickets online and I highly recommend for anyone considering going.  The castle was amazing and the history just oozes out of every stone the castle is built upon.

After that it was back to wandering around and seeing what lay around every new corner.  One interesting place I found was while wandering looking for a place to eat.  I like to get away from the typical touristy stuff and find a place with more local flavor, and boy did I.  Down the hill form the castle I ran into the place called Oink.  The first thing that caught my eye was the line out the door and then I saw what they were waiting for.  The pic to the left is what everyone was waiting for.  Fresh pork sandwiches, they were AMAZING.  The rolls were fresh and they spread a little applesauce on the roll and then a heaping pile of fresh pork …. good eating.

The rest of the day I visited graveyards, museums, stores, et al.  I saw bagpipers on the corners, craft vendors, and Sunday morning was lucky enough to see the start of the Mens Health Survival of the Fittest 10k race !  It is so cool to stumble upon things like this taking place in a city you are visiting.  The night photography was cool and I felt rather safe as the area was full of people out on ghost tours and other just wandering the older parts of the city.

Overall it was a good day.  The city is beautiful and there is much to see and do, day and night.  It was quite crowded with locals and tourists alike.  The train ride was more than pleasant and a note to anyone taking the Virgin Trains in the UK on the weekends, they have a great 15 pound First Class upgrade which is well worth the cost. You get free wi-fi, drinks, power, and much quieter nicer cars.

Just outside London to the north sits the Duxford International War Memorial and Museum.  I have seen it many times on my way to the airport from Cambridge and heard many great things about the place, but I had never had the opportunity to stop in and check it out.  So I was really excited when at the end of last week a co worker told us that the fall airshow was going to be held there this past weekend.  What great timing.

So Sunday morning we hopped in the car and took a drive out to the countryside to take it all in.  It did not disappoint.  The show was good and the museum just as much so.  The American section had an incredible display.  Everything form a B52, Sr-71, U2 spy plane, and a lot more in between.  I highly recommend the trip up if you have the chance.  Here are some pics from the day.

Today started out as the typical London morning, foggy and a bit wet, but the weather reports said it was going to clear off, and clear off it did.  It turned out to be a perfect sunny fall day to get out an wander about the city.

I packed my cameras and headed out to the tube station.  I got on the Picadilly Line and took it to Picadilly Circus.  I planned to hop on and off the subway to get around the city, but those plans went by the wayside as I ended up simply wandering around from neighborhood to neighborhood.  From Picadilly I found Chinatown and then off to Covent Gardens.  There was a farmers market going on with local fresh food and I had an incredible hamburger a bottle of water and enjoyed the local musicians playing in the street.

From there I did a little shopping and headed back out hitting the British Museum, Soho, Westminster, James Park, Buckingham Palace before I hit the subway back to the hotel in Kensington.

Here are some of my pics from the day.

Watched this guy in Covent Gardens plaing cover songs of Eric Clapton and this one form James Taylor.

Found these guys playing in the Great Hall of the British Museum.  It was very cool and quite a surprise.