Hello and welcome to the first Ploosh Travel Report (or PTR), a series in which I shall talk about my trips and travels. Some of it might be organized and well thought out, some of it might be disorganized rambling. Either way, all of it will be things I want to share.
In today’s report, we shall revisit my trip to Edinburgh in May 2026, during which many activities involving round objects were had with my two companions.
Something we did not quite expect on this trip, is the heat. Our trip week happened to be right in the middle of the first European heatwave of 2026. It absolutely decimated France, and I thought I’d escape it by going to Scotland. I in fact, did not escape the heat as it was still 20°C over season normals.
let’s go bowling #
It was nice to go bowling again after years of Not Doing That. Not sure if doing it 500 miles from home was the best decision given none of us are actually from Edinburgh. Oh well, balling is balling regardless of where it is.
I genuinely forgot how straining on the leg bowling actually way with the way I’m doing it. I don’t think I’ve got the best technique (or even good technique at all) but I’m having a blast! In fact, I think I got my first 100+ point scores there!
us at the zoo #
We went to the Edinburgh Zoo! The experience was a bit different than typical, because my partner couldn’t exactly walk on that day, and had to spend the entire day at the zoo in a wheelchair. A unique way for both of us to experience a zoo, and a good enough reason to come back again later when we’re both able to stand on our own two feet.
That said, I had a very enjoyable day! Arm and leg day, plenty of nice photos, and a lot of animals I never really thought I’d see? Here are a few of my favorite photos:
The zoo was built on the side of a hill, and some animals like tigers were only visible from steeper areas of the zoo, so we had to skip on them. That’s going to be for next time!
rail things #
My partner’s a huge train nerd, especially when it comes to disused infrastructure, so we dedicated a whole day to walking along two disused lines running through Edinburgh. Turns out, one of these lines has been getting possessed on and off, and some maintenance has been performed on it: it’s oddly clean for a track that’s not been used for a while. We’re not too sure what the plan is for these, but you can trust that she’ll be keeping an eye on it for as long as things are happening.
I may however have underestimated the length of these two lines. My legs were cooked, my feet were screaming for help, and that was despite hiking shoes. Even my step counter was losing it, over 36k steps? 26 kilometers? I’ve never done that before, no surprise my body wasn’t taking it well! We collectively elected that the next day was a rest day. We all needed that.
return issues #
…because there’s no Erina rail trip without an issue somewhere down the line.
All things considered, this went pretty well. The trains from my home place all the way to Edinburgh, then back to London at the end of the week, all ran without any major delays. The worst was our Lumo to London arriving six minutes late, but it seems to be the typical delay on entry of Kings Cross waiting for a platform.
However, the Eurostar. That went so poorly that it ruined my entire connection chain down the line and actually had me call for backup rather than just ride a train back home, because it was delayed so much it actually arrived too late for me to catch even the last train home.
Thankfully, Eurostar allows for partial refunds of trains arriving late. 25% for 1-2 hours, 50% for 2-3 hours, 75% for 3 hours or more. Not too bad, but I would expect more starting with less delay. Now, this would be fine if it took the actual delay into account. Train’s pulled into Paris exactly 2h02 late. Officially? Only 1h45. Oh well.
Not that this experience is going to change anything to my habits, because unfortunately for everyone, there is no competition for passenger transit in the Channel Tunnel (although Virgin Trains seems to want to run trains and actually now has access to a depot Eurostar uses, so who knows?), and my local ferry line to the UK is closing later this year. Guess the Eurostar is going to be my only option for the foreseeable future.
conclusion #
Ultimately, this was a very enjoyable trip! We didn’t get to do all of what we wanted to do in a week, but that’s all the more reason to just head back there. We wanted to go to Arthur’s Seat, but that caught fire right as we were there. Compounded with other factors, that wasn’t ideal.
I spent a really nice week in Edinburgh, and I can’t wait to go back at a time where it actually is cool like it’s supposed to be.
