It has been a relaxing kind of a day today, yet not completely spent in the hotel. David was worn out after yesterday, so chose to sleep well past noon. I am unable to get up and going without help, so I slept until will past noon as well. No matter, I needed the rest just as David did. By the time we got up and got going, ti was probably around 2:30 PM.
Fortunately for us, the HMS Britannia is a very short walk from our hotel, just across the street and down at the other end of the shopping mall. In fact the entry to visit this reminder of days past is actually a part of the mall itself. So you can't do one without the other. We walked over, through the mall, and took the tour.
It has become clear that I can no longer push my wheelchair any great distance, nor over any sort of rough surface. David clearly sees himself more in the role of caregiver and wheelchair pusher than in the role of travelling companion. It doesn't seem to matter to him; he just plugs along, pushing me and enjoying himself. I will be forever grateful to him for this, for his approach and for his willingness to help me enjoy both this trip and the others we have taken. I may be fading fast, but he is definitely keeping me going
Visiting the Royal Yacht HMS Britannia was interesting enough. What was more interesting was that the tour was suggested as an hour and 45 minutes, yet we managed to make it more than three hours. Certainly stopping for tea on the Royal Yacht was a highlight for us. David enjoyed the luxury of it all, along with the individual bar in each of the many messes on board.
For me, I enjoyed seeing the working parts of the ship. It reminded me of being on my Dad's ship as a child, and of the many other tours I've taken of various naval vessels around the world. The ocean and the ships which sail on her has long been a theme of my life. I was less interested in the luxury of the top decks; I will never live that life nor enjoy the splendour of being a "royal".
Our day finished with a bit of excitement. David and I returned to our hotel, to sit in the bar, enjoy a beer, and plan our tomorrow. We are headed north, first to St. Andrews, then to Daviot, just short of Inverness. As we were sitting, planning, the fire alarm went off. They cleared the hotel. I grabbed my laptop and beer. David grabbed my wheelchair handles and pushed. As we and all the other guests gathered in the parking lot, the fire department arrived and went into find the source of the alarm.
As it turned out, it was sort of a false alarm. One of the female guests was using her hairspray, far too much hairspray, in the vicinity of the fire alarm. The alarm sensed the gas and chemicals in the hairspray, and the game was one. She got her overly sticky hair while all the rest of us ended up in the parking lot.
David has called it a day. I am writing, drinking a beer, and relaxing out here in the bar. Some little fire alarm ain't gonna scare me off!
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