Getting home among chaos

We woke up around nine, after everyone had left the flat, and ate yesterday's lunch for breakfast. We had intended to walk along the Water of Leith walkway to have a look at the Brittania before going to the station (I also wanted to check out Grassmarket), but due to the chaos and the cancellation of trains, we instead spent the morning trying to work out how to get home. The hire car option won, and Christian spent ages on the phone, finally booking one quite nearby. I was uneasy that we were abandoning our paid-for first-class train fare, and the comfort of an easy trip and food put on, and worried about the pressure on Christian to do so much driving (I couldn't because my licence was too new). But we couldn't take the chance, as trains were being cancelled all the time.

We finished packing up, left a note and the key for Georgia and John, and headed to the car hire place. The woman on the phone had given us the wrong quote, but they honoured the amount, and we were soon on our way in a brand new white Corsa. We stopped for fuel just outside the city, and drove south-west until the end of the A702, at which point we headed south-east on the M74. The weather was less than impressive - possibly the edge of the storm that had hit down south, but the scenery was very nice. We stopped at Gretna for a late lunch, found out our train had been cancelled anyway, and then continued on the M6, and then the M40. It was mostly an easy drive, but Christian got tired and headachy on the M40.

We got home around 8pm. Don't go anywhere, Edinburgh, we're coming back soon.