BRITANNIA

                     ROYAL YACHT 

 While in Edinburgh we read that the Royal Yacht was moored in Leith Harbor on the Firth of Forth. We bought a bus day-pass for two pounds and was able to ride the bus all day.

With the day more or less planned we took off with bus route map in hand and walked around the corner to get the bus. We took the bus down to the harbor and saw new territory on the 45-minute bus ride. I was willing to give up the Botanical Gardens if I could see the world’s oldest floral clock, and then walk through the park. After that we caught a bus to the zoo.

At the harbor we bought senior tickets and wandered through a picture gallery before boarding the Britannia.  We learned the 461-foot long, 17-foot wide yacht was built on the Clyde in Glasgow, was commissioned in 1952 and set sail in 1954. The yacht draws 17 feet of water and cruises at 22 knots.

She was the 83^rd royal yacht since the first one in 1660. By the time she was decommissioned in 1997 she had sailed over a million miles and put into 600 ports in 135 countries!

I remarked, “The upkeep for something this big must be tremendous. But still it’s a shame that the public outcry of the expense forced her to be retired.”

We were given new punch-button phones that guided us to each numbered station. It was nice to wander at our own pace. There was a lot of information in a very understandable format.We lingered at some stations and replayed the information. Someone  did an excellent  job planning and routing people through.

The aroma of fresh baking bread filled the air. Two parts of the yacht that really intrigued me. One was the royal dining room with its U shaped table that seated 54 people. It takes three hours to set the table. It was all set, including place cards, for a function that evening. Artifacts from around the world, that were gifts to the Queen, surrounded the room’s perimeter. I wanted to take a picture but it was prohibited, and I didn’t want to risk being a naughty girl!

Behind the dining room in the stern of the ship is a large comfortable sitting room with delightful colors and décor. The room extended from port to starboard.

It was noontime when we exited the self guided self-paced tour through the gift shop. We took time to eat lunch in one of the many restaurants in the Ocean Center, before catching the bus back to New Town.

It was a fun and interesting morning.