We've just been dropped off here by our Uber driver, Neil. I want to tell you and the world about Uber but first a bit about Edinburgh, where we've just spent three nights in a centrally located Airbnb apartment.
I remembered little about Edinburgh from our previous visit, over 30 years ago and I think this is the first time we've overnighted here. Everyone here complains about the weather, justifiably, but science is insufficiently advanced to do anything about that at this stage. This is a compact city, with buildings and roads piled one on top of another as the needs of the city varied over the 20 centuries or more it has existed. As the Scotland capital, it is also bustling and vibrant and packed with tourists, all year round I suspect.
Having visited the Castle, day one, and the Scottish National Gallery, day two, we spent much of the remainder of our time just wandering around and absorbing the ambience. Oh, and I had a haircut, at a one man business run by a Swedish Iraqi who'd very much like to migrate to Australia mainly because of, you guessed it, the weather.
Movie, one minute
Now to Uber. I'd signed up for this revolutionary and controversial "taxi" service several months ago, after I'd seen Pete and Jo use it in Melbourne, and aware that it might be useful on this trip. The App is installed on my iPad which is able to connect to the Internet through the cellular system, which is important for full Uber functionality. I established my Uber account using PayPal as my payment method, another relatively new facility I find very useful.
Knowing that we had to get ourselves and our bags from our apartment in old Edinburgh (a warren of narrow and winding cobbled streets) to the Waverley railway station I decided to do a test run with Uber on our first morning by ordering an Uber ride to get us through the streets to Edinburgh Castle. We could easily have walked this route but I figured that it was better to do a first ever run with Uber when timing was not critical, and the potential cost minimal.
This is how easy it was. We went downstairs, out into the street and stood on the prominent corner of West Bow and Grassmarket. I opened the Uber App on the iPad, seeing that it immediately identified our location and showed us that there was at least one Uber car within a couple of minutes away. Uber knows my name, of course, and of course knows the identity of all Uber drivers and the cars they use. I then chose our destination, from a drop down list as I started to type. Uber then offered to give me an estimate of the cost, which I didn't pursue, instead hitting the button to continue the process. Within a couple of seconds up came a picture of our driver, with details of the car she was driving, and an estimate of two minutes to pickup time. We could see the car's progress on screen and two minutes later the car pulled up, Anna (from Poland) greeted us and opened the car doors to let us board. We climbed in and were off in a jiffy.
Screen shot acquired during the trip. During the trip you can watch, on your phone or similar, the route the driver's taking and monitor progress.
On arrival we thanked Anna and simply disembarked, with payment being made automatically. The minimum charge for UberX in Edinburgh is £3.50 and that is what we were charged. Within seconds an invoice arrived by email as well as a trip summary via the App.
So this morning we used Uber again, with all our bags. Similar, excellent experience. No stress, no wondering if the car is going to turn up on time or at all, no cab-hailing. We're sold on Uber. And I noticed before leaving home that it's starting to show up in Noosa.
Much of the above was written while travelling at up to 180kph on the Virgin train to London. We're in first class as we thought we'd indulge ourselves a bit and we got a good deal anyway. I must say I'm surprised at how bouncy and downright rough the ride is at speed. But there's on-train WiFi and the seats are comfortable. The ride to London (Kings Cross) takes 4.5 hours and then we'll be Ubering again to our Airbnb apartment in Pimlico.
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Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.
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The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.
Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
Location:Churton Street,London,United Kingdom
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