Stop Two (Edinburgh, Scotland)

After a great couple of days in London,  it was time to head to Scotland.  First up on our trip was a day and a half in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.  Even getting there was an adventure.  We decided that instead of flying, or renting a car and driving, we would take the train.

Travel by train was a first for both of us.  The most activity I've seen on a train was on a touristy train ride with my parents when we were kids.  I don't think we even went anywhere, I think we rode on it for a little while and then turned back.  Hmmmm…  I guess I'll have to check with my parents on that one.

Anyways, we were excited to see what it was all about.  We headed over to London Kings Cross early that morning to catch the five-hour train to Edinburgh.

We quickly learned that apparently everyone on our train had reserved a seat.  We had not.  We scrambled to find two seats together.  When we finally did, they were in the very front of the train, which meant we had to walk all the way down the train to get these seats.  I was seriously starting to stress, but luckily it all worked out.

The train was not exactly as romantic as I had envisioned.  In my mind I envisioned a smooth ride with delicious food and drinks, wood paneled train cars, and maybe a little old-timey charm.  This, it was not.  The coffee was basically water and the train car totally updated and modern.  Thankfully, our attendant had a wonderful Scottish accent, and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

We arrived in Edinburgh to a pretty good sized rain shower.  Of course, I was not totally prepared, and we stopped to buy a parka, and a couple of umbrellas.  We stood on the corner of the train station in the rain trying to figure out whether or not we should go right or left to get to our hotel, the Balmoral.  Once we finally figured out that we should go right, we walked no more than 10 feet, and were there.  It was literally the building next to the train station.  Ooops.

This hotel was great!  Our room had a full size photo of 1960's Sean Connery, and beautiful furnishings and amenities.  Another cool fact about the hotel is that JK Rowling was confirmed to

 have finished one of her books at this hotel.  According to wikipedia, 

Rowling left a signed statement written on a marble bust of Hermes

 in her room saying;  "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007".

 The room has since been renamed the "J.K. Rowling Suite," and the marble bust has been placed in a protective glass case to prevent theft. The suite, priced at nearly £1,000 per night, is a pilgrimage site for Harry Potter fans.

We quickly checked in, freshened up, and headed out to complete our days plan.

First up was finding something to eat.  While searching for a good restaurant to have a bite to eat and drink, we stumbled upon this old cemetery.  I use old loosely,  as we soon found out that everything in this part of the world is considered "old", by American standards.

The weather made for a perfectly spooky backdrop to this cemetery planted in the middle of Edinburgh.

After the cemetery, we started walking closer to our next destination, (King Arthurs Seat), in hopes that we would find a lunch spot on the way.  We soon learned that Edinburgh is pretty tourist focused, and finding a restaurant was no problem.

Keeping with our unintentional "spooky" theme, we ate lunch at a place known for the ghost of a 17th century fugitive bishop.  Jordan had a burger, and I had nachos.  Yes, nachos in Scotland.  There was an option to add haggis which I decided to save for later.

After properly fueling up, we headed over to hike Arthurs Seat.

Right away, we knew it was going to be a tougher hike than we had thought.  There were several different vantage points, and just when it seemed you were at the peak, a new "top of the mountain", was revealed.

The weather wasn't exactly cooperating either.  It was raining, and windy, with the wind speeds just increasing the higher we got.

But the views, and the experience were totally worth it.

This is exactly what I thought Scotland would look and feel like.

We even marked our spot on the hike.

Getting to the very top was where the beauty truly shone thorough.

It was breathtaking!

Something amazing happened once we got to the top.  The clouds began to part, and the sun started shining through.  It made for an absolutely gorgeous scene, and truly made the trip up worth it.

Even though the rain died down, and the sun began to shine, the wind was still going pretty full force for most of the hike.

In my opinion, going down was much worse than going up.  As someone with a small fear of heights, the wind and wet rocks did not make getting off this mountain very easy.  Not to mention the totally clear views of just how high we were.  But again, it was totally beautiful all the same.

To anyone who finds themselves in Edinburgh, I highly recommend Arthurs Seat.

After our hike we went back to the hotel to take some very warm baths,  and get ready for dinner.  We had a GREAT Italian dinner (who would have thought), after inquiring at the concierge for options.  After dinner we headed over to meet the groom and his friend Trey who were in town for the day.  We had drinks at a really cool bar, and were up in our room by 11:30.

Clearly, we were in need of some sleep.  The next morning, we were planning on touring Edinburgh Castle before heading to our next destination.

We woke up bright and early to a beautiful day, and headed out.  That morning, we decided to have breakfast at somewhere a little closer to home.  That's right, only four days into the trip, and we stopped for McDonalds.

After a taste of home, we headed on.

The Scott Monument was right beside our hotel, and on the way to Edinburgh Castle, so we stopped to take a couple shots and take in what we imagined Isla calling the "smooky castle", yes, that's

spooky

with an "m".

There were plenty of beautiful views of the city as we made our way to the castle.

We got to the castle pretty early, so we were able to avoid most of the crowds.  As we were leaving around lunchtime, we realized what a good idea that was, as we ran into quite a large group of people coming into the castle.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures of the crown jewels.

Along with all the great history, and sights that we saw at Edinburgh Castle, it was nice to see a different view of the hill we climbed the day before.

It was a great morning, and a wonderful trip through Edinburgh, but now it was time to head onto our next destination, first stop?  Enterprise Rent-a-Car.  That's right, we were going to drive ourselves…  Stay tuned!