Off to Edinburgh

We had a quiet morning that included breakfast at the hotel followed by a short walk to the King's Cross railway station. After 27 hours of travel we certainly needed a good walk. We found The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4. It was too busy to enter with a lengthy queue.

At 11:00 am we departed King's Cross station for Edinburgh. We boarded the ' Flying Scotsman' on time.The train journey took us through beautiful countryside, past farms and cities like Newcastle, where houses were so close together they looked like hovels, and past hills clad in purple heather. We passed by York, Darlinghurst, Newcastle and Berwick upon Tweed, the first town north of the Scottish border. On board I tried their cheese and roasted pepper sandwich - wrong! On arrival in Edinburgh there was a lone Scottish piper on the platform playing the bagpipes to greet the incoming passengers. Arriving about 3:30 pm we headed to the Apex Grassmarket Hotel, in the Old Town, where we stayed for three nights. Once again we seemed to take much longer than it indicated to walk to our destination.

Our first leg of this journey started in Scotland. The locals love Scotland because of its weather. Yes, seriously. We got four proper seasons today (all of them in one day). Thus the backpack was full of extra jackets, umbrellas, water and sandals. The unpredictability of the weather means that even the wettest day can be suddenly transformed by parting clouds and slanting shafts of golden light.

We used the afternoon to have a walk around the Old Town. The Old Town is the name given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and buildings. Few Edinburghers live in the Old Town, but its
labyrinth of dank alleys and steep streets suggests this was not always the case. Today, it’s mostly visitors, tartan-flavoured souvenir shops, and some pipers and entertainers that you’ll find on its cobbled streets. This is the place to stroll the Royal Mile, the thoroughfare that links the castle with the royal palace – two of Edinburgh’s great set-piece attractions.

We arrived during The Edinburgh Festival, a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that takes place each August. It includes the Edinburgh Fringe Festival of hundreds of performing comedians such as Jimeon and Jason Byrne, and the Edinburgh Tattoo. The Old Town is the original core of it all, dating back to Medieval times. Here we found the town’s oldest attractions, a concentration of shops, bars, cafés, restaurants and nightlife. The area opposite our hotel was holding markets, and there were many street performers.

We wandered over to the Last Drop, a bar and eating house for dinner. Andrew had a porterhouse steak, while I tried their pork and

haggis sausages and mash. It was quite delicious too.

The next morning we used the Hop on Hop off bus to orientate ourselves with the city. There were a number of places we wanted to visit. We alighted the bus at Lawnmarket and had a walk along the Royal Mile. It was relatively quiet at this time of morning but by the time we caught the bus again there was just a sea of people.

We passed by Greyfriar's Bobby. Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became well known in 19th-century Edinburgh for supposedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself on 14 January 1872.

We toured through the Palace of Holyrood House, the Scottish residence of the Queen, noting the paintings, tapestries and various trinkets from the Royal Family. From here you could see Arthur's Seat and the crag. Should you have the stamina and youth it would be a wonderful view from the top.

Princes Street comprises modern shops, restaurants and gardens, and is referred to as the New Town. It's here you also find the beautiful and relaxing Princes Street Gardens and floral clock.

Whilst on the tour we also passed many churches, National museums and Galleries, George Herriot's School and the Scottish Parliament, the structure being inventive, unique and striking.

In the afternoon we continued our touring on the Majestic On-off bus. This took us past the Royal Botanic Gardens, 72 acres of stunning scenery. The driver slowed down while travelling along Ferry Road to enable us to see the cut skyline. We headed towards the cruise terminal where the Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed.

The following day we spent the morning at Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle is a world famous icon of Scotland and part of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site. The castle houses the Honours (Crown Jewels) of Scotland, the Stone of Destiny, the famous 15th century gun Mons Meg, the One O' Clock Gun and the National War Museum of Scotland. Getting to the Crown Jewels was rather claustrophobic because of the crowds visiting. The panoramic views of Scotland’s capital city from here were amazing.

In the evening we had tickets for The Edinburgh Tattoo, the 68th Tattoo season. What an experience. We had watched it for many years on the television but being there in person is an opportunity not to be missed. 2017 is Scotland’s ‘Year of Heritage, History and Archaeology’, and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo took a vibrant and exciting journey through the theme ‘Splash of Tartan’, playing host to a stunning array of performers from over 100 countries.

After the Tattoo we walked back to the Hotel for our final night in Edinburgh. We used the steps called Granny's Green steps, and walked all 93 steps up and down to get to our hotel.