After days of talking about going to Edinburgh, believe it or not we actually headed off there today. But not on the train as planned (well sort of), but in the car. It would have been a 40 minute drive to Berwick and then a 45 minute train ride to Scotland's capital city, so instead we went for the car option at around a 1.5hr drive followed by a 10 minute train ride from Newcraighall park and ride. This option gave us the most flexibility.
We left the cottage around 8:20am and after about 10 miles on country roads we picked up the A1 to head north, and by 9:50am we were parked up and collecting our tickets from the machine at the small station. Obviously the train was late, that just goes without saying, but thankfully only 6 minutes so by a little after 10:30am we were pulling into Waverley Station.
As we'd booked our Edinburgh Castle tickets for an 11am-12:00pm entry slot we headed straight off up the Royal Mile to pick up our tickets from the automated collection machine. Being mid-week in early February was a real bonus as it wasn't too busy. Still lots of Chinese tourists about as is the norm these days; but to be expected when you think that around a quarter of the population of the green and blue planet that we live on hail from that once mysterious country in the East.
Having been to the castle around 10 or so years ago I expected to remember most of it, but thankfully I couldn't which made the visit even better. We were really lucky as we also got to see the firing of the 'one'o'clock gun', a tradition going back to 1861 when it was used so the ships in the Firth of Forth could set their maritime clocks before setting off around the world's oceans.
By 2pm we realised that we hadn't eaten, so Donna phoned and booked a table at ASK Italian for 3pm. It did mean that we would only have around 30 minutes to see the rest of the castle and to be honest we had to rush and missed much of it, but it's going nowhere and there will always be another time for a visit.
And we did go a little mad at the restaurant, starter, main, side, dessert; we had the lot. And of course the meal tasted so much better in the knowledge that we would be getting Donna's 40% John Lewis discount which knocked around £25 off the meal. So great food and a great price!
We didn't leave the restaurant until around 4;20pm so the light levels outside had started to drop, and the city was getting a little busier as people started to head off home from work. As it was too late to go to another attraction we went hunting for Victoria Terrace with it's coloured buildings. Now that doesn't sound that difficult but we managed to make it so and we were almost about to give up when I grabbed the phone, checked for the address and Mr Google assisted us.
It was a very pretty street, but as it was now dusk the lovely pastel colours were more subdued and the traffic parked along the cobbled street took away some of the mystique but very much worth a visit. To save us having to head back up the hill we headed back down to the western end of Princes Street before heading back to the train station for the 6:23pm train back out to Newcraighall. And a little over 2hrs later we were back at the cottage. Now time to remove the shoes....
We left the cottage around 8:20am and after about 10 miles on country roads we picked up the A1 to head north, and by 9:50am we were parked up and collecting our tickets from the machine at the small station. Obviously the train was late, that just goes without saying, but thankfully only 6 minutes so by a little after 10:30am we were pulling into Waverley Station.
As we'd booked our Edinburgh Castle tickets for an 11am-12:00pm entry slot we headed straight off up the Royal Mile to pick up our tickets from the automated collection machine. Being mid-week in early February was a real bonus as it wasn't too busy. Still lots of Chinese tourists about as is the norm these days; but to be expected when you think that around a quarter of the population of the green and blue planet that we live on hail from that once mysterious country in the East.
Having been to the castle around 10 or so years ago I expected to remember most of it, but thankfully I couldn't which made the visit even better. We were really lucky as we also got to see the firing of the 'one'o'clock gun', a tradition going back to 1861 when it was used so the ships in the Firth of Forth could set their maritime clocks before setting off around the world's oceans.
By 2pm we realised that we hadn't eaten, so Donna phoned and booked a table at ASK Italian for 3pm. It did mean that we would only have around 30 minutes to see the rest of the castle and to be honest we had to rush and missed much of it, but it's going nowhere and there will always be another time for a visit.
And we did go a little mad at the restaurant, starter, main, side, dessert; we had the lot. And of course the meal tasted so much better in the knowledge that we would be getting Donna's 40% John Lewis discount which knocked around £25 off the meal. So great food and a great price!
We didn't leave the restaurant until around 4;20pm so the light levels outside had started to drop, and the city was getting a little busier as people started to head off home from work. As it was too late to go to another attraction we went hunting for Victoria Terrace with it's coloured buildings. Now that doesn't sound that difficult but we managed to make it so and we were almost about to give up when I grabbed the phone, checked for the address and Mr Google assisted us.
It was a very pretty street, but as it was now dusk the lovely pastel colours were more subdued and the traffic parked along the cobbled street took away some of the mystique but very much worth a visit. To save us having to head back up the hill we headed back down to the western end of Princes Street before heading back to the train station for the 6:23pm train back out to Newcraighall. And a little over 2hrs later we were back at the cottage. Now time to remove the shoes....
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