sayhello
Have Camera, Will Travel
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
So, when last I left you, I had finished my time in London, and packed up in anticipation of heading to Edinburgh the following morning.
The next morning I got up, checked out of the Sherlock Holmes, and took a town car to London Euston station. (I’d asked the hotel to call a taxi for me, but they called a town car. It was nice, and a flat rate, but I have no idea how much the taxi might have cost). It wasn’t that far, but there *was* traffic.
I got there in plenty of time, and stood around waiting, because they don’t announce the track for your train until a few minutes before it takes off, and you really have no idea where in the huge station you need to be. Since I had splurged on a First Class ticket on Virgin trains (worth every penny!) I could have gone to their Lounge, but I wasn’t quite early enough for that. Didn’t want to take a chance on missing the train! (I’d picked up my train ticket a couple of days before, when I’d gone through London Euston to get to the Harry Potter Studios tour. What a great idea! The lines were pretty bad…)
Once I got to the track amidst a moving sea of people, it was much easier than I’d worried about getting me and my luggage onto the train, and the luggage into it's area. The car was pretty empty, and I found my assigned seat very easily. The cabin was clean and comfy, totally un-crowded. I chatted a bit with the man on the other side of the aisle, and settled in.
It was a really pleasant ride. It rained in some areas, was sunny in others, saw lots of sheep. First class included free WiFi (that came & went), breakfast and coffee, and snacks. Nothing fancy, but it was nice. SO MUCH NICER THAN FLYING!!! In the same amount of time it would have taken me to get to the airport, check in, wait, load the plane, fly to Edinburgh, deplane, get my luggage and get to the hotel, I had a leisurely, comfortable trip to Waverly Station in Edinburgh. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
When I arrived in Edinburgh, Waverly station was rather confusing. The elevator only went up one level, and you had to take stairs or an escalator to get to ground level. I asked a woman nearby if I was going the right way to get to the Balmoral (since I knew my hotel was just up the road from there), and she said “Oh, yes! I remember my Mum was so amazed, you come out of the station, and the Balmoral is just *there*." So up I went, dragging my luggage (where, oh where were my Adventure Guides? Oh, yes; I did my pre-days on my own…) Well, up I come to the street. It’s softly raining, and I see NOTHING that looks even vaguely like the pictures I’d seen of the Balmoral. I started walking, asking a few people, and finally found someone who knew where it was. Turns out I’d come out *completely* on the opposite side of the train station from the Balmoral. If I’d known at the time, I’d’ve been better off going back into the station and up the opposite side, which really *does* come out right next door to the Balmoral. But even at that, except for the luggage & the light rain, it wasn’t a bad walk.
I finally arrived at the Apex Waterloo, and checked in. It was a very nice, modern hotel (on the inside - historic on the outside). The room was comfortable and clean, but seemed just a little character-less after my stay at the character-laden Sherlock Holmes. I don’t want you to think there was anything wrong with the Apex Waterloo, quite the contrary. It was just a bit of a shock. But the room was large, and comfortable, and the location was great. In Old Town, easy walking distance to the Royal Mile, right on Princes Street (although it was called Waterloo Place just past the Balmoral). And the best part was, on the first day of the ABD, all I had to do was wheel myself and my luggage a couple of easy blocks to the Balmoral to check in. And it was very reasonable for Edinburgh. I’d definitely recommend it for pre-days on this trip.
I settled in, then went down to the lobby to meet up with Edinburghlass, from the DIS, who I had arranged to meet. I’m very sad to realize that I did not get any photos of her! We walked down to Martone’s, which is a restaurant in the same building as the Apex Waterloo, and had a light snack. (I had a delicious onion soup and we both had their very yummy ice cream.) We then wandered a bit around Edinburgh, and I got a quick tour of the area. It was lightly raining at that point, so we didn’t go far, but it was very pleasant, and I really enjoyed my time with her. Thanks, Edinburghlass! I had a lovely time!
I then went back to my room to unpack and settle in. After the food on the train and the snack at Martone’s, I wasn’t *really* hungry, but I knew I needed to get something. So I went to another restaurant in the same complex as the Apex Waterloo, called Howie’s. It looked like they were setting up for a few large groups, but they ushered me in to a seat, and helped me decide on two traditional dishes for my first real meal in Scotland. I had a lovely traditional cullen skink which is a very delicious seafood, leak and potato soup. Yumm! Then I had another traditional dish – haggis with tatties and neeps. (Tatties = mashed potatoes & neeps = mashed turnips). It was all delicious! Yes, even the haggis was delicious. It tasted a bit like chopped liver, but much lighter. I know the *idea* of haggis is a bit scary, but the actuality was *quite* nice!
Once I was done with dinner, I headed towards the Royal Mile. Twilight was just settling in, and as it got dark, and the lights came on, I saw just how beautiful Edinburgh was. Luckily it had stopped raining, and had turned quite beautiful!
This picture is standing in front of the Apex Waterloo, looking at the Balmoral. You can see just how close they were to each other.
Lovely!
I was heading to the Royal Mile to join up with the Cadies and Witchery “Murder and Mystery” Ghost Tour that I had signed up for. I’d looked it up on Google maps, and it didn’t look that far. Unfortunately, Google maps didn’t mention that at one point, you had to go up a set of steep stairs to get to the part of Victoria Street where the Whitchery Restaurant was (where we were meeting). So arriving nicely early became running like heck to get there. (It turns out the restaurant is *right* by the entrance to the Castle. There had probably been an easier way to get there…) But I made it just in time, and joined in on a fun but very silly tour. I did learn a lot about Edinburgh, though, and walked through some places I probably would not have seen otherwise. It was fun, and a nice introduction to Old Town.
Heading through one of the narrow "closes" that wind their way through & under Old Town.
The tour ended on the steps of St. Gile’s Cathedral. It was still gorgeous outside, so I took my time wandering the Royal Mile, and eventually heading back to the Apex Waterloo, so I could get some sleep before my *very* early tour the next morning.
The next morning, I got up, got myself together, and headed back to the Royal Mile. (After taking a pic of the Clock Tower of the Balmoral and some roof tops from my hotel window)
I stopped on the way in at the Patisserie Valerie, a lovely bakery/restaurant recommended by 2BNDisney. I picked up some breakfast and a coffee and headed to catch the Hairy Coo bus tour, also recommended by 2BNDisney. We met at a shop down on the Royal Mile (I’d scoped out the location the night before this time!). The tour was a lot of fun. Our tour guide (Jamie, I think) was *very* Scottish, so listening to him tell us all about the history of the areas we were going through was quite enjoyable. Again, I learned a *lot* about Scotland, and went to some places I likely never would have gone to, otherwise.
The tour started out at the very recognizable Bridge over the Forth River. (At the Firth of Forth). It apparently won an award as one of the best built bridges in the world. Its architecture is very distinctive, and quite lovely.
The Hairy Coo bus.
We then headed out towards the Wallace Monument. I was really glad that this tour included the Wallace Monument, and a view of Stirling Castle (although we did not go in).
On the way to the Wallace Monument, we passed these startling sculptures called the “Kelpies”. They are HUGE, and very imposing.
It was quite a hike from the parking lot up to the Monument. (There *is* a shuttle if you want to take it.) And it was REALLY WINDY up there. But the Monument was impressive, and the views were wonderful.
We then drove to the area just below Stirling Castle, and got out of the bus to take photos. There just wasn’t enough time to actually go into the castle, so I guess I’ll have to save that for next time.
We did some driving around the Highlands, through some areas where our tour guide lived, and stopped in the quaint little town of Aberfoyle for lunch. The tour guide described what was available for lunch, and I and several others on the tour ended up at The Forth Inn. Very yummy food. Lunch took most of the time we were there, so I didn’t have time to do much else but poke my head into a couple of shops. But it started to rain in earnest at that point, so it was time to head back to the bus anyways. (The weather this day was crazy changeable. We’d drive for a bit, it would rain, drive some more, bright sunshine, drive some more, it was sunny on the side of the lake we were driving on, and raining on the other side. It was never really heavy at the stops, so it wasn’t too bad.)
We stopped at an area called Three Lochs Forest Drive. We climbed up a short hill to a beautiful view of the surrounding hills and the blossoming heather everywhere.
Then we ended up at a little farm, and met the namesakes of the tour: the Hairy Coos. Hairy Coos are Highland Cows, and they *are* very hairy, with bangs that hang down over their eyes. They are seriously adorable. (But watch out for those horns!!!)
One thing I realized as we were driving around the Highlands was that I foolishly had not brought anything for motion sickness on this vacation with me. I’m sure tons of folks warned me about it here, but somehow I managed to TOTALLY forget to bring my Sea Bands, or get a prescription for the Patch, or anything. It wasn’t *too* bad, but I realized I was probably going to have to do *something* about it before the ABD.
The next stop was at an area known as Loch Katrine, which is a resort area. You can rent bikes, take a boat ride, things like that. Most of us just hit the Gift Shop and went for a nice walk around the edge of the Lake. Apparently this was a favorite vacation spot of Queen Victoria. It’s also the fictional setting of Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake”. It was a lovely walk. The lake is huge, so we only walked a part of it, but it was lush & pretty.
Our last stop was at Doune Castle. According to our tour guide, “Doune” (or Dunne) means Castle, so it was Castle Castle. Several things have been filmed there. Parts of Monty Python & the Holy Grail, the new Outlander series, the movie “Ivanhoe” with Elizabeth Taylor, and it served as Winterfell for “Game of Thrones”.
We did not go in the Castle, but had a nice bit of time to take photos & hike around the grounds.
We then drove back through Stirling, and eventually were dropped off back on the Royal Mile. By this time, the weather had turned *gorgeous*, so I spent a little while wandering up the Royal Mile, taking photos
Calton Hill from the North Bridge.
I eventually made it back to the hotel, and went back to Martone’s for dinner. The food was delicious, and I had my first taste of: Irn Bru! (Sugar Free). I actually liked it. It’s a bit sweet, similar to a cream soda, and very refreshing. I also found it settled my stomach quite nicely!
Continued in next post.
The next morning I got up, checked out of the Sherlock Holmes, and took a town car to London Euston station. (I’d asked the hotel to call a taxi for me, but they called a town car. It was nice, and a flat rate, but I have no idea how much the taxi might have cost). It wasn’t that far, but there *was* traffic.
I got there in plenty of time, and stood around waiting, because they don’t announce the track for your train until a few minutes before it takes off, and you really have no idea where in the huge station you need to be. Since I had splurged on a First Class ticket on Virgin trains (worth every penny!) I could have gone to their Lounge, but I wasn’t quite early enough for that. Didn’t want to take a chance on missing the train! (I’d picked up my train ticket a couple of days before, when I’d gone through London Euston to get to the Harry Potter Studios tour. What a great idea! The lines were pretty bad…)
Once I got to the track amidst a moving sea of people, it was much easier than I’d worried about getting me and my luggage onto the train, and the luggage into it's area. The car was pretty empty, and I found my assigned seat very easily. The cabin was clean and comfy, totally un-crowded. I chatted a bit with the man on the other side of the aisle, and settled in.
It was a really pleasant ride. It rained in some areas, was sunny in others, saw lots of sheep. First class included free WiFi (that came & went), breakfast and coffee, and snacks. Nothing fancy, but it was nice. SO MUCH NICER THAN FLYING!!! In the same amount of time it would have taken me to get to the airport, check in, wait, load the plane, fly to Edinburgh, deplane, get my luggage and get to the hotel, I had a leisurely, comfortable trip to Waverly Station in Edinburgh. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
When I arrived in Edinburgh, Waverly station was rather confusing. The elevator only went up one level, and you had to take stairs or an escalator to get to ground level. I asked a woman nearby if I was going the right way to get to the Balmoral (since I knew my hotel was just up the road from there), and she said “Oh, yes! I remember my Mum was so amazed, you come out of the station, and the Balmoral is just *there*." So up I went, dragging my luggage (where, oh where were my Adventure Guides? Oh, yes; I did my pre-days on my own…) Well, up I come to the street. It’s softly raining, and I see NOTHING that looks even vaguely like the pictures I’d seen of the Balmoral. I started walking, asking a few people, and finally found someone who knew where it was. Turns out I’d come out *completely* on the opposite side of the train station from the Balmoral. If I’d known at the time, I’d’ve been better off going back into the station and up the opposite side, which really *does* come out right next door to the Balmoral. But even at that, except for the luggage & the light rain, it wasn’t a bad walk.
I finally arrived at the Apex Waterloo, and checked in. It was a very nice, modern hotel (on the inside - historic on the outside). The room was comfortable and clean, but seemed just a little character-less after my stay at the character-laden Sherlock Holmes. I don’t want you to think there was anything wrong with the Apex Waterloo, quite the contrary. It was just a bit of a shock. But the room was large, and comfortable, and the location was great. In Old Town, easy walking distance to the Royal Mile, right on Princes Street (although it was called Waterloo Place just past the Balmoral). And the best part was, on the first day of the ABD, all I had to do was wheel myself and my luggage a couple of easy blocks to the Balmoral to check in. And it was very reasonable for Edinburgh. I’d definitely recommend it for pre-days on this trip.
I settled in, then went down to the lobby to meet up with Edinburghlass, from the DIS, who I had arranged to meet. I’m very sad to realize that I did not get any photos of her! We walked down to Martone’s, which is a restaurant in the same building as the Apex Waterloo, and had a light snack. (I had a delicious onion soup and we both had their very yummy ice cream.) We then wandered a bit around Edinburgh, and I got a quick tour of the area. It was lightly raining at that point, so we didn’t go far, but it was very pleasant, and I really enjoyed my time with her. Thanks, Edinburghlass! I had a lovely time!
I then went back to my room to unpack and settle in. After the food on the train and the snack at Martone’s, I wasn’t *really* hungry, but I knew I needed to get something. So I went to another restaurant in the same complex as the Apex Waterloo, called Howie’s. It looked like they were setting up for a few large groups, but they ushered me in to a seat, and helped me decide on two traditional dishes for my first real meal in Scotland. I had a lovely traditional cullen skink which is a very delicious seafood, leak and potato soup. Yumm! Then I had another traditional dish – haggis with tatties and neeps. (Tatties = mashed potatoes & neeps = mashed turnips). It was all delicious! Yes, even the haggis was delicious. It tasted a bit like chopped liver, but much lighter. I know the *idea* of haggis is a bit scary, but the actuality was *quite* nice!
Once I was done with dinner, I headed towards the Royal Mile. Twilight was just settling in, and as it got dark, and the lights came on, I saw just how beautiful Edinburgh was. Luckily it had stopped raining, and had turned quite beautiful!
This picture is standing in front of the Apex Waterloo, looking at the Balmoral. You can see just how close they were to each other.
Lovely!
I was heading to the Royal Mile to join up with the Cadies and Witchery “Murder and Mystery” Ghost Tour that I had signed up for. I’d looked it up on Google maps, and it didn’t look that far. Unfortunately, Google maps didn’t mention that at one point, you had to go up a set of steep stairs to get to the part of Victoria Street where the Whitchery Restaurant was (where we were meeting). So arriving nicely early became running like heck to get there. (It turns out the restaurant is *right* by the entrance to the Castle. There had probably been an easier way to get there…) But I made it just in time, and joined in on a fun but very silly tour. I did learn a lot about Edinburgh, though, and walked through some places I probably would not have seen otherwise. It was fun, and a nice introduction to Old Town.
Heading through one of the narrow "closes" that wind their way through & under Old Town.
The tour ended on the steps of St. Gile’s Cathedral. It was still gorgeous outside, so I took my time wandering the Royal Mile, and eventually heading back to the Apex Waterloo, so I could get some sleep before my *very* early tour the next morning.
The next morning, I got up, got myself together, and headed back to the Royal Mile. (After taking a pic of the Clock Tower of the Balmoral and some roof tops from my hotel window)
I stopped on the way in at the Patisserie Valerie, a lovely bakery/restaurant recommended by 2BNDisney. I picked up some breakfast and a coffee and headed to catch the Hairy Coo bus tour, also recommended by 2BNDisney. We met at a shop down on the Royal Mile (I’d scoped out the location the night before this time!). The tour was a lot of fun. Our tour guide (Jamie, I think) was *very* Scottish, so listening to him tell us all about the history of the areas we were going through was quite enjoyable. Again, I learned a *lot* about Scotland, and went to some places I likely never would have gone to, otherwise.
The tour started out at the very recognizable Bridge over the Forth River. (At the Firth of Forth). It apparently won an award as one of the best built bridges in the world. Its architecture is very distinctive, and quite lovely.
The Hairy Coo bus.
We then headed out towards the Wallace Monument. I was really glad that this tour included the Wallace Monument, and a view of Stirling Castle (although we did not go in).
On the way to the Wallace Monument, we passed these startling sculptures called the “Kelpies”. They are HUGE, and very imposing.
It was quite a hike from the parking lot up to the Monument. (There *is* a shuttle if you want to take it.) And it was REALLY WINDY up there. But the Monument was impressive, and the views were wonderful.
We then drove to the area just below Stirling Castle, and got out of the bus to take photos. There just wasn’t enough time to actually go into the castle, so I guess I’ll have to save that for next time.
We did some driving around the Highlands, through some areas where our tour guide lived, and stopped in the quaint little town of Aberfoyle for lunch. The tour guide described what was available for lunch, and I and several others on the tour ended up at The Forth Inn. Very yummy food. Lunch took most of the time we were there, so I didn’t have time to do much else but poke my head into a couple of shops. But it started to rain in earnest at that point, so it was time to head back to the bus anyways. (The weather this day was crazy changeable. We’d drive for a bit, it would rain, drive some more, bright sunshine, drive some more, it was sunny on the side of the lake we were driving on, and raining on the other side. It was never really heavy at the stops, so it wasn’t too bad.)
We stopped at an area called Three Lochs Forest Drive. We climbed up a short hill to a beautiful view of the surrounding hills and the blossoming heather everywhere.
Then we ended up at a little farm, and met the namesakes of the tour: the Hairy Coos. Hairy Coos are Highland Cows, and they *are* very hairy, with bangs that hang down over their eyes. They are seriously adorable. (But watch out for those horns!!!)
One thing I realized as we were driving around the Highlands was that I foolishly had not brought anything for motion sickness on this vacation with me. I’m sure tons of folks warned me about it here, but somehow I managed to TOTALLY forget to bring my Sea Bands, or get a prescription for the Patch, or anything. It wasn’t *too* bad, but I realized I was probably going to have to do *something* about it before the ABD.
The next stop was at an area known as Loch Katrine, which is a resort area. You can rent bikes, take a boat ride, things like that. Most of us just hit the Gift Shop and went for a nice walk around the edge of the Lake. Apparently this was a favorite vacation spot of Queen Victoria. It’s also the fictional setting of Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake”. It was a lovely walk. The lake is huge, so we only walked a part of it, but it was lush & pretty.
Our last stop was at Doune Castle. According to our tour guide, “Doune” (or Dunne) means Castle, so it was Castle Castle. Several things have been filmed there. Parts of Monty Python & the Holy Grail, the new Outlander series, the movie “Ivanhoe” with Elizabeth Taylor, and it served as Winterfell for “Game of Thrones”.
We did not go in the Castle, but had a nice bit of time to take photos & hike around the grounds.
We then drove back through Stirling, and eventually were dropped off back on the Royal Mile. By this time, the weather had turned *gorgeous*, so I spent a little while wandering up the Royal Mile, taking photos
Calton Hill from the North Bridge.
I eventually made it back to the hotel, and went back to Martone’s for dinner. The food was delicious, and I had my first taste of: Irn Bru! (Sugar Free). I actually liked it. It’s a bit sweet, similar to a cream soda, and very refreshing. I also found it settled my stomach quite nicely!
Continued in next post.