Part 2: Scotland Trip Report!!! A Brave Adventure, Pre-days in Edinburgh

[sayhello]

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.

 

[sayhello]

I then headed back out up Princes Street. It was going on for twilight, and the lighting was just gorgeous. Edinburgh Castle was lit up a purple-ish color, and I took pictures from across the road. (The Scottish National Gallery is lit up in the foreground)

Then, as I took more photos, I noticed the moon over the Castle. I took tons of photos. I knew that by the time I walked closer to the Castle, the moon would no longer be in position over the Castle, so I just stopped where I was and took some *REALLY* zoomed, hand-held photos. And this is what I got! I am so very, very thrilled with this photo! (Totally un-re-touched.)

I did walk closer (up to the Gallery) but I was right, and by then, the moon was all but hidden by the Mount the Castle is on. I did some wandering around the Princes Street side of Old Town, taking tons of twilit pictures. Edinburgh is seriously gorgeous at night! I loved how the buildings were lit up at night (and the blue, blue sky didn’t hurt, either!)

The spectacular Balmoral, lit at night.

I did manage to get one more shot of the amazing moon as it set into the horizon.

I eventually headed back to the Apex Waterloo. It had been a *long* day, and I had packing to do! I was looking forward to the next day, which was my move to the Balmoral, meeting the Guides, and the start of the ABD that evening.

But one last photo, of the clock tower of the Balmoral through the curtains of my room.

The next morning dawned sunny and GORGEOUS! I finished packing up, and then ran down to Martone's to get some breakfast. When I'd been there before, I'd seen that they had delicious-looking scones, and I just had to have one! Yumm! What a great breakfast!

I then checked out, and walked me and my luggage the couple of short blocks to the lovely Balmoral. My room wasn’t ready, so I checked my luggage with the Concierge, and went up to the Mezzanine to find our Guides.

There I met Hanneke and Zoe, our fabulous Adventure Guides. I had a lovely long talk with them, and finally left when two more folks from the tour showed up to talk to them. I was really looking forward to spending time with these 2 Guides!

Since it was so gorgeous, I decided to go ahead with my plan to climb to the top of the Scott Monument. I didn’t even know that was a thing you could do until a couple of weeks before the trip, when I ran across a reference to it online. I googled some videos, and it looked really cool (although one video was done in the rain, and I had decided I *wasn’t* going to do that!)

I walked the short distance from the Balmoral to the Monument, and paid my £4 to enter and climb. There are 3 levels to the Monument. The first level (the “easiest” to get to) has a museum with info about Sir Walter Scott and the making of the Monument. The area has beautiful woodworking and some lovely Stained Glass windows.

Each level has a balconied perimeter with views of Edinburgh. And of course, the higher you climb, the more gorgeous the views got.

Waverly Train Station & the area around the Royal Mile.

Edinburgh Castle dominates the area. (The Scottish National Gallery in the foreground).

I then headed up to the second level. From that height, I could get in all of Calton Hill, the Balmoral, Waverly Station, the sea in the background, Arthur’s Seat and part of Old Town.

Looking out over Waverly Train Station to Old Town, with Arthur’s Seat in the Background.

Looking up Princes Street, past the Festival Wheel.

Looking down Princes Street to the Balmoral, with Calton Hill in the back.

And, of course, as you go up, the spiral staircase gets narrower and narrower.

The last 10 steps or so, the stairwell is *SO* narrow, that only one person at a time can be in it. I shouted “COMING UP” so that no-one would start down. The rest of it, you *could* squeeze past each other (although it was a tight squeeze) but that last bit, there was NO WAY. I had to hold my arms tight to my body to make it up. But the VIEWS from the top were so, so well worth it!

OK, so the next are a couple of videos I took from the top level. And OK Kristilew, these are the videos I referred to in Part 1. Um, the voice is, shall we say, interesting. Click on the small images for the videos. I’ll see you on the other side after you watch them…





Now, I was aware my voice had picked up a bit of a lilt to it, and I liked it. But it wasn’t until I listened to these videos that I realized just *how* much of a brogue I’d picked up. I think it came and went. I’ve always naturally picked up accents I’m around, but this is just silly! (I actually kind of like it. I may have to see if I can pick it up again.)

I stayed up there a while and took tons of photos. But it was a tiny area, so I eventually had to leave (luckily it wasn’t that busy of a day. I cannot IMAGINE doing this if it was busy!)

On the way down, Old Town, the North Bridge, and Arthur’s Seat.

Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Merida enjoyed the climb, too!

Once I got down, I walked along Princes Street to Princes Street Gardens, which are right at the base of the Mount that Edinburgh Castle is on. The Castle totally dominates the area, and I spent a couple of hours walking the area trying to find the perfect angle of the Castle in the sunny lighting.

I think I found it!

There was an area of the park where they were setting up seating and a stage. It turns out that this day was the last day of the Edinburgh Festival, and there was to be a live concert at the base of the Castle that night, accompanied by fireworks! Edinburghlass had mentioned the fireworks to me, and I was hopeful that the ABD Guides would find a way for us to see them.

I finally headed back towards the Balmoral. *JUST* as I was leaving the Park, they were starting to sweep and tell folks that the Park was closing early, and that only people with tickets for the concert could stay. I needed to get back and move into my room and clean up for the Welcome Dinner anyways, but I was glad I'’d gotten my amazing walk in before they closed it.

The Next Part will be the rest of ABD Day 1 (my room at the Balmoral, and our Welcome dinner), and then Day 2 of the ABD.

Continued in Part 3: http://www.disboards.com/threads/pa...-adventure-abd-days-1-2-in-edinburgh.3390151/

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Too funny, SayHello, I think I stayed at the Forth Inn a couple of nights on one of my previous trips when visiting the Trossachs area. I recall our dinners being really good. We did the Sir Walter Scott boat on Loch Katrine to see views of where Rob Roy was born. Great memories! Love all your pics--the nighttime ones especially are gorgeous. Can't wait to read about your experiences with Hanne and Zoe--loved them!

 

[kristilew]

Fantastic! I love your lilt! You're just naturally empathetic, right down to people's voices!

So glad to see your beautiful sunny pictures. I've only been to Edinburgh in January - much colder and darker, I promise. St. Giles is a lovely church - I'm thinking you didn't get to go inside since you were there at night. And Yay: You for climbing the Scott monument! That is not for wimps! I think there are just under 300 steps to the top platform. I remember toward the top having to stop and wedge DD out of her backpack because it got stuck in one of the turns, it was so narrow.

Can't wait to keep following along.

 

[sayhello]

Too funny, SayHello, I think I stayed at the Forth Inn a couple of nights on one of my previous trips when visiting the Trossachs area. I recall our dinners being really good. We did the Sir Walter Scott boat on Loch Katrine to see views of where Rob Roy was born. Great memories! Love all your pics--the nighttime ones especially are gorgeous. Can't wait to read about your experiences with Hanne and Zoe--loved them!

It looked like a cool little Inn, and the food was delish. And I wished we'd had time to do the boat ride at Loch Katrine. It looked fun.

Thanks about the pics. I do love nighttime photos. I think that was one of the biggest lacks for me in the Med cruise add-on, in that we left every place well before dark, so I didn't get to see any of the ports lit up at night. I do love the regular ABD's for that.

Hanne & Zoe will make their appearance soon!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Fantastic! I love your lilt! You're just naturally empathetic, right down to people's voices!

Thanks, I like how you put it!

So glad to see your beautiful sunny pictures. I've only been to Edinburgh in January - much colder and darker, I promise. St. Giles is a lovely church - I'm thinking you didn't get to go inside since you were there at night. And Yay: You for climbing the Scott monument! That is not for wimps! I think there are just under 300 steps to the top platform. I remember toward the top having to stop and wedge DD out of her backpack because it got stuck in one of the turns, it was so narrow.

Can't wait to keep following along.

We did have a wonderful amount of sun on this trip (although we had a bit of rain, too!) But I think in general we were really lucky with the weather. That's so one aspect of a trip even Disney can't control! And yes, there are 287 steps to the top of the Scott Monument (according to them. I certainly did not count! ) I can totally see a backpack getting caught near the top. I hope DD didn't freak out!

More soon!

Sayhello

 

[WeLoveABD]

Enjoying your tale SayHello! You are truly the Master of Trip Reports!

 

[sayhello]

Enjoying your tale SayHello! You are truly the Master of Trip Reports!

Aw, thanks, WeLoveABD! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I do love sharing my photos and stories with you all!

Sayhello

 

[RustManFan]

been to Scotland and Edinburgh a number of times (with my grandmother first and more recently with my DD, then my DS and most recently my DD, DS and DSIL together).

You made me want to get back!

Hope you eventually get inside Stirling Castle. One of my favorite places to visit in Scotland!!

 

[sayhello]

been to Scotland and Edinburgh a number of times (with my grandmother first and more recently with my DD, then my DS and most recently my DD, DS and DSIL together).

You made me want to get back!

Hope you eventually get inside Stirling Castle. One of my favorite places to visit in Scotland!!

Stirling Castle is definitely on my list for when I go back. And I *will* go back!

Sayhello

 

[edinburghlass]

Loving your trip report and it was so nice (totally inadequate word!) to meet you and enjoy some time with you.

Your photos of Edinburgh are stunning, you could compete with Real Edinburgh on Facebook with some and I'm in awe of your climbing the Scot Monument.

So pleased the weather cleared for you after your arrival day and you saw Edinburgh in the sunshine.

 

[sayhello]

Loving your trip report and it was so nice (totally inadequate word!) to meet you and enjoy some time with you.

Your photos of Edinburgh are stunning, you could compete with Real Edinburgh on Facebook with some and I'm in awe of your climbing the Scot Monument.

So pleased the weather cleared for you after your arrival day and you saw Edinburgh in the sunshine.

Thanks, edinburghlass! I'm so glad we were able to meet!

I've never heard of Real Edinburgh on Facebook. I'll have to check that out!

I'm amazed I made it up the Scott Monument! But it was worth it.

I liked Edinburgh even in the rain, but in the sunshine - amazing!

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

Your pictures are spectacular! I love the wonderful descriptions of your experiences. It makes me feel like I am there. I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report and so looking forward to your next installment.

 

[sayhello]

Your pictures are spectacular! I love the wonderful descriptions of your experiences. It makes me feel like I am there. I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report and so looking forward to your next installment.

Thanks! It's the trip reports that you and the others wrote that convinced me I had to take this trip! Glad you're enjoying mine! Your pictures were spectacular, too!

Sayhello

 

[SparkleMommy]

Merida is my favorite princess! I am of Scottish descent (Wallace clan) and can't wait to go someday. Pro liberate! I am enjoying living vicariously through your trip report. It looks like you had some gorgeous weather for at least parts of your trip. I've tried Haggis too (in London) and it was not what I was expecting- it wasn't bad at all (not my thing but not bad).

 

[Cousin Orville]

I like those hairy coos I went to Scotland maybe 12 years ago now. I didn't try haggis then. I think now I'm ready to give it a go. Great photos and a great trip report. Looking forward to part 3

 

[aggiemomx3]

Lovin the trip report. My daughter and I have signed up for this trip in August. We are getting lots of great ideas for our predays. Just curious. How many were on your trip?

 

[sayhello]

Merida is my favorite princess! I am of Scottish descent (Wallace clan) and can't wait to go someday. Pro liberate! I am enjoying living vicariously through your trip report. It looks like you had some gorgeous weather for at least parts of your trip. I've tried Haggis too (in London) and it was not what I was expecting- it wasn't bad at all (not my thing but not bad).

I'm quite fond of Merida, too. She's one of the few princesses that didn't need a man to end up Happily Ever After! We did have some fantastic weather, but it was really variable as you'll see as the Trip Report progresses. I hope to have Part 3 up today!

I like those hairy coos I went to Scotland maybe 12 years ago now. I didn't try haggis then. I think now I'm ready to give it a go. Great photos and a great trip report. Looking forward to part 3

You really should try the haggis. I think it surprised everyone how good it was! Thanks, and Part 3 will *hopefully* be up today!

Lovin the trip report. My daughter and I have signed up for this trip in August. We are getting lots of great ideas for our predays. Just curious. How many were on your trip?

Thanks! You'll love this trip. Seriously. There were 19 on our trip. It was an Adults Only trip in September, so kind of on the shoulder season. Let me know which departure you are on, and I can add you to the Roll Call on the Meets thread for this trip!

Sayhello

 

[aggiemomx3]

My daughter and I are on the all adults scheduled for August 16th. So far there are only 10 signed up for this date. We are hoping it isn't cancelled as we are wanting to plan our pre-days.