Our next stop was Edinburgh, Scotland and getting there was another fun experience. I’ve been on trains in Europe before when I was there in the early 90’s and traveled around. The train system in Europe is really great and it’s a wonderful way to travel. Our tour guide had our tickets all purchased and we headed to the train station that morning, waiting on our trafin to depart for Edinburgh. It was quite comfortable on board and it was a 4 hour train ride. It’s very hard for me to condense pictures, so bear with me as there are a lot!
The train station in London.
We saw some beautiful English countryside along the way from the train windows.
So picturesque and pretty.
Castles to lighthouses in the distance.
And then we were in Edinburgh, where it was a little chilly and breezy getting off the train. It was quite a climb to get all the luggage off the train and up to street level in Edinburgh. There was an elevator, but if you’ve been to Europe, you know the elevators are very small and only hold a few people, so with all the luggage we all had, it was quite awhile to get everyone up and onto the bus that took us to our hotel. All of our hotels were very nice and I didn’t take pics of all of them, but they were nice and comfy, with breakfast included every morning. This building was right across from the train station.
Views around the train station.
We arrived at our hotel, called the Wilde, situated at the bottom of Edinburgh castle in the Grassmarket area. There was plenty of shopping and restaurants around the hotel, so we had plenty to keep us busy while there.
This faux flower display was so pretty.
We walked to dinner that night (an included dinner with the whole group), which was at a restaurant high above us, which meant either taking the meandering sloped cobblestone road up, or taking the massive amount of steps. We all opted to go the road route and came back down the steps. It’s a lot easier to go down than go up.
The sloping streets in old town Edinburgh, so pretty and picturesque.
We loved Edinburgh for all the beauty.
Lots of people were out and about and we made our way to the restaurant.
There are these little areas known as Closes that were alley cut throughs, so we went through some of those while we were there.
At the restaurant, we all found seats and enjoyed a delicious meal.
Chicken, mashed potatoes, kale and mushrooms. It was very tasty!
For dessert, they served a pavlova, which is a light and airy meringue with berries.
We took the stairs back down the hill to our hotel enjoying the evening sunset.
Edinburgh castle on top of the hill, which we would tour the next day.
Next day, heading back up to the castle.
They were just finishing up their Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a famous bagpipe and military performance held at the castle every year. That’s what all the stands are for and they were in the process of taking them down. I looked up Tattoo and found out it’s not what you think! Tattoo comes from an old Dutch phrase meaning “doe den tap toe” (turn off the tap), referring to military evening drummers telling tavern keepers to stop serving beer. That’s an interesting tidbit!
Our sharp Tour Director, Rae, she was on top of everything and did such a great job hosting us.
We all enjoyed seeing the old Edinburgh castle inside as well as the grounds.
These old castles are really something to see, built hundreds of years ago.
They have their own unique beauty.
We had a guide telling us lots of history of the castle and then we were on our own to explore.
It was a beautiful place to see.
Inside the great hall.
This was a small chapel on the grounds, St. Margaret’s chapel. It was so tiny, only a few people could go in at one time.
Of course, I had to go in and see what it was like inside.
Beautiful stain glass windows.
One small altar area roped off.
The view from above looking down to a pet cemetary.
View of Edinburgh from up here high on the hill.
Pretty magnificent castle!
Lots of history to read about.
The castle was a fascinating place to visit.
Another cathedral not far away. I think she told us it’s not longer a church, but used for other things now. I’m always amazed at the beauty of these old cathedrals.
Another look at the castle from down below in Grassmarket.
Funny story: My niece, Lauren, texted me while we were in London to ask if I had gone to tea yet. I told her no, I hadn’t planned on going in London. She is a major “tea” girl and loves going to tea shops, drinking tea and the whole tea experience. We’ve been to one place in Covington that they enjoy going to and it was fun. So, I didn’t think too much about it, but I was talking to some of the other folks in our group and several of them were interested in going to tea, so we found out from Rae some good places to go and The Dome was mentioned as an absolutely beautiful place to experience a real tea. So we all booked spots and went that afternoon to tea. Mark didn’t want to go, so I went with them.
She was right, The Dome was gorgeous inside. So stately and beautiful Old World style.
How’s this for an authentic tea experience? This was amazing!
The mosaic floor was worth a picture.
As was this chandelier and black and white floor.
Stunning!
I took a picture of the menu, so I could share with Lauren. She was SO happy I went to tea! It was an experience and I’m glad we did it.
I was just coming down with a bit of a cold, so I got the ginger tea and it was delicious. Luckily, mine was short lived and I was feeling good after a couple of days of sneezing and blowing.
There were a lot of tasty treats to eat, from finger sandwiches, to scones with jam and sweet treats too. Those balls on the top are Haggis balls and most of us didn’t touch them. I had a small bite just to say I tried them, but they weren’t my fave. They tasted like salted meat.
So I can recommend the Dome for a wonderful tea experience!
Mark and I went out for pizza at a little place near our hotel and it was delicious. Very authentic Italian in a wood fired pizza oven.
We enjoyed our 2 night stay in Edinburg. We had a tour around the city that morning and then it was time to head on our journey.
Mark bought this hat in Scotland and I love it on him. He bought another one with a bill in Ireland.
We saw so much beauty from our bus view as we headed to Liverpool.
One of the things I love about Go Ahead tours and taking a tour like this is that they build in stops along the way. Plenty of bathroom breaks and you can get snacks and drinks too, in most places. We stopped in Gretna Green, which is known for a place where couples elope to get married!
I couldn’t get enough of the sheep and cows along the way. So beautiful to see!
We remarked so much about how green the grass was all along the way. Ireland might have had the greenest and the most amount of green hues, but it was a toss up. England and Scotland are stunning as well!
100’s of shades of green.
And the rock walls…I couldn’t get enough of those either. I was introduced to rock walls when Mark took me to New England for the first time. Now I see where they came from!
They are all over, marking boundaries and looking so pretty. They have a lot of rock, so this is something useful to do with them.
Nothing prettier than rock walls with moss and ferns growing out of them.
We stopped for lunch in a little town called Grassmere and it was a nice top as well. Shops and a few restaurants. We had a delicious light lunch of soup and sandwich and then walked around the town a bit.
This church was so pretty.
Grassmere Parish church.
We ate at that little restaurant across the creek.
William Wordsworth, the English poet, is buried here in Grassmere in the church cemetary. That’s a look at our Edinburgh stop and all we saw and did. Thank you for stopping by and following along on our big adventure. We may never get that way again, but I can definitely say that we are glad we went. It was a wonderful trip! Next stop, Liverpool, England, birthplace of the Beatles!
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