Travel Journal Entry June 1, 2012 or Welcome to Scotland!

Taking the train was adventure #1 – after watching two undergounds go by, we finally fit into 1. Squishy! Then King’s cross was interesting. We got to go to the First Class lounge and then determined our train went beyond Edinburgh and was waiting for passengers. We caught it on time. Whoot!

Lots of food options in first class – pretty tasty! 4 and a half hours later through beautiful varying landscapes, we arrived in Edinburgh.

We walked to our hotel – Wow! What a bathroom! Heated towel warmer, huge, soft towels. (Editor’s note: Oh yeah, we got totally spoiled at the Roxburghe. Thankfully, we started in London and so every room and bathroom afterwards was luxurious, but this was probably the best hotel we stayed at.)

We walked down George Street for a bit and then to Queen Street. We went to the national Portrait Gallery and then walked to Princes Street. We went into a kilt shop and spent several well… moments – about an hour and a half – talking about the kilts and getting a quote from Stuart. Not too bad. (Editor’s note: Stuart at Romanes and Paterson is a wonderful person – very personable, not pushy, very knowledgeable, and quite willing to take the time if you are interested to go through it all. We really enjoyed his company and often used his knowledge to help us later on.)

Then it was back to the hotel briefly and off for supper down Rose Street. Wow! Delish food! Element is a pub/cocktail bar kind of atmosphere. We share the chicken and roasted salad. A meal in itself and so yummy! Then D had haddock and chips – it was huge! I had the macaroni and Mull of Kintaire cheese. Oh my, was it divine! D tried the Douchester beer.

Then back to the hotel room to wash clothes and get some sleep.