Scotland

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We boarded the train to Edinburgh at 6:15 am from Kings Cross station. The day was very muggy and the weather, a wintry mix. The view from the train of Scottish scenery, the sea and tiny little Scottish houses was beautiful. The minute we landed in Edinburgh, it was sprinkling, there was a gale and it was bitter cold. We decided to take the hop on hop off bus tour and boarded the quirky looking bus. We decided to check out the castle first, so we got down there. The guards barricaded our entry into the castle saying that the castle was closed due to the weather. What did the weather have to do with admitting people in for a tour of the castle? I was highly disappointed, so Rajesh tried to gain entry stealthily thru the barricade. But the gates to the castle were closed.

So we proceeded to walk through the Royal Mile. The street was alive with people, bag pipe players and street vendors. There were many pubs, restaurants, shops and houses dating back to the Middle Ages.
The walk was an excellent sampler of Scottish culture and tradition. Rajesh stopped at the Scottish whisky store and bought some Scotch. It was very expensive when compared to prices in the US. But again, this is where the tourists went, so naturally the price was high.

We ate lunch in a pub on Royal Mile and took the bus tour again, this time we did one big loop and saw all of Edinburgh. With some more time to kill, we got down at the Museum of Scotland. The museum was huge and had a very good collection. There was something for everyone there. Moreover it was a great free rainy day activity, and we heard that there are plenty of rainy days in Edinburgh like today. We got a good chronological snapshot of the history of the area by touring the museum.

We took another bus ride around Edinburgh and shopped for some Scottish souvenirs. The sky had somewhat cleared. And it was 7 pm and time to board the train back to London. We were glad that we got to see another country, even though the weather sucked and we couldn’t see the castle. We made friends with an American couple from Minneapolis and a lady from S. Africa who invited us to call her and visit her. I am truly amazed at these friendships that form while on vacation!

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