I must just add here that the one thing I was looking forward to about this leg of our holiday, was the fact that I was about to see one of my best friends from Australia who had been travelling throughout Europe the previous few weeks. It had been 8 months and 20 or so days since I last saw Zoe! We met Zoe, her family and her friend Tannika at Kings Cross and boarded the train for our journey to Edinburgh. Needless to say, I don't think Zoe and I came up for air the entire four hours.
The train ride itself took us through some amazing towns, with a number of them being added onto our list of places we need to visit before we leave the UK. The only down side to the ride was the fact that they obviously sold way too many tickets for the journey. Thank goodness we had reserved seats. Those that hadn't were packed in like sardines in the aisles and near the toilets. I can't imagine it made for a comfortable journey.
Our first impression of Edinburgh was breathtaking. We walked out of the train station to see Edinburgh Castle high up on the hill overlooking the city. As we left Zoe and her family to find our accommodation, we even thought it was starting to snow. We couldn't believe our luck. This amazement only lasted a few seconds as we soon realised it wasn't snow, but in fact hail stones that were coming at a rapid pace. Thankfully our accommodation wasn't too far away and it wasn't long before we were sitting in our warm and cosy room at Edinburgh Central Guest House. If you are ever in Edinburgh and would like a lovely little guest house, I happily recommend the Edinburgh Central Guest House. Our hosts were very accommodating and they provided one of the better breakfasts we have had throughout our travels.
Before we had a chance to check out Edinburgh above ground, we headed underground for a Ghost Tour by Mercat Tours. Now I am pretty sceptical about ghosts. I am open minded about them, but I have never experienced one. Our tour guide was very animated and helped us to get into the spirit of things. She tried to involve everyone and took a particular liking to Zoe's brother Sam! We all took photos in the dark rooms, and we all swore black and blue that you could see an 'orb' in each photo. But something crazy did happen to me in one of the last rooms. Apparently, the ghost of a little boy was in this room. Our guide was telling us that people have experienced one of their hands going ice cold and it is said that this is the little boy trying to hold your hand. Just as she was saying this, my right leg went completely ice cold. It was the strangest feeling because my left leg was still at a normal temperature. At the same time, Tannika who was standing on my right, felt her left leg go ice cold. Wooooooo!!! Creepy!!! I am still sceptical... But it was really weird!
Girls, a word of advice if you are going to participate in a tour like this: wear sensible shoes. Flat and warm are preferable. I have no idea how the girl with 6 inch heels managed... I struggled in my flats!
Edinburgh Castle was where we headed the next day - New Years Eve! I swear it was one of the windiest days on record. Most of our photos included each of the girls trying to keep their hair out of their faces, or just giving up and having our hair flying everywhere! The castle is just as beautiful up close as it is from a distance, and the views were breathtaking. Trying to get a photo of the group of us proved eventful. I think we had four different people try their luck at it and the results would have been hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating. We eventually stalked a gentleman with a giant camera around his neck, who managed to take a photo that included all of us and the castle. My favourite was the girl who volunteered to take the photo and literally picked the camera up and took the photo without looking or seeing if we were ready.
After the castle, we celebrated New Years Eve Australian time - Adelaide to be exact - with a drink. We then prepared for our own celebration. After a few drinks, we headed to the Concert in the Park as part of the Hogmanay Festivities. We made our way through the sea of people that were already cramming the streets and settled back on the muddy hill to watch bands that I had not heard of ha! Actually that is a lie. I had heard of Simple Minds, but only one song... and this wasn't actually played till just after midnight. There were two highlights for me that night: Firstly, the fireworks off the Castle were incredible. I mean the fireworks in Sydney look great each year (as far as I can tell off the TV), but when do you get to see fireworks being set off from a castle? Secondly, and don't judge me, watching drunk people fall down the muddy hill - and get up and keep laughing! This made me giggle inside!
New Years day provided us with sunshine and blue skies, perfect for exploring on our last day in this beautiful city. We headed up to Calton Hill which provided another magnificent view of the city below. We had the obligatory photo outside the National Monument of Scotland and Nelson's Monument before wandering through the Royal Mile towards the city center. The day ended with Zoe, Tannika and myself engaging in a spot of ice skating, which I seem to remember being a lot easier than we found it.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we headed back to London. Mark and I both agreed that Edinburgh is definitely a city that we will be visiting again and we look forward to spending more time exploring the rest of Scotland. Our three week Christmas holiday was an exhausting yet thoroughly entertaining experience spent with the most amazing company. The count down is now on to our next getaway....
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