U.K. 2013: Wednesday 9/25/2013 - Train to Edinburgh

We got out of bed at 07:30 on Wednesday so we could go the breakfast in the Olympic dining room at the White Swan. We could not pass up another chance to dine again in this room. We both had the full English breakfast, with coffee and orange juice. A great start to the day. Today it is misty, cold and gray which is not uncommon.

We finished packing our bags and checked out of the hotel at 11:00. The next train to Edinburgh was scheduled to leave the Alnmouth station at 13:10, so we had a little time to kill. The hotel held our bags for us while we strolled the shops on the main street of Alnwick. They also called a taxi for us to pick us up at 12:30.

We arrived at the station in a light rain / drizzle and we waited under the covered awning for the train to come. It has become positively gloomy! Once onboard the train in the first class car they offered us sandwiches and coffee or tea. So we had lunch, as it was now about 13:30. The scenery was very nice between Alnmouth and Edinburgh. The train line ran along the coast in short stretches and it was quite scenic despite the weather.

At the Edinburgh station there was a taxi stand right off of the train, so it was no effort at all to get to our hotel, which was only about 2 miles from the station. Edinburgh is actually a small town. Which is unusual as I understand it was once the largest city in Europe.

We arrived at 94DR in just a few minutes. Paul was there to great us as we arrived. This place is beautiful, just gorgeous! It is a guesthouse B&B and the rooms are named after Malt liquors. We are staying in the Bowmore. We had originally booked a different room, but they needed to use the original room for a guest with special needs, so we were upgraded to a larger room. Yeah! It has a wonderful view up and down the street, and of Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is a 822 foot high hill, the remains of an ancient volcano. It is a popular activity to hike to the top of Arthur's seat. Maybe we will do that while we are here, if the weather clears.

We will be here for three nights, so we unpacked our bags and settled in. We were both tired so we decided to rest for the remainder of the day, and go out somewhere close for dinner. We will take up sight seeing tomorrow. So we walked just up Dalkeith road to The Salisbury Arms restaurant. It is a good restaurant full of locals and a younger crowd. We both had Haddock fish & chips :-) I think we have both had our fill of fish & chips now. "Fish are Friends, not food" as Dori said :)

Back at 94DR there is an honesty liquor bar, so upon our return I tried two different single malts to finish off the night. Glenkinchie 12 year was mild and flavorful. I liked that one. The second was Ardbeg 10 year and it had kind of a ham flavor and was very aromatic. I did not care for that one and Pat didn't even like the smell of it. It really smelled up the whole room and I (me - Pat) did not care for that.