Edinburgh, Scotland

What I thought was a bank holiday in reality turned out to be a Clacton High School staff shopping holiday. We flew to Edinburgh to do our shopping. We arrived in the rain at 10.00pm and, adventurous as we are, caught a £10.00 (for 2) return airbus and set out to find our hotel. But the bus windows steamed up inside. With rain on the outer side, visibilty was very poor. But the friendly driver directed us at our stop and we headed off, towing cabin bags, armed with umbrellas looking for our stay. Eventually we asked a young couple for directions and likewise, eventually, we found our hotel. Signs (like hotel signs) are almost non-existent in the Edinburgh Old Town (or very very small)and so streets and buildings in the dark, were like one huge blur. But comfortable accommodation was finally at hand - and so was sleep. We woke next day to visit amongst patches of blue/grey/rain/cloud/sun/mild 10 degrees, the right up there Edinburgh Castle and, good news, entry was free (down from the normal £11.00 pp because it was Nov 30th, Saint Andrew's Day - Patron Saint of Scotland). As we normally do, we walked and walked, slowly at first, and later, more quickly as we realised the day was slipping away: dusk at 4.00; dark by 4.30. But we did manage to squeeze in a self-guided trip through St Giles Church as we headed down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Abbey; a visit to a personal 3D theatre show about Loch Ness and its monster; a walk past John Knox's house, past the Mercat (the centre of town and former execution site) and on to the Old and New Parliament buildings: sadly we arrived too late to get into the new buildings. So on we trudged, map out, gathering (all two of us!) under yellow street lamps in the 4.30 dark at various points, and wound our way up what looked like dodgy dark paths to the lookout on Calton Hill (here sits Edinburgh's answer to the Acropolis) from where we got a full on view of the city - at night in the rain (at least it wasn't cold). From Calton Hill down into the New Town and to the Christmas markets - dinner consisted of a small plate of apple strudel and cream from the German market. YUM!! And from there a wander into a huge marquee where we sat and watched St Andrews day festivities with Ceilidh band and dancing and beer and free giveaways. A really enjoyable way to end a very long (but short on daylight) day.