The train ride was beautiful as we went along the North Sea. The train ride took just about 2.5 hours from York. Upon arrival of course I had the address, but no directions to get to the hotel. My dad ended up meeting us as we got closer. We were able to rent an apartment through the hotel, which had 3 bedrooms. The Walton Hotel and the Bellevue Apartment.
It was huge, on garden level, and showing its age by comparison to the home we are living in in York. The 2 bathrooms had been renovated and were very modern . The kitchen was lovely as it had been remodeled as well with a 6 burner gas stove, which would be so nice to have while canning and granite counter tops.
I find it strange adjusting to how few hours of darkness there are. It throws me off...it gets dark around 10:15 and is starting to get light by at least 4am. I just noticed it more while in Scotland, because it was just slight later than York UK. I think I have more time in the evening to relax or read than I really do.
There was a learning curve when it came to staying at the apartment. We had to call the office for several different issues...which switch was necessary to turn on the gas stove, how to turn on the heat (it was quite cold our first night in the apartment if you had to get out of bed), one of the showers was clogged and needed Draino, and one of the breakers flipped at 10pm preventing electricity in 1/2 the apartment during our second night. All made the stay a little more humorous. Lily was so tired the first night she fell asleep at 5pm for the night, but awoke at 3AM. Boy is that early. The following 2 nights she was awake from 4 to 5AM. We were hoping this was not going to continue once we returned home.
Our first full day was spent taking a bus around the city in the morning for about 1 hour. It was on an open air double decker bus, which was a little chilly at times. It was nice to get a general overview of the city.
Michael and I took Harrison up to Edinburgh Castle. It was very impressive and quite a hike up hill to get there. It would have been quite challenging with the other 2 kids and the stroller. We walked in at 12:55 and were able to see and hear the cannon, which goes off everyday at 1pm.
Later that afternoon I took Oliver and Lily to the Elephant room, which is a coffee house where JK Rowlings wrote the first couple Harry Potter books. My friend here thought the kids would get a kick out of that, well I corrected her to say I would enjoy that much more. I met my folks there for tea, hot chocolate, and a snack.
Michael still gets stressed with travel, but overall he was tolerable to have around. Michael and Grandpa took the boys to the Zoo the following morning. Grandpa said it was one of the best zoos he has seen. Harrison liked the Pigmy Hippos and Oliver liked the Monkeys.
Grandma and i took Lily to the Art Museum of Scotland, which was lovely. It was free, so we were able to leave when Lily decided it was time to go. I especially liked the Monet paintings. We did some window shopping and ate lunch out.
Grandpa was successful with finding a park nearby, which allowed for a picnic for the kids and time on the playground during the early evening. There was even an Adventure Playground there...Scotland Yards...but it was closed that time of day. I found it interesting that this Adventure Playground was set up for children with special needs.
Sunday we headed home and arrived in time for naps. Grandma and Grandpa decided to spend a few extra days visiting Loch Ness and traveling to Inverness. They return on Wednesday.
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