Day 2

Day 2 had peaceful start, as our 787 (yes, 7…8…7) touched down at London’s Heathrow Airport. The customs and baggage process was so smooth we were of the airport in under 40 minutes….faster than many US airports!!

We had scheduled a driver to pick us up and drive us to the train station, where we’d jump on board the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our driver met us outside of baggage claim and we headed to the car. Once there, Jeff showed his “Americanness” when he tried to get in on the wrong side of the car!! Traffic was very heavy on the way to the station, and it did feel weird both having a driver on the opposite side of the vehicle and driving on the left-hand side of the road!!

The trip took about an hour, and we arrived at Kings Cross Station with about an hour until our train departed. I felt anxious, as the station was huge, we’d never taken a train before and had no idea what we were doing. Shortly after entering I saw a sign that said, “First Class Lounge This Way,” so we headed that way. Luckily our e-tickets scanned perfectly and we had a nicer spot to sit and wait than out with the hundreds of travelers below. As everyone we’d met was super friendly and helpful, we asked about our departure time and how to get to that platform. Once it was time to board we headed that way. We found our car and seats pretty easily. Luckily we were some of the first passengers to board our car, as there wasn’t a ton of storage for the larger suitcases, but we got spots!

Our seats were at a 4-person table, with Jeff and I sitting across from each other next to the window. The seats did recline a TINY bit, but sleeping would be an interesting proposition! We then met our single table-mate, who joined us before we departed. A true Scotsman, Mr. Martin MacLeod, who owns a small antique store in Edinburgh’s city center. He was super fun to talk to, and gave some great tips and insights about the area. Interestingly enough, he had lived in Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains for a short while, so that was kind of cool.

The trip was long, about 4 and a half hours, with 4 short stops along the way. We alternated chatting and napping. At this point we’d been awake for almost 24 hours and the exhaustion was really starting to hit. One of the most interesting things about the ride was the beautiful landscape, which stayed mostly flat until we crossed the River Tweed and entered Scotland. Almost immediately the landscape became much more hilly. Berwick-Upon-Tweed is the first Scottish town on the other side of the river, and it was beautiful. It sits on the edge of the North Sea, which was cool to see! The main thing we saw out our window on the journey was sheep farms. Plentiful is an understatement!

We arrived at Edinburgh Waverly Station on time. The station itself is a beautiful historic building (as are most in Edinburgh!). We found the taxi stand pretty easily and headed to the hotel. Our hotel is The Bonham Hotel, located on the street Drumsheugh Gardens, pronounced Drum-Shoe. It was originally the family home of a Mr. Robert Cox, who had it built in 1882. It, along with 3 other family houses were combined to become what is today the hotel. In addition to private residences, part of the current building was once a private surgical clinic in the early 1900’s, which then became a maternity hospital for 12 years! One of the later iterations was then a residence for medical students, called Muir Hall. In 1997 Muir Hall was turned into a luxury hotel, which opened in 1998 to critical aclaim. Conde Nast Traveler included it on their list of the 20 Best New Hotels in the World that year! In 2018 it was acquired by Richard H. Driehaus, who turned The Bonham Hotel into a showplace for many pieces of his personal art collection, including paintings and Tiffany lamps. Walking through this hotel is truly special! A side note, I cannot take credit for selecting this hotel, as it was a recommendation from the travel agent I used. Needless to say….it was a spectacular suggestion!!

After securing our room, which is small but elegant, and taking the most rejuvenating showers ever, we relaxed a bit and headed to our dinner reservation. It was at a pub called The Devil’s Advocate, which is tucked away up an alleyway in New Town. It was not a large pub, and I was glad to have made a reservation, as we saw several people come in and get turned away for dinner. We each chose the steak for dinner…which was either a flat iron or rib eye that had been aged for 28 days! They were outstanding!!

The original plan was to go to an underground whiskey tasting (for Jeff, obviously), but by the end of dinner we decided we would rather take a walk around the area and head back to the hotel and get some much needed sleep!! This was a great decision, as we saw some beautiful nighttime scenery on our walk back to the hotel. When all was said and done we ended up getting about 10 hours of sleep, which was sorely needed!!!

All in all, a good (even sleep-deprived) first day in Edinburgh! The long sleep will prove essential with our full day of walking tours on Wednesday!!