This morning we had an 8am train from Kings cross station to Edinburgh but upon turning on the BBC to watch the morning news they announced delays on the Piccadilly line- the one we had planned to take. Instead we walked to Tottenham court rd & took a bus to Kings cross, luckily arriving with 20min until our train. The first part of the trip to York was pretty flat & unexciting but the further north we got the more interesting the scenery became. Castles began to appear on nearby hills & small coves of the east coast popped into view. Arriving into Edinburgh we picked up our UK train tickets we had booked from the ticket machine & then headed out of the station, over the north bridge with views up to the castle & right across the old town to our hotel just off the Royal Mile. We were staying at the Travelodge & had payed only $80 for the night inc. breakfast but it was still a bit annoying that you had to pay extra to check in earlier than 3pm. Instead we dragged our bags up to the corner & spent our money on a pub lunch at The World's End. I had a Scottish Salmon fillet with mash & veg, then indulged in Chocolate Puddle Pudding with ice-cream- decadent but amazing!! It was soon close enough to 3 to check in after which we went for a walk down the royal mile to the Palace of Holyrood & Scottish Parliament at the bottom. On the walk up we stopped at the very medieval looking Tolbooth Tavern where I left Sean to walk to the New Town to see if I could get what I had seen in London at the Primark here. It was a much further walk up Princes street than I had remembered & once again I left empty handed as they didn't have the same range. Returning to collect Sean from the hotel we headed up the royal mile to the castle which was being set up for a concert so we weren't able to get a very good look. Cutting down a side street we got a look of the imposing Castle which looks like it has been born from the rocky hill it sits upon from the side. From here it was a short walk to a Wetherspoon's pub 'The Standing Order' housed in a very ornate Georgian building where we found a large variety of cask ales (hand pump) & as we are CAMRA members be got 50p off a pint! It was rather warm & crowded but we figured almost everywhere would be so we took advantage of the evening special & shared a rack of ribs with chips, onion rings & coleslaw with a pint for only £7.49! Once the heat got too much it was time to return to the hotel which was slightly cooler than London but still very stuffy. I wonder what weather the highlands & Isle of Skye will bring us tomorrow!