Today was a rather early wake up of 5.30am - a horrible shock to the system. Uncle Albert drove us to Hoogeveen where we caught the train to Amsterdam airport. Unfortunately the train didn't have any luggage storage area so poor Brett had to lift our 20kg suitcases up above his head into the baggage shelf. Somehow I suspect they aren't really designed for suitcases as heavy as ours.

Upon arriving at Amsterdam airport we stood in the Easy Jet queue for an eternity to check in. They got us from A to B but I suspect that their customer service and speed ratings wouldn't be too flash! We then headed to the gate to queue some more to get on the plane because they don't give you seats. Weird! I must say I was pleasantly shocked that they didn't charge us extra for our suitcases being a couple of kilos over what we'd paid. I'll give them one point for that.

Still a smidgen bleary eyed we arrived safely in Edinburgh, caught a bus into town and lugged our suitcases up and down the Edinburgh hills to our apartment's reception building. Unfortunately we couldn't check in until 3pm so we left most of our bags there and headed into town to have a wander around and start our sightseeing. We did feel a bit shabby with all the extremely well dressed office workers in their suits walking around town. The wind blew a gale and the rain fell but we carried on ... hardy travellers we are ;) Probably the most interesting sight was the rows of park benches fallen over on the ground from the wind.

We were very excited at all the space in our one bedroom apartment when we arrived. It was definitely quite different to the tent we called home for so many weeks :)

The next day we were much more awake so we set off in the morning for a quality day of sightseeing. After our great experience at the Dublin walking tour we joined the New Europe Edinburgh one. Despite having an Australian guide it was another informative and funny tour. We saw the highlights of Edinburgh including John Knox's church, a statue of Charles II in roman gear on a pony, the Greyfriar and Bobby's grave, Princes St gardens, Dolly the cloned sheep and more. The second part of the tour was kind of Harry Potter themed where they showed us The Elephant House (where J.K. Rowling reportedly wrote the first two books), the school which Hogwarts is based on and Tom Riddle's grave.

After the walking tour we decided that we were in Scotland so we must do as the Scottish do. We weren't brave enough to have haggis but did go to The Whisky Experience. It was interesting how similar the first part of the whisky making process is to making beer. After being taught how to choose a whisky that is right for you, we got to try some. Oh my goodness, it was DISGUSTING!!! I thought I'd try Brett's to see if it was any better yet somehow it was worse! I'm pleased we didn't go for the option of having four to taste. While Belgium successfully got me drinking beer, there is no way Scotland taught me to like whisky.

- Rebecca