Arriving in Edinburgh

I checked out of my cosy, delightful room at 'The Old Palace Lodge' in Lincoln and had my fingers crossed that I would find my way out of the narrow, cobbled streets of the Cathedral quarter to the main roads leading North. Although it was a Tuesday morning, the roads were not that busy and soon I was wending my way out of Lincoln between swathes of daffodils that lined the route out of town.
I was making my way North to Leeds to stay with my son and DIL for the night.

It was not a long journey so I stopped at a National Trust property on the way. Nostell, an 18th century mansion, with extensive grounds. An impressive building but only the grounds were open. It was good to see so many spring flowers but the weather was dismal so I didn't stay too long.

It was good to get out of the car and walk around the gardens. Little did I know then that a few days later all this would be closed to visitors for the foreseeable future. So join me for a look around the gardens as it will be your only chance this year to see them in the Spring.

I then drove the short distance from Bradford to Leeds. I was only staying the one night as I wanted to leave my car at their house. I had decided to go by train on the next stage of my journey up to Edinburgh in Scotland. The last time I was in Edinburgh was 1974. I was taking a small school group of 12 teenage girls to Fort William where we were going to climb Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. On  route we stayed in a youth hostel in Edinburgh and had a day looking at the sites. The trip was eventful, to say the least but they did all get to the top of the mountain.

I caught the midday train to Edinburgh. As the previous train had been cancelled I expected the train to be full but it was almost empty. The journey took three hours and I was thrilled when the route took us through Berwick upon Tweed and along the coast.

Stormy skies gave way to rainbows.

Once I got off the train in Edinburgh there was a big difference in the temperature. It was freezing cold and snow had been forecast!


I found the hotel quite easily. It was just a ten minute walk from the railway station. It was a large Georgian building and looked very pleasant from the inside. However, my room was in the basement   and although it was very clean with all mod cons it didn't have a window that  I could access. The window was in the sloping roof which was way up high beyond my reach and sight. The window was operated by remote control so I could open it etc but I couldn't see the outside world. I decided to go out and have a wander round to get my bearings

It was already late afternoon by now so I paid a visit to the tourist office to sort out transport around the city and the opening times of the places to visit and then just walked through the gardens in the centre of the city.

It was beginning to get dark so I decided to go back to my underground cell at the hotel!