Weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland

Jon's new car finally arrived so we decided to go on a weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We decided to drive because we wanted to take a scenic route because the views in the country are just so beautiful and already we are seeing some snow in the highlands. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the second largest city here. We took a double decker bus tour of the Old Town part of Edinburgh, which is a medieval town in the heart of the city. Trent and Landon have been looking forward to riding on the top of a bus since we have been in Scotland! They really enjoyed riding up top and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed listening to the guide and taking in the views. There are so many historical buildings near City Centre. We saw Edinburgh Castle, and went down the Royal Mile which is Edinburgh's mile-long street going uphill linking the Castle with Holyrood Palace (the Queen's residence in the City.) There are very many sights to take pictures of and things to learn about as well as lots of shopping :) The Scott Monument is also a sight to see, it is the largest monument to a writer in the world, commemorating Sir Walter Scott. We also enjoyed seeing the Balmoral Hotel. 

Saturday evening we stayed at the Dalmahoy, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club. It was a very nice hotel in Edinburgh and on a pretty golf course. We did not enjoy waking up in the middle of the night at 2 am to the blaring sound of fire alarms going off in the building, including 2 in our room. I sat up and had to think if this was real! The noise was unbearable, we couldn't even hear each other talk. Landon was crying because of the noise and Trent was hiding further under the blankets. We picked up the kids, I grabbed as many clothing items as I could in one sweep to carry out to keep warm outside as I knew it was raining and freezing. As we walked in the hallway I noticed there was a strange burning smell. We evacuated down the stairs and waited for 45 minutes. It was not fun, turns out it was a small electric fire near the entrance of the hotel but we had to wait for the all clear to get back into the rooms. The whole Fire Brigade had come and the kids saw many firemen. They were shaken up by the whole ordeal but now understand more about evacuating for a real fire. Needless to say I will pay more attention to fire exit routes now everywhere we go! The boys even got to share their experience at school on Monday when a fireman came to visit their class. 

Scott Monument

Balmoral Hotel

Edinburgh Castle (up high)

Our Hotel for the Night

View of Castle Dunnotar from the Drive back home