First Day in Scotland

I woke up with a sore throat. I decided the best thing to do was to try get as much rest as possible before my train ride to Scotland and take the nasty cold and flu drink mix Allison had given me as part of my care package before leaving. I went to the train station about two hours early and I was lucky I did because they had changed my departure train station. I was now leaving out of Kings Cross instead of exchanging trains there.

I made it to King's Cross and Platform 9 3/4. I then went up to the first class lounge to wait for my train. The lounge and free WiFi offered by Virgin Trains was very nice. I then boarded my train for Hogwarts... Umm.... I mean Scotland. :)

I was fortunate to score the first class ticket at half the price of a regular ticket. There are not that many perks to first class versus regular like in the United States. First class came with an assigned seat that you got to pick, free WiFi (which would have been 14 pounds), limitless drinks and food. The food selection was two types of  sandwiches, smoked salmon or egg, crisps, and apples. It was about a five hour train ride to Edinburgh. I had studied the map and felt comfortable about finding my hostel. It was right next to the castle that was on top of a hill. How challenging could that be!?

After asking three different people for directions one of the club bouncers asked an elder man who knew everything about the city. I was suppose to go to the giant glowing clocktower and make a left and the castle would appear. The bouncer asked if there was a clocktower and the older man assured him that there was one. He pointed me in the direction I must travel down. It was nighttime and the light rain gave Edinburgh a somewhat haunting look. I found what I thought was the clocktower and turned left. I followed the street for a while then spotted a Starbucks. I went inside to confirm that I was heading in the proper direction. The two workers said I wasn't the first person to come in and ask about that particular hostel but they had never seen the inquirers against so they imagine they found the place. I was on the right street which I had seen outside. I went back outside and walked a bit more and found the castle and then the street my hostel was on. It was a fairly large building attached to a church. I checked in, unloaded my backpack and went down to the common rooms. I met some people that had been in Scotland for various amounts of time and they gave me suggestions on places to go and see in Edinburgh. There was a group of people planning on taking a day trip out to the country but since I had such a limited time in Edinburgh I decided to stay and see the city the following day.