OUT AND ABOUT IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM. PART 1

It is a long road ahead; getting from England to Scotland.

I have a lot of respect for Scotland and the Scottish people. Scotland, with its beautiful mountains, valleys and lochs, is most pleasing to the eyes of the beholder, and inspiring to the intellect and spirit of those who contemplate on it. It is a country which inspires poetry, not only in the imagination of the Scottish bard, but also of ordinary mortals. And then there is the history of Scotland and the Scots, both actual and mythological, which has become a large part of the history of the former British Empire. 

Yes, I might be wrong on this, in which case I apologise for any error, but, I have come to believe that, without the Scottish people and eminent men and women of Scotland, the former British Empire would not or might not have been as 'great and glorious' as it had been.

That being as it may, considering that it all  or mostly now belongs to the past and cannot be undone, even though it might be open to debate and reinterpretations, we need to move on and focus on what we can influence; the future.

A night view of a street in Edinburgh

Scotland is a country I enjoy visiting, even though I have not visited half the places a would like to visit in that country. And so, when my two dear friends and I decided to visit Edinburgh, it was a trip I anticipated with alot of  eager anticipation.
We planned to spend two nights in Edinburgh, and so booked ourselves into the Murrayfield Hotel at 18 Corstorphine Road. We considered that this hotel was was not only of good quality, but also is sufficiently close to the City Centre, and had its own adequate car park; for which we would not have to pay a £10 or £12 a day parking fee.

But, of course, making a booking was the easy part; we had to get there, which we did, having driven for about 6 hours, including two comfort stops on the motorways. We drove from our starting point in England, making our way along the M6, the A74, and then the A702 and the A8, arriving at the Murrayfield Hotel at about 1700 hours. This route meant that we travelled up the western part of England and Scotland, and then travelling across country - the A702 road - to get to Edinburgh, on the eastern side of the country.


We had started our journey at 0935. The journey was long, but the roads and traffic were good, and, except for two 50 miles per hour points, and the additional care which is required for driving along the A702 windy bendy road, I was able to maintain a steady 70-76 miles per hour for most of the journey.

Part of the outside of the Murrayfield, Bothy Restaurant Hotel.

The Murrayfield Hotel is a sumptuous and pleasant hotel and restaurant. Our two nights there were spent pleasantly, with nothing causing us any dissatisfaction about the hotel, the staff, food or service. Indeed, we would gladly book it again.

Having arrived at the Murrayfied Hotel - there are a number of Murrayfield Hotels on Corstorphine Road, which can be confusing, and are of different quality, so you need to make sure you are booking the one you intend to book - we signed in, put our luggage away and decided to to take the bus and make a night journey into Edinburgh City. This journey took us about 10-15 minutes.

To be Continued

Edinburgh Castle by night, with the Moon overhead.