Babymoon 2: 14D England Scotland Trip 2019 (Day 2)

We settled for a quick breakfast at the hotel and then lugged our luggage to King’s Cross Station. Together with other tourists, we stood at the main lobby and stared at the large screen waiting for our train and platform number to appear. Once seen, we entered the gates and boarded our train bound for Edinburgh.

I was really excited to board the first class cabin on the LNER train. We booked first class seats because we could be assured a seat next to the luggage deposit area. Snacks and drinks were served on board. Tickets were about 105SGD per pax. Seats and cabin were clean. However, as you can tell from the photo, there wasn’t much leg room when 4 of us sat opposite one another. Luckily, the train cabin was not full. We could walk around and stretch our legs on other single seats beside.

In the first leg of the journey, we went past grasslands where sheep roamed freely. There were also windmills. We went past several small towns and a larger town Newcastle Upon Tyne. However, I realised the sky was gloomy as I have heard from many friends who have been here! Having been to New Zealand, I really missed the blue skies and white clouds! As our train crossed into Scotland, the scenary outside changed! Our moving ’55 inch TV’ screened showed traces of snow on the floor. Thicker snow were seen as we went further in. Really exciting! However, we also started to gear up as we feared the cold.

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Finally, we have arrived at Edinburgh Waverley station after 4 hours of train ride. We alighted from the train station and suddenly feel a very cold gush of air. Not only did we need our jackets, we needed our caps and gloves even. My hands were freezing in 5degs.

The Edinburgh Waverley station seemed more confusing than the King’s Cross Station. There were more platforms, up and down. As we were still early for our car collection, we followed the sign to the Waverley Mall for lunch before picking up our car from the Europcar office, also within the station itself.

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The night before, we actually had a horror when hubby found out that he had forgotten to bring his driving license along! For me, I was not planning to drive this trip, so I had not brought mine along too! Fortunately, my FIL brought his along and we managed to still collect our car after we changed the driver’s details. Phew! Else, half our trip would have to be re-planned. Read also: 10 things to note while doing self-drive.

From the train station, we took a 10mins drive to our AirBnB apartment at Newhaven Road. The actual distance was not that far, but we went really slow to get used to the manual car and unfamiliar roads.

For the next 2 nights, we stayed at a cosy 2-bedroom AirBnB apartment. The bright red sofa appeared to be the highlight of the living room with fully equipped kitchenette. And 1 of the rooms had an attached toilet. We had some problems with the heater on the 1st night, but was glad that it was promptly resolved by the owner the next morning.

As there were no plans for the rest of the evening, we decided to head out to the Tesco Superstore about 5mins away to stock up some groceries for some homecooked meals the next few days. When parking your vehicle overseas, do note their parking rules before happily leaving your vehicle.

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