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Looking up towards Arthur's Seat (in the rain), Edinburgh, Scotland
Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland (in the rain!)

"Mum, what are we going to do today?"

If you are a mum, then you will have heard this many times before during the holidays.  So.. what to do?  Let's take the dog for a walk... in Edinburgh for the day!

So the next day saw the four of us, including Stella the dog, on the 0615 East Coast train from Doncaster to Edinburgh.  Three hours later, after breakfast and several cups of tea, we arrived to find a cold, wet Edinburgh.  We went straight down the Royal Mile, past the Scottish Parliament Building and into Holyrood Park.  Before us was our objective ... Arthur's Seat, a 'mountain' right in the middle of Edinburgh.  

We started up the path towards the summit and luckily for us, the rain stopped.  It was a pleasant walk, not too steep and you could be forgiven for the thinking you were out in the countryside, not in a park in the city.  

The summit of Arthur's Seat (251m) was very cold and windy and a little overcast.  This mean't that the views were not as good as in previous walks up.  On a good day, the views over the city can be spectacular and you can even see the Forth bridges.

After our 'expedition' up the mountain, we went to find a sheltered spot for our picnic lunch.  By the time that we got back to the Scottish Parliament Building, it was raining quite heavily.  We found a dry spot around the side of the Dynamic Earth Centre, but could not go inside as we had a dog.  However, the lady that we spoke to at the door let us borrow some chairs so that we could sit outside.  

We quickly ate our lunch as it was quite cold and then headed back towards the New Town.  We thought that we might try to find a pub that would take the dog.  Having Stella with us limited the things that we could do and with the rain, there were even less options.  Luckily, again, the rain stopped and we found a farmer's market on Castle Street (between Rose Street and Princes Street).

We just had enough time to take a leisurely stroll through Princes Street Gardens before heading back to Waverley Station for our train back to Doncaster.  Everyone had a great time and were thoroughly tired by the time we arrived back home for a well deserved tea!