We had a late-morning departure from Inverness, meaning we had time to sleep in a bit and tidy up the apartment before heading to the train station. After printing our tickets and grabbing a second coffee, I left the others with the luggage at the train station and did a quick walking tour of downtown Inverness.
We did have seat reservations but suddenly the train to Edinburgh was "shorted" a car, which meant a sudden free-for-all for seats. We managed to get four seats together, and enjoyed a scenic 3.5 hour ride through central Scotland, passing through Aviemore, Pitlochry, Perth and Stirling along the way. We also had pleasant conversation with a mother and daughter from Michigan.
Arriving at the central Waverley Station between the Old Town and the New Town, we made the relatively short but steep walk to our historic vault apartment for three nights at 16 Niddry Street South. It was a beautiful old two-level apartment under the South Bridge vaults, close to the Royal Mile, groceries, and pubs.
We walked the Royal Mile in the blazing sun and got ourselves situated, before stopping for a drink and some food at Deacon Brodie's Tavern. After a grocery run to Tesco's to stock up the apartment, we ventured down our street for some live music at Bannerman's, before heading further up the lane to explore the Banshee Labyrinth vault pub.
Up early the next morning, we walked UP the Royal Mile to the castle, then back down and around to St. Cuthbert's Kirkyard and through Princes Street Gardens. After grabbing another coffee at the Waverley Arcade, we walked back to the apartment for two organized tours in the Old Town.
The first was a history and walking tour of the South Bridge Vaults, the old catacombs unearthed beneath the city, which ended right near our apartment. Later, we joined a very knowledgeable local guide for a walking tour of the Old Town from St. Giles to Greyfriar's. We explored Grassmarket and Victoria Street on our own before heading back for a break and some Whose Line downtime.
Sensei and I returned to Grassmarket to round out the evening with pints at the oldest pub in town, The White Hart (1516). We stayed for the live music and found ourselves beside a nice young couple from England and Australia and enjoyed some great conversation about travel before calling it a night.
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