We said goodbye to the Ben Doran this morning and I can’t say that we were all that sad. The owner mentioned that we missed breakfast this morning and we just didn’t have the heart to tell him that based on our room, we wouldn’t be eating there.
At the Edinburgh train staion, it was people watching at its finest- from backpackers to field trip groups of 30+ kids to just the everyday traveler. We really enjoyed Edinburgh- the people are quite friendly, the city was beautiful, old and historic, and there were lots of pretty viewpoints every way you turn.
While we waited on our train, we decided that while in London we wanted to go for something different. Both Marshall and I had been to London before, and were ready to explore the city beyond the traditional tourist sites of the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament, and checked out the option of going to the Royal Ascot. The horse races at the Royal Ascot racecourse have been taking place since 1711, and it has become one of the premier events to see and be seen. Not that we wanted to “be seen” because we had no formal clothes in our backpacks, but we definitely wanted to see! We booked Ascot train tickets there at the station and race tickets online (they still had some left for the Silver Ring) and figured that we could pull our attire together once we arrived in London.
First up, a four hour train ride to London. We were seated next to two nice ladies from Glasgow who were on their way to see a friend. Our scenic train ride passed along the Scotland coast, small English towns, and through field after field of sheep, cows and horses. We arrived in London to check into our hotel just along Hyde Park. We went to TKMaxx (England’s version of TJMaxx) and H&M to pull together some dressy outfits for our horse race. The idea proved a lot harder and more expensive than we thought. Given the weather forecast the next day, we decided that instead of buying and ruining our new threads (including a dress, suit, shoes, new shirt, etc.) in the rain and mud, we would just make the best of it with our Southern charm, jeans and raincoats:) After a late dinner at a neighborhood Italian restaurant, Zizzi, we were off to bed to get ready for the races! We were pumped!
Waiting on our London train platform assignment
View from our train
Another view from our train
Marshall on the train
Marshall passing time with the dot game
I got the hang of the dot game!
Who knew we would be traveling on the same train as a Van Halen look-a-like?
Knotting Hill, close to our hotel