Day One Monday 5th August 2013 Barry, Kevin, Scott and I set off early Monday morning

on route to Manchester, where we were staying the night. We had several stops along the way before arriving into Manchester. We drove to the Lowry outlet, where we were meeting Carol Mackey for a well deserved catch up. We went to the Harvester for a bite to eat with Carol and spent about a hour and a half chatting away before Carol had to depart to get to work. We then went to Vue Cinema to watch the Smurfs 2 which was quite entertaining. After the cinema we got back to the car and we drove to our Hotel which was a Premier Inn for the night. (Premier Inn: Warrington (m6/J21) Manchester road, Woolston, Warrington, Cheshire, England WA1 4GB) We checked in and booked a table for our evening meal and we went up to our hotel room, where we got settled in. We then went for our evening meal which was enjoyable. After our meal we went back to the hotel room where we stayed until the morning. Although the hotel was Ok, we were slightly disappointed with the room as we had a family room and the two single beds were far too small, meaning both Kevin and Scott were hanging off the bed.

Day Two Tuesday 6th August 2013 We all got up and washed, dressed and packed our belongings up again, we then checked out and went back to the car to continue our journey up to Scotland. We drove for a while before stopping at a farm service area on the M6 for some lunch, unfortunately the food wasnt too our liking and it was also very pricy, we wont be stopping there again! We then continued driving into Scotland, admiring the beautiful countryside, the mountains, etc We then arrived into Edinburgh and to our Bed and Breakfast which was located in Leith, just a couple of miles from the city centre. (B&B: Abbots House Hotel, 10 Links Place, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 7EZ 01315 547 059) We checked in and took our belongings up the room; we booked a nice family room for the four of us for 3 nights. We all got settled in and had a little while to relax, after which we all got back in the car and we drove around looking for somewhere to eat, we then ended up going to the city centre, we firstly tried to go to Frankie and Bennys, we used the car Sat Nav to take us there, unfortunately it took us through a narrow alleyway and saying we had reached our destination, what it didnt tell us was that the restaurant was inside the big shopping complex, so we then navigated to TGI Fridays, we parked the car on the road outside TGIs and went in, we had to reserve a table for 40 minutes later due to

the fact that the restaurant was pretty much full, so we had a walk round some of the little streets around TGIs before returning to where the car was parked. We then realised that actually where we had parked was for permit holders only, we therefore had to move our car before we were given a ticket. We drove around trying to find parking before deciding to park in this multi-storey car park which was a NCP car park. We parked there and walked back to TGIs for our meal. We were taken to our table, and when we were given our menu the member of staff mentioned various items which we couldnt have as they didnt have any left in their kitchens. Therefore the choice was quite limited, but we all found something we could eat so it wasnt the end of the world. After our meal we had a little walk before returning to our car. We were then shocked at the price, the car was in the car park for 2 hours 35 minutes and it cost 12 Pounds, looking on the bright side it was better than paying the fine for parking on the permits only road. We paid up and drove back to our B&B where we relaxed and went to bed ready for our next day of fun.

Day Three Wednesday 7th August 2013 We got up nice and early as breakfast was served between 08:30 and 09:30 only, a lovely full English breakfast. After breakfast we all went back up to the room and discussed our plans for the day. We all decided to visit the Deep Sea World, which was located in Fife, only a twenty minute drive from our B&B. We observed all the different kinds of fish, including Piranhas, Seahorses, Crabs, Sharks, etc there was a good underwater tunnel, where we could observe the Sharks and other lovely sea animals. The underground tunnel was set up in a way where they have conveyor belts which take you the full circle round. There was also an outdoor section where we could observe a couple of seals. We spent a good couple of hours at Sea world, we also stopped in the caf for a drink before leaving the aquarium and driving back towards Edinburgh, on route back we stopped at McDonalds for a snack and then to an Army shop a couple of minutes away from our B&B. After this we returned to the B&B and we went back to our room for a hour.

After our short break we decided to catch the bus to the city centre. We walked up the road at the end of the park and waited for the Bus. Our bus stop was called Summerfield Place, and the bus numbers we could catch were numbers 12 and 25 which would take us to Princess Street. We got day passes which were 3.50 Pounds for an adult, which allowed us to get on and off the buses as many times as we wanted during the day up to midnight. The bus service was Lotian Buses (www.lothianbuses.com) the bus service was very good they were near enough every ten to fifteen minutes. We got off the bus on Princess street, and we walked round some of the streets to do a bit of shopping, we also popped into the Tourist Information office, where I asked about the Edinburgh Pass, (www.edinburghpass.com) and I also bought a couple of postcards and souvenirs for the family. We all did a bit of shopping, Barry went to Build a Bear and built two Smurfs (Smurfett and Vexy) we went in a couple of clothes shops for Scott and HMV for Kevin, and i bought myself a traditional Scottish Kilt, a Red Robertson style, was a pleasant shopping trip. After a couple of hours we returned to the bus stop and we went back to our B&B, we put all of our shopping down and got changed quite quickly, and I decided to wear my brand new Kilt for the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo show. And we got the bus back to Princess Street. We were originally going to grab something to eat but instead we got the bus up towards the Castle. It was well organised to get everyone into the

Castle grounds for the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo. There was even a bag search before being able to get into the grounds.

The show was absolutely spectacular, worth the visit and the money. The show started at 21:00 and finished around 22:30 with a lovely firework display, it was very well organised and just absolutely spectacular with all the lighting the music, the dances the acts, something we would like to go and see again another year. After the show we walked down back to Princess Street, and we grabbed a quick McDonalds Take-away before going to the bus stop to catch the bus back to our B&B before midnight. We got back to the hotel just after midnight where we relaxed and went to bed.

Day Four Thursday 8th August 2013 After our full English breakfast we got another day ticket for the bus and we went back into the city centre and then another bus up to the Castle area. We went into the Castle and enjoyed the history and the views over Edinburgh.

We also had a lovely cup of tea with a slice of cake in the Castles Tea Room. I enjoyed the walk round the castle; we spent a couple of hours exploring the various areas, experiencing the defender of the Nations 3000 year history. The various sections such as The One Oclock Gun, St

Margarets Chapel, Mons Meg, The honours of Scotland, The Great Hall, Prisons of war. A mighty fortress, the defender of the nation, and home of the famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Edinburgh castle has dominated the skyline for centuries and is part of the Old and New towns of Edinburgh World Heritage site. The powerful stronghold has withstood many sieges and its imposing walls have provided sanctuary and protection for many of Scotlands Kings and Queens. Today countless treasures are protected by the castle walls. Marvel at the nations crown jewels, smell the gunpowder on a guided tour and taste Scottish produce in the cafes all in this magnificent fortress.

After the castle we went into the Scotch Whisky Experience The Scotch whisky Experience lasted about one hour, the first part of the tour was a ride in like a barrel to learn how it all begun and how it was made, this part lasted out ten minutes. After this ride we walked upstairs for the second part of the tour, to go into like classroom where we learnt about the different areas with the different tastes of Whisky, some which are citrus some are fruity, etc After this we had the Whisky tasting.

As we had learnt about the different areas of Scotlands fermentations we could choose which one of the main four

we wanted to have a taste of. As we had a family silver tour ticket, we could only have one taster (options were given to upgrade to gold which would of allowed us to try whisky of the other four regions). I personally chose the fruity one which was from Speyside region. I personally didnt like the Whisky but it was a good experience. After our taster we continued to the next room where we saw many whisky bottles and learn the different tasted which could be tasted in the variety of whiskys.

We were allowed to keep the whisky glass which was used for the Whisky Tasting, and we were all given a box to store the glass in. We ended the tour in the Whisky bar, where we

could stay to buy a whisky drink, we continued on into the Scotch Whisky Shop, had a quick look around before departing. We then walked back down to the main road and grabbed a bus back towards Princess Street. We walked around the city centre some more and had a look at a few more shops, after which we walked towards George Street so I could take a photo of Hard Rock Cafe for my collection. We then decided to have our evening meal at Hard Rock Cafe, where i enjoyed a delicious sirloin steak with mash and vegetables. I myself found it a lovely meal. After our evening meal we went back on the bus and back to our B&B to pack and also relax.

Day Five Friday 9th August 2013 We decided to travel at night to avoid traffic so at midnight (Thursday night) we checked out of our B&B and started our journey back home. We stopped once for a bathroom break and a stretch. Because we travelled at night we were home for around 07:45 so really we made very good time, and the roads were very quiet apart from the Lorries. When we got home most of us went to sleep as we were quite tired despite some of us slept in the car. We all enjoyed our holiday and would love to return there one day and maybe add a few other places such as Aberdeen, explore some other areas of Scotland as well as going back to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo show.

Attendees; Monique Garner Barry West Kevin West Scott West