Van Life - We Left The Kids

Welcome back to van life. We are in chilly Edinburgh Scotland today and we're feeling the cold. Although I'm refusing to get rid of these shorts. So today we're going to take you around Edinburgh in Scotland. And where are we going Kim? We're just going to have a look around. You've just said it wrong. But first breakfast! So we went on TripAdvisor last night, looked at local cafes and the local cafe that we were going to get a full English breakfast this morning was a two star. So it was a no from us. So Kim's created a five star breakfast. What's your favourite go to breakfast thing? If you noticed on here, something's missing in the van. What's missing Kim? What? What? What's missing? Children. The five kids is missing. Okay. You've got all of your seeds on your chin. So this is why we have it in the van. Like I said before, if you notice something, five kids are missing. They are not in boarding school. They are at home. It is our 20th anniversary. It is. So let's go. Are you ready? Let's go. We've got three minutes for the bus. What is it? What time's the bus? 36. It's now 33. Kim's the bus man. So she knows all the bus times. Okay. Kim's the bus woman. It's there. You missed the bus. You missed the bus. That's what happens when you do arty shots. You miss buses. Kim is here to tell you about the Edinburgh Park Up. You go on Park for Night and the code is 97379 and it's on Carrington Road. It is a walk away from the bus stop and the bus takes you to Edinburgh within 10 minutes. Yeah. The bus is £2. It's £4.50 for an all-day saver. Oh, here we go. Oh, here's our bus rider. Is it? Is it? No. What are you doing? There's our bus. 29. Two minutes early. So the 29th and the 24th goes from this bus stop here. The van is literally a one-minute walk away straight into the heart of Edinburgh. So we're going to grab that bus which we just missed even though it's two minutes early and we're going to get straight into Edinburgh and see what it's about. I am a bus whopper. Thank you. So Kim's got on the maps. It's a 14 minute walk to Edinburgh Castle there so we're going to head on there. So the scenery on the way up is well worth the walk. Yes. Superb, isn't it? The video footage you've just seen here was from I think it's from a college that's square. So we've made it to the top of the big walk. We've just been past the witchery which looks outstanding and wow, wow, wow, wow. Definitely worth the walk, Kim, wasn't it? I can't believe we didn't come here with the kids. It was torrential rain last time. When we came in June, which is English summer, it was absolutely awful, wasn't it? The weather was horrific so we never came up this far but the weather was absolutely horrific. This is magnificent. We are in awe, struck by the views. Look at the ice cream truck. Welcome to Edinburgh Castle. Oh yeah, an old, old ice cream truck. Well, it's not old. The France Bank in New has been made like an old one, hasn't it? But it's absolutely amazing. The culture that is in Edinburgh is, I wouldn't call it a hidden gem. It's a well-known gem and it's absolutely outstanding. A very busy Saturday today and it's just lovely. It's just one of them cities that's just... The vibe, the weather. But like I said, we've just been to that witchery that looked outstanding, didn't it? Yeah, but £150 for caviar. I've never even tasted caviar. Or if you wanted an afternoon tea, I think it was £75. So we may be giving that one a miss this afternoon. That's each, that's per person. Each to their own. But this is the Edinburgh Castle entrance and what an outstanding building this is. It looks even more magnificent. I feel like I'm going to start doing the bagpipes now. So in front of the castle now, as you can see, there is one, two and three tours. We've seen lots of these tours and they seem very interactive. Some are chargeable, but some are free. So if you go on TripAdvisor, I do think they offer free tours and they do like Harry Potter tours. There's loads of them. If you're a skinflint like me, you could actually tag along on one to be perfectly honest with you. We don't promote that though. We don't endorse that, but it's something that I would do. Tag along on the end of one. You'd do anything to save a bloody pound. But think of it now, think of it. This guy, I saw him before. Very animated, great tour guide. He was further bound by the witchery. How do they know one extra person? I'm in this group now. I'm part of the tour. I'm actually in it. I might even try it. He's not with me. So this is the guy at the front who's doing the tour. I'm now part of the tour. Yes, we can see it. I can see it. That's my jump in on the tour. Like I said, all the tours seem fantastic. Definitely something to do. Very animated staff. They really give a lot of insight into Edinburgh and absolutely fantastic. Kim's bailed on me now because she didn't want to be a part of that tour. So if you know me and Kim, I am an extrovert and she is an introvert. And she does not want to be embarrassed by anything like that. There she is, a founder. Look at her wandering. So another way to view around Edinburgh is the city tour buses that are in abundance. They literally are just a tour around the city centre. And there is lots of them all around all various points. There's an open top bus over there. They're very well known. The open top buses are in London. They were actually world renowned, them ones. So yeah, we've got the bagpipes in the background. And that is just at the top. There was where Edinburgh Castle is. We're going to head further down now because we are going to explore the Harry Potter Street. If you know, you know. The world is full of magical things patiently waiting on our senses to become sharper. Everywhere we go, everywhere we go, Kim is a photographer. She always gets after people's pictures. So there she is taking pictures of her family now. But she must just have one of them faces where everywhere we go they're like, can you take our picture? And she's just like, she's so obliging to it. We hardly get family photos together. And it's always nice when that one person says, do you want me to take a picture? Oh, did you ask them? Yeah. Oh, what a dude. Because we're a family of seven. And they've now got a lovely family photo. As a family of seven, it is difficult, isn't it? Getting a picture with us and us five kids. So for all you Harry Potter fans now, we are going through the back alleys. We are trying to find, what's the street called, Kimmy, do you know? Victoria Street. We're trying to find Victoria Street. This is Victoria Street where J.K. Rowling got a lot of her inspiration from. It's said to have been her inspiration for Diagon Alley. You Harry Potter fans. So they say it's where Harry and his wizarding friends buy everything they need for the school year at Hogwarts. And apparently J.K. Rowling did most of her writing and could have well been inspired. I think there's a cafe somewhere up here or something. I'm pretty sure I've been told there's a cafe somewhere pretty much up there. She used to come and sit and do her writing many, many moons ago. Obviously before she was a massive author. But yeah, absolutely amazing place to visit and definitely one on everyone's list. Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, what an absolute place. The buildings are just amazing. Just up here there's a Harry Potter shop. So we found the local markets here. This is all the local produce from around. Loads of things. There's some further down there as well. We've just passed all them. Look at this though. Look at the scenery here. Edinburgh Castle is actually built on a volcano. The castle was built upon a massive castle rock. A part of the ancient extinct volcano which was formed 350 million years ago. The castle is the most attacked place in the UK. Edinburgh Castle has been attacked more times than any other place in Britain. With 23 recorded attempts to take the castle. So we've made it to the National Galleries of Scotland. This is an absolute beautiful part of Edinburgh. There's a green area in the middle and then you've got so much culture. It's quite New Yorkish in a way with the green space right in the middle of the city. But obviously all these buildings here are so picturesque. Especially when the sun's out today. Like I said we've come in June. It was a bit more wet. But oh what an absolute vibe that we have been here today. Beautiful. We're now currently heading towards the Scots. Scots. Now you can pay to walk up the Scot Monument and we've done that many steps today. Could I face another step? So we're just going to look at it. We've found ourselves going around in circles really. We've just been down a load of steps to come round to go back up a load of steps. So yeah it's good to get these steps in. But yeah we're all stepped out to go up there. But this monument you'll see what I mean in a minute when I show you it. It's quite high and you can walk up it. You can pay to walk up it. But it's not that expensive. I think it's about £8. So we'll show you it right now. The Scot Monument is 200 feet high and it's made from sandstone. It's said to have cost £16,000 which approximately today will be about £712,000. There's 287 steps to the top which gives you great views of Edinburgh. But we're going to give it a miss. We're not going on them steps today. Thank you very much. If there was a lift. Yeah a lift would be great. Yeah but I think we'll give that one a miss today. But it's an absolute mega structure right in the middle. It says it took nearly four years to build. Well you can see how it is. I don't even think the camera poses it just as of just how tall it actually is. It's a beautiful structure. Like I said you go up in the spiral so the steps are actually in the spirals. There's nothing in the middle. So yeah it's £8 an adult and £6 a child and a family's £20. Oh there you go then. I would 100% recommend coming to Edinburgh in Scotland. Whether you come in a camper van or you stay in a hotel, an Airbnb. Edinburgh has so much to offer for children and adults. We've come as a family before. We're here just us two on this trip. But it just has so much to offer. There's so much history in Edinburgh. We visited the Edinburgh Castle which is perched on a hill. It has amazing views. There's so much greenery here as well. You can go and spend your time walking through parks, stepping through the cobbled streets. It just feels like a fairy tale and it actually does feel very Harry Potter-ish. I would 100% recommend visiting Edinburgh. you