Planning for a big trip is critical. So much has to be done before ever leaving home but sometimes not having anything specific scheduled for a day turns out to be the very best idea. A bit of serendipity never hurts. 

So it was in Scotland. After walking the Royal Mile and visiting most of the shops we had our fill of window shopping. The tour of Edinburgh Castle was a grand memory that would last us for years. Now we had a day with nothing to do because we had been uncertain as to what might interest us among the many options that were available. 

I had read about the Royal Botanical Gardens and learned that they were free for anyone to visit. Somehow we were enchanted by the idea of strolling leisurely among nature after seeing the ingenuity of humans. Even though it was a cloudy day with a chance of a few drizzles we set out for the gardens and almost instantly knew that we had made the right choice. 

The entrance was incredibly lovely with a variety of ferns growing magnificently behind a glass wall. I literally sat for a time just staring at the wonderful specimens that reached for the roof of the building. A few steps later I learned that the old glass buildings were being refurbished after many decades of use. Even watching the video outlining the plans and the progress was so interesting.  

Eventually we walked out into the massive park filled with winding pathways and lush trees and bushes of different varieties. Because it was fall and the air was already cold most of the plants were no longer flowering but the leaves were celebrating the season with colors of yellow, orange, red and gold. It was a kind of wonderland that I never get to see in my part of the world where it never gets cold enough for seasonal color changes. It was a sight that I had longed to experience. 

We walked the entire length and width of the gardens stopping from time to time to watch the workers tending to the flowerbeds and pruning bushes. We enjoyed seeing the toddlers and babies demonstrating their sense of wonder with wide eyed curiosity. We watched couples holding hands and old people pushing their walkers down the pathways. All the while we were surrounded by the glories of nature in a quiet place that  seemed to shut out the rest of the world. 

Eventually we made our way to a little cafe at the top of a small hill where we munched on warm scones and sipped our tea and coffee. I mentioned that it smelled like rain was coming so we moved inside just as a downpour caught many visitors and soaked their clothing and hair. 

Everyone seemed so happy there. Something is magical about such a place. It shuts out politics and debates and arguments about our differences. Instead we all become united in the loveliness and peacefulness of it all. I found myself wishing that I lived there so that I might retreat there whenever the world became to much for me. Instead I reluctantly agreed that it was time to return to the hotel to gather our things to leave for the train ride back home. 

I liked the hotel where we had stayed. It was small and so were the rooms but everything was spotlessly clean and the people working there went out of their way to accommodate us. Each morning they featured a wonderful breakfast spread that energized us for the day. I felt as much at home there as I had in the botanical garden and found myself already planning to one day return. 

Soon enough we were back at the train station racing down the platform to the coach that would take us back to London. For a time we enjoyed the views of the countryside but nighttime beckoned and it became too dark to see anything but lights off in the distance. When we reached St. Pancras Station it was late and all of the shops and food stands were closed. We made our way outside to find a cab to take us back to our hotel on Northumberland near Trafalgar Square, tired but happy about the journey to Edinburgh that had gone so well.