August 2, 2017 Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

 August 2, 2017

“Debbie you would love Edinburgh! It is magical, I will take you some day!” David called me from here once and shared. We never made it but I today I visit with great anticipation. We sail by beautiful Edinburgh on our way to the port South Queensferry. You can see the beautiful castle on the hill above everything else- much like the Parthenon in Athens. We load on the tenders and take the bus into town. On the way we pass a private high school and the University of former prime minister Toni Blair. Cost is 50,000 GDP per term! They look like something from a story book. In fact- the entire city is simply magical- everywhere we drive everywhere we look I see the old fortressess and mighty buildings that can only be found here. So many famous authors from here- it is as though the famous works are coming to life! What is unique is these buildings are in perfect shape- all repurposed and beautiful. I can not post all the photos here so I put several on Facebook.

We decide we need to explore not just the Royal Mile but also the city so we catch the Hop on Hop Off. Smart decision #1. The next great decision was to purchase the castle ticket from them- as we were able to by pass a line that would have easily cost us an hour of time! We ride around snapping many photos and get off at the famous castle. We climb the stone road and enter under the massive gates- it is wall to wall people. They are preparing for a 3 week festival in front of the castle and apparently there will be 10x as many people- we are thankful we miss it by 2 days!

The castle is splendid- in perfect shape. Views of all the surrounding countryside all the way to the water. Museums of all kinds, cobblestone streets, monuments, towers, and even Scottish crown jewels are there. It is simply magnificent sitting on top of a hillside overlooking the historic city.

Other than to say the gothic and gingerbread and spiked buildings are everywhere it is very hard to describe all these buildings. The culture and history here are just awesome, and street performers are everywhere. Mimes and musicians, bagpipes, harps, you name it! Flowers and old world charm are in the air.

We hate all the people and quickly return to the bus to get above them so we can see! We stop later on the famous mile where we can walk and enjoy. We stop at a tea shop offering homemade sweets and quiche. AMAZING carrot cake! We continue down the mile to the Palace at the other end. The official Scottish home of the queen. It is also impressive as was Buckingham Palace, but we choose to admire only from the outside.

Finally a day of warm and sunshine until we load back on the ships bus when it begins to rain. We were lucky our bus was on time- Steve and Susans was late and they were 20 minutes in the rain! We enjoy the scenery back to the port, including the recently sheered sheep- they looked cold and naked in the rain! We were lucky not to have to wait for a tender and back on ship- where I proceed to hit the bed and fall asleep until dinner. A splendid day! Having caught a cold Im headed for early bed and rest- tomorrow is a sea day- hoping to have luck again gambling as yesterday I lost my winnings for the trip and am now back into my money again!