Ireland-Scotland 2013 - Edinburgh   

posted october 2013

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When we arrived at the Edinburgh B&B mid-day, the host gave us a map showing that a main bus route into the city could be boarded next door, and away we went. We off-loaded on Princes Street, near Waverly Station where a bagpipe player was performing, a sound that carries far and wide.  

Once at the Royal Mile, we wandered downhill to Holyrood Palace. Photos inside were not allowed so I breezed through, heading to the Abbey and Garden outside.      

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

	Princes St. Gardens		Royal Mile Starbucks (on left)		Paul at Palace of Holyrood
				head gardener's house

After an hour visiting Holyrood we walked a Royal Mile uphill to Edinburgh Castle and arrived just as it closed for the day.  We dropped off the Mound and had an early dinner at an Italian Ristorante.       

On Saturday after another great breakfast, we were downtown early and explored Edinburgh Castle for almost five hours. There's a lot to see, and the views over the City are fantastic, including from the excellent cafe.

	view to the south from Castle entry area		the Castle		looking north from Castle
		Waverly Station & Calton Hill		Calton Hill
		at Edinburgh Castle

Later in the day we walked up to Calton Hill.

	Princes Street, looking west		path to Arthur's Seat		Holyrood Palace (web photo)
		(incomplete) National Monument		Horatio Nelson Monument, see note 1
	Dugald Stewart monument, see note		sidewalk cafe dinner
		the last day of the trip

 note 1 - I found out later (at home) that visitors can climb 200+ stairs to the top of the Nelson Monument, with a superlative view of 'Embru'.  If you don't know about Admiral Nelson, he's a British Naval hero, so look him up to get the story.  

note 2 - Dugald Stewart (1753-1828) taught Moral Philosophy (and math) at the U of E & became highly influential during the Scottish Enlightenment. He mentored Adam Smith, also a moral philosopher but now known as the preeminent economist of the modern age. Dugald Stewart had a country home in Ayrshire and became a personal friend and admirer of poet Robert Burns, the Scottish Bard.    

our sidewalk dinner was two different Italian flatbreads and a bottle of Primitivo, split among three of us. Then we walked a few blocks back towards the Royal Mile, and attended a Gaelic vocal concert in a local Protestant church, because of an announcement handed to Doris, as we left the Castle. 

We learned that this was the last practice session for a local choral group about to compete in the one-week National MOD, the annual Scottish Gaelic music competition. The 15 person group sang a capella and they were great. 

The performance began at 7 pm with a 10 minute bagpipe solo. We left at 9 pm, during a food intermission, to get back to the B&B for some organizing/packing for tomorrow's early start. 

We were early to the airport the next day, but our flight to Newark was cancelled. We left two hours later and at Newark said a quick goodbye, as we ran to our various airline gates for the next leg.

I was a stress case, with only minutes to get to my connecting flight and Customs had a broken conveyor belt so there was a huge luggage logjam. I left my suitcase, hoping for the best & ran to the next gate, barely making the flight (the bag was delivered at home the next day).   

Once at SFO, a kind Filipino airport worker let me use her cell to call my wife to say I'd be at SMF in two hours (9 pm) . 

The 25-minute turbo-prop flight (at 15,000 ft.) over familiar Bay & Delta terrain, was a visual treat, an unexpectedly pleasant end to the trip.  

Postscript

Please see the epilogue page where I (finally) thanked Doris and Mary for planning out the visit, and, where overnight lodging info. is provided. 

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