Edinburgh the last leg of our Scotland tour

hoOn the way out we stopped at a working cooperage and the Glenfiddich Distillery.



We got to Edinburgh via train from Aberdeen. I found a Guest house walking distance from city center and on the bus line. The house was called The San Marco Guest house
http://www.edinburgh-guesthouse.net

It was wonderfully decorated and Avril the hostess was great and met all our needs. When we got to Edinburgh late afternoon she recommended a restaurant near that had a 2 for 1 dinner special that night. Dinner was great and the wine hit the spot. The next morning breakfast was a cooked breakfast eggs, ham, and toast beans. I choose a small breakfast cereal and fruit and one of James’s eggs. The boys got a taste of ham from breakfast that they enjoyed. (THANKS DAD).

The room was absolutely beautifully decorated 2 double beds and single bed in blue and white color scheme. The only down side to the guest house was that it did not have a green area close to walk the boys they did not like doing things on the side walk and concrete. Especially Elijah he likes grass or mulch under his feet.

Edinburgh is a medieval city it has an old town and new town we mostly walked the old town. In the old town you can walk from the castle to the palace called the royal mile. Edinburgh is a hilly city with lots of alley ways called (closes) with many steps.

We found out that the large cities in Scotland are not dog friendly. Only one pub called the Jolly Judge that we could go in with the dogs. This came in handy the last day in Scotland. We had a shock when we tried to take the boys in the Bobby pub for pint and meal. They did not allow dogs in or outside the pub because they serve food is what we were told it was against the rules. Luckily I ordered a couple pints a dram of whiskey for James before they told us that we could not have the dogs in the outside seating area. Here is a link to the history of the area and the pub and why we where disappointed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby


In our wanderings around Edinburgh James found shop that sold old and used CD’s. He was in heaven for about an hour. We had to buy a small suitcase to bring back the whiskey and the CD’s and sweaters. I could not visit Scotland and not get a wool Scottish sweater. May be 2.

I got James and the boys trekking up a volcano rock call Arthur’s Seat in a park in Edinburgh. The view from the top was disappointing. I though that we would see the coast line. James and I did a tour called the Real Mary King’s close http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/
A tour about life was like in the old days of tenement life. The tour takes you under the modern city streets. City under the city.



Our only mistake we made in our trip of Scotland was the last day our train did not leave until after midnight. So we had all day to wait luckily we could put our luggage in storage. It was a long long day. The weather was damp and chilly so the Jolly Judge pub came in handy. We sent several hours there. We all were ready to come back home. It was an amazing holiday it was relaxing, adventurous and sometimes stretched our endurance levels (out of shape 40 something’s). We met friendly people and tasted delicious food and tasty Scottish whiskies and saw absolutely amazing scenery. Well this is the last entry about our Scotland trip. More adventures to come.