Edinburgh
Thursday was our city day! I took a break from golf and we all moseyed into Edinburgh in our own fashion. Some took the train from Ladybank station, others drove all the way into town, while our pod drove to the Ingliston park and ride near the airport to catch the tram into town.
On our waking tour
Our day started with a walking tour of the Royal Mile with our amazing guide Sam. She was our kinda guide: didn’t pull punches, gladly shared her opinions, and moved us along quickly. The day started so peaceful (for a large city) but by the time the tour finished at noon the Royal Mile was a zoo.
Julie and I had lunch at Loudons following a recommendation from our guide. Great veggie options.
View from the Edinburgh Castle
Next up was a timed entry to Edinburgh Castle along with a short intro guided tour. As expected the entire day was sold out so believe what you read about booking this early.
The tour was good and a nice bookend to our Stirling Castle experience. The two have similar locations relative to their surrounding communities (high on a rocky hill) but Edinburgh was much more imposing. I’m glad we did both, though I confess to being more interested in looking out away from the castle than into the various rooms and buildings.
Enjoying some pub music
Julie and I split from the group to find a pint and some music at Sandy Bell’s. We had great conversation with a local gent who came over to have a pint while paint was drying back home, and ended up staying for five. The session was two members from Greasy Whiskers and included Appalachian Americana as well as some Scottish folk tunes.
Our dinner party at Dishoom
We rejoined our group for a wonderful dinner at Dishoom. Indian menus like theirs do even better with a large crowd for sharing, so our group of seven got to sample a lot of their menu. The star of the show was the smoky black dahl.
Edinburgh was fun and reports from folks in our group that spent the night in town were very positive. Still, it felt a bit more like Barcelona to me than Madrid (I much prefer Madrid) with the concentrated tourist activity. I confess that when we ventured north of the castle (towards the water) to hit another pub and then to Dishoom that the town got a bit more relaxed and beautiful. I suspect I’d need to spend a few nights in town to have a better perspective. Still, I enjoyed being able to return to our quiet country home. Well, quiet minus the cows, sheep, and jackdaws.