Edinburgh!

Semi final stop on my magical mystery tour... Of course... after this is still a return to London and then Boston and NYC... and THEN home... but this is largely it for Europe!!

And hopefully the end of my needing my winter coat!

Edinburgh has been insane weather wise... at least it hasn't snowed. Rained and SO windy yes... In fact I developed a theory about how the wind can almost knock me over even when I'm a tall and solid person... it's the same thing that puts semis in almost greater danger than my little civic on the road in such circumstances. It's because I'm so tall and solid that I get whacked!

So the walk up Arthurs Seat was pretty much called off right away. Besides, I did it back in 98...and I got *drenched* then... so I'm good!

Instead, there was a lot of walking around when the sun was out...and staying near museums and shops to duck into when it started to rain...

Day 1... Really a half day after flying in... 1st stop the Elephant House coffee shop that is where (the most famous of them at least) JK Rowling actually sat and wrote Harry Potter. It's kind of a big deal! Then I checked into my Airbnb. You see the priorities here... C: My hosts are nice and we hung out for a while... I entertained their baby... and they gave me lovely restaurant suggestions. So then I took them up on them. I went for a walk up and down the Royal Mile and then went to a veggie restaurant that had live music playing...

And now I pause to describe the food here. All I've been eating is veggie versions of British/Scottish food... and it's been *great*. That 1st night I had veggie haggis and a whisky sauce... (Always spelled whisky when it's in Scotland btw.) I loved that sauce and wanted to marry it... the haggis itself was fine... not really haggis of course... more like a veggie loaf or something like that. Nicely spiced. It was all so good I had it again for lunch the next day at another place. A different sauce but also delicious this time... Love it!! Then for one other dinner I had veggie fish and chips that was really haloumi cheese battered and fried... Now, I have fallen in love with haloumi and don't know where I'll find it in the US. So I'd been looking for it to have in other meals... and here we go! I've also had a veggie burger... but that's nothing in comparison.
So that was pretty much the 1st half day... then the 1st whole day was the day of walking all over Edinburgh... down to Morningside where Rowling apparently lives now (along with lots of other famous people apparently... I saw nobody). Window shopping in charity shops and buying the occasional book along the way... for one brief and shining moment I don't have to worry about the weight of my luggage... and so I run around and buy books!!! This will come back to bite me soon, I'm sure... there are a few more flights coming... one a crappy puddle jumper from NYC to StL... But that's a week away!

I also dove into museums when the rain was particularly bad... the National Gallery specifically. More satellite museums that absolutely pale compared to anything in London... sigh! I was told the National History Museum was random... so that sounds fun. And there are small museums about the history of Edinburgh and such that I might try to visit today before I leave... That wouldn't be done better in London, after all!

Finally at the end of day 1 I did a literary pub crawl. To compare to the one in Dublin, of course... This one was also very fun... and probably my favorite part of the day... RLS and Robbie Burns and Scott and all the goodies. And the hosts kind of acted stuff out which was fun.

Then day 2 was a day trip to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond and a whisky distillery called Glencoyne, I think. All were fabulous... and i *think* I'd been to some before in 98... haha! I'll show some pics! C:

And now we're at today... and I'm getting packed up... Today I'll probably have Indian food for one meal... and check out the Conan Doyle pub... yep, he's from here... And a few museums... and maybe buy another book or two... ;) And then I'm off to London!