My comfort zone is about 4000 miles behind me now or will it ever stop raining

At the end of a very long day the plane is on its descent into Edinburgh. We finally broke through the clouds which were very uncomfortably close to the ground. ( A theme that will stay with us for several days.) There were several bumps and loud noises and then we were in Scotland. A little bit of dread, some nervousness and a lot of anticipation. The first of my impressions during the first 30 minutes was that there were more shades of green in the fields around the runway than colors in a 64-count box of Crayola crayons. The next impression was a real shock even though it was expected, the taxi driver got in on the wrong side of the car. Driving on the left hand side of the road alarmed me several times during our stay even as a passenger.

Our “campsite” was just across the street from the Scott Monument on Princess Street. The important Princess was surprised that I had arranged for our lodging on a street named after her. The combined sections of Edinburgh, New town and Old Town are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/728). Close to where the Princess and I live is a development called New Town, some friends live there. It was developed about 15 years ago. The New Town in Edinburgh was built about 270 years ago. Doesn’t look a day over 200.

A good way for our small group to get around to all of the sites was the popular “hop on / hop of” tours that loop around the city taking us near the attractions we wanted to see.

The main attraction for us was High Street AKA the Royal Mile. The maps we viewed were flat. High Street actually was more of an incline than expected. (Wear comfortable shoes). Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were there, but fortunately the rain kept most of the tourist at bay. We only had a couple of days so we bought umbrellas and hats and enjoyed the mostly empty streets. Do not let the photos fool you, it rained almost nonstop for days.

The Edinburgh Castle was high point of the first day there. So much history squashed in such a small place. The Royal Palace, the birth place of King James the VI, the National War Memorial and St. Margret’s Chapel which is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh.

I enjoyed the Castle but exploring the smaller side streets and Closes like Advocates Close or Fleshmarket Close was more interesting to me.

A Close is an alley of steps to allow passage up or down the hill between buildings and are mostly named for the commercial activity that took place in buildings off the alley way.

Fleshmarket Close was named for butcher shops located there, my mind went somewhere else but you would have expected that from me. Now, in Fleshmarket Close there is the Halfway House and Jinglin’ Geordie. Both interesting and well know pubs. Doing a little research, I learned that 1597 Geordie was appointed goldsmith to the Queen. Hence the gold coin coins jingling in his pockets.

The Princess and I were awe struck by the architecture in Old Town. At every turn there was another “photo op” and plaque to read.

As is our habit, we found a very good small coffee shop just off High Street, named “The Wall”. I have only scratched the surface of the trip, next stop is Aberdeen.