Day 24 - Edinburgh: Walk about

Welcome to Edinburgh! What a cool city and we haven’t actually done anything except walk around. From Wikipedia: Edinburgh is Scotland's compact, hilly capital. It has a medieval Old Town and elegant Georgian New Town with gardens and neoclassical buildings. Looming over the city is Edinburgh Castle, home to Scotland’s crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish rulers. Arthur’s Seat is an imposing peak in Holyrood Park with sweeping views, and Calton Hill is topped with monuments and memorials.

Edinburgh has been on my bucket list forever. For reasons I cannot articulate, every time I read about this city, my mind said I had to experience it. Martha is so awesome that she was a completely willing companion.

We have things planned for the next few days, but today was just a walk about to see what was near the hotel and where to eat. While we are spending quality time in pubs, we are basically only eating twice a day. Everywhere we stay has breakfast included, so we usually walk around looking for a late lunch/early dinner. We are close to central Edinburgh and the Castle and touristy areas. We are in a great spot so options are plentiful.

We found Maggie Dickson’s for dinner. I mean, seriously, how could we pass it up. Not only Maggie but our great friends, Ian and Diane Dickson. Win win!

Then we walked up Victoria Street, said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley.

We ended up on High Street (seems like that name is in every town). The view from the top…

We found St. Giles, and since we haven’t been in many churches so far, Maggie took a tour and Martha found our next stop. From the web: St Giles' Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel.[4] St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.[5]

There are awesome pub names in Edinburgh:

Alleys are called Close and we had to go down one and take a picture of another

There was def beer and wine. We did wander for more than 4 hours, lol.

And then there is this!!!!