On the morning of August 22nd we took a train from Perth to Edinburgh, Scotland.  The ride between the two cities is short, so we were able to stash our bags at our hotel by 1:00 and head to Old Town.  We had heard good things about Edinburgh from our guidebook and several people, so went expecting to enjoy the city.  When we scheduled our time there, we could tell lodging was scarce and expensive, but we did not know that we were going during the International and Fringe Festivals.  As a result, the Royal Mile area and shopping streets were really busy, but the rest of the city was easy to enjoy and move around. 

The first afternoon, Tuesday, August 22nd, we loosely followed the Royal Mile walking tour in our RIck Steves guide book.  The Royal Mile is the main boulevard in Old Town Edinburgh and runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, the Scottish home for the monarch.  We went to Edinburgh Castle first and got tickets for Thursday.  That end of the Royal Mile was PACKED.  Packed with visitors like us, solicitors advertising festival shows and street performers.  We could barely move.  Because of this, we moved through it as quickly as possible reading some of the Rick Steves walking tour, stopping at several stores with beautiful Scottish wool products, touring Saint Giles Cathedral and marveling at the street performers.  

We also enjoyed exploring a few closes, little alley ways that lead you to courtyards behind the main street that were also built up during medieval times.  Down one of these, we found The Writers’ Museum and enjoyed learning a little more about Robert Louis Stevenson, one of Scotland’s best known poets and author, one our family is pretty familiar with.

After walking the Royal Mile, we headed to find the Lego Store – a repeated request of Abe and Arlie when we’re in cities that have them.  It’s fun to see the locally themed creations each store has.  We also had tacos at El Cartel for dinner on the recommendation of a friend of a friend.  They were delicious and a nice treat after so many weeks of not having Mexican food.  

On our Second day in Edinburgh we decided to head outside of town.  We took a taxi out to Cramond Island, an island in the Firth of Fourth, a narrow inlet of the sea, you can walk to from shore at low tide.  We walked around the island and climbed up to a World War II bunker.  

After that, we took a bus back into Edinburgh to find some supplies we needed and groceries for a late lunch picnic that we ended up eating in the M & S cafe.  By then, M & S had become one of our favorite groceries stores in the UK.  Our lunch was so late, we were finishing at tea time, so we had tea and cake too.  That fueled us for some shopping on Princes Street  – the primary shopping street in New Town.  Since we aim to travel minimally, most shopping we do is just window or walk-through shopping to satisfy our curiosity about an area.  In one shop though, we found little booklets about different clan plaids and bought one for my father’s paternal grandmother’s maiden name (Campbell) and one for Scott’s maternal grandmother’s maiden name (Simpson.)

We tired out shopping quickly and wondered what to do.  Since there are five of us, we usually do not stay in hotel rooms because it feels cramped and messy, but in Edinburgh, that was our best option.  We did not want to go back to the hotel at 6:00 pm and we didn’t want to be in the crowded city any more, so we . . . headed to Costco!  Out of curiosity, earlier in the day, one of us had looked to see if there was one in Edinburgh.  We shop at Costco regularly back home and were curious what one in Europe would be like.  It took us an hour one way to get there!  It was a nice little break from culture travel and felt like a little dose of home.  We enjoyed walking around noticing the similarities and differences as well as eating jacket potatoes at the food court. 

Rest on our trip to Edinburgh to follow soon . . .

p.s. Did you know you pronounce Edinburgh like Ed-in-burr-uh?