First Evening in Edinburgh, Scotland (Day 4)

Journal in italics. My notes in red.
Today, our sleep schedule got a little more normal. I got up at 8:50 and Alex got up about 10:30. (Usually, I get up about 6:30 and Alex gets up at 8:00.) We had to have our bags packed by noon to head to the airport to go to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

All photos on this page are from Edinburgh. This is one of the MANY statues that are around the city.

At the airport it was neat to see photos of famous people who'd flown there. Some of our recent presidents were included - George Bush, George W. Bush, Clinton and Reagan.

This is the Edinburgh Castle. This is also a very large castle while others we saw were quite small in comparison. We toured this castle on another day.

We had to walk out on the tarmac to get to the airplane - a first for both Alex and me. The ride was quick - only about an hour.

We rode on Ryan Air. When the plane lands, they have this trumpet sound and then they say that they have made yet another flight on time. Actually, both flights were around 20 minutes early!

Ryan Air is NO FRILLS. We paid 30 euros each which is about $43.... round trip! But, you can only have one small carry on - even your purse and camera must fit in this bag. We carried backpacks here and I did take 2 cameras and an extra lens. I figured I'd skimp on clothes, but not on cameras! You can buy drinks and snacks on board... nothing is free. Also, I believe it cost something like another 30 euros to check a bag, so you'd about double the cost of your flight... though it'd still be cheap!

On another day we walked through a kiltmakers shop.

We got to Edinburgh and picked up our rental car. We got a little lost but eventually found our Bed & Breakfast. (This was our first time to stay at a B&B.) Unfortunately, the lady who runs the B&B wasn't there and we had to wait a little over an hour for her.

This is a sidestreet in downtown Edinburgh. This street was for walking only.

By the time she showed up, it was about 6:45 so we headed downtown for dinner. What an amazing and beautiful city!!! We saw the Edinburgh Castle and lots of statues. We enjoyed walking around after dinner. We even heard live bagpipe music coming from either the castle or the botanic gardens.

The botanic gardens are in this area, though I'm not really sure what this building is. We heard bagpipe music this night while walking near here.

Our room is very nice and clean and we're getting ready for bed. It's barely 10 pm, but breakfast is at 8:15 and I need to take my shower in the morning. Plus, we plan on having a busy day! We're still undecided about what we'll do, but plan on talking to Wendy (the owner) at breakfast.

Alex and I in the pub we ate in. Kids are welcome in the pubs, though we sit in the back in a "family room." There are menus on the table, but you go to the bar to order your food. This place was nice and cheery and one other family was in the room with us. Later, we went to another pub and the family room was very dark and not very friendly looking so we ended up leaving.