Scotland

This is the part of the vacation where we stay put in one hotel for 5 days. It was nice to relax without having to keep packing and unpacking. I had no expectations about Scotland as I didn’t research much about it. Debbie was more excited about this leg of the trip, but I soon grew to love this country – it’s beauty, it’s history, it’s people and so much more…

Edinburgh, Scotland

We decided on the Wilde Aparthotels in the Grassmarket section of the city for its convenient proximity to most things – Edinburgh Castle (a nice view from hotel) and lots of pubs. The hotel did have a continental breakfast for an additional fee, but the rooms came with kitchenettes, so we just stocked up on necessities like yogurt, fruit, snacks and drinks rather than breakfast. I wish every hotel had a little fridge at least as it was very convenient to have. We had five days in Edinburgh and no rental car, so we booked two tours.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle was a nice take. We happened to be there during their daily cannon blast at 1:30 pm which Jim loved. The castle is like a little walled town with different buildings. One building is a museum of war which was interesting. Another building houses the “crown jewels” that you can wait in line to walk past as you are viewing but you cannot take any photos.

The Royal Mile

The castle took up a couple of hours of the day then we continued down High Street (The Royal Mile) for all of the shops, restaurants and pubs. We stopped at Greyfriar’s Bobby which is a pub named for the Greyfriar’s loyal dog, Bobby, who stayed by his grave for years. There is a statue out front of Bobby. The cemetery and gardens are out back. The restaurant/pub was very nice, and we tried Haggis, a national dish of Scotland, made of sheep’s organs, oatmeal, and spices cooked in a sheep’s stomach. It wasn’t half bad! We also tried neeps and tatties, mashed turnip and mashed potatoes – delish! Another place we tried for lunch on a different day that was good was George IV near the castle.

Stairs, Stairs and More Stairs

What I didn’t realize about Edinburgh is it is a city of perpetual stairs. Each street in Edinburgh is set apart from the one before it by altitude. In order to traverse the landscape, the Scotts put in alley ways called “close” and quite often very steep stairs. When meandering throughout Edinburgh, you can either hike up a zillion flights of stairs or walk the long way around to avoid the hills and steps. I often took the long way!

Tour of the Highlands and Loch Ness

Debbie booked us a couple of tours. This day we did the Highlands, Glencoe and Loch Ness via Heart of Scotland Tours, Ltd. We had a wonderful native tour guide, Angela, who we loved. She was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the tour and very friendly. This was a long day as we covered a lot of ground. We got to see the gorgeous mountains and valleys of the highlands and even saw a bagpiper in the mountains. We visited a centuries old home in Glencoe. Loch Ness was a favorite destination as I got some nice photos for the grandkids who are intrigued by the Loch Ness mystery. Jim tried fish and chips at Monster Fish & Chips Co. at Loch Ness. He thought it was good, just a bit greasy. We drove by some beautiful scenery with castles in the background and had a photo-op with highland cattle.

The next tour was with a different tour company to St. Andrews. Steve and Jimmy were very excited about this tour. They played a putting round, and Jim got a hole in one (on the putting green – not on the actual course)! We had lunch in the club house at St. Andrew’s, and the pub was as beautiful as the food was delicious. There were views of the course on one side and the ocean on the other. We walked around the town adjacent to the course, and it was a nice walk. We stopped in a tiny fishing village which was picturesque and in the town of Falkland.

Falkland was the site for a lot of scenes of Outlander if you are a fan like me!

Roof Top Bars and Greek Food

We happened by Johnny Walker’s 1820 Rooftop Bar as we were walking past and decided to come back to check it out. Wow. It was beautiful. We sat inside at the bar but went outside to take some nice pictures with the castle in the background.

We spent a day utilizing the Hop-on Hop-off bus to see the rest of the city. Unlike Belfast, there was no guided tour to go along with this one, only headphones and canned dialogue. We spent some time on The Royal Mile souvenir shopping and then off to the New City area to find a rooftop bar for a drink. At the top of the very modern looking Westin is a gorgeous rooftop bar. We relaxed here in the sun for a bit before we ventured off to find dinner.

We found The Real Greek in a multiple level food court. Our experience here was amazing. Our waiter was so friendly and was very patient with all of us trying to order. Seven of the eight of us were in Greece together last fall and fell in love with the food. We thought this would be a great way to cap off yet another successful vacation, and it sure was!

Grassmarket Area

Our last night in Edinburgh was low key, with us chilling at an outside area of a restaurant/pub up the street from the hotel in the Grassmarket area. The problem with Grassmarket is that it so difficult to decide which pubs to go into. We tried many, but certainly not all. Some favorites were White Hart Inn, Maggie Dickson’s and Three Sister’s.