Edinburgh, Scotland

 On Wednesday, May 18th, we were in Edinburgh, Scotland.  It was the fourth town we visited that was listed in the top ten most beautiful cities in Europe.  Again, I agree.  It was gorgeous.  It was such a beautiful day!

Our ship anchored out to sea and water shuttles brought us ashore.  This beautiful train bridge decorated the skyline.

A train on the tracks on the bridge

Low tide, so we had to walk a long way on the pier.

We hired a taxi to take us near the Edinburgh Castle.  Our plan was to start at that Castle and walk the Royal Mile to the Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile. 

The Hub- a public arts building

The sound of bagpipes greeted us as we walked up to the castle.

These girls displayed their beautiful owls- selling opportunities to hold, then photograph them.

It was well worth the steep climb up to the beautiful castle.

The views from up there were gorgeous!

The city below

Isn't that a beautiful castle? 

We bought an ice cream treat from this ice cream truck that was doing quite a business

More views from above

We then began our walk down the Royal Mile.  It was a beautiful walk.

Look at that beautiful street. We just couldn't stop taking pictures.

I bought some souvenirs in this cute shop: Thistle Do Nicely.  We thought it was a cute name.  I bought a little Scottish plaid coin purse that cost WAY too much and some earrings made from heather.

A beautiful bank

Hume.  A philosopher and writer of Scottish descent.

St. Giles Cathedral.  Just look at that beautiful architecture.

Tron Kirk Church

Advocate's Close is one of Edinburg's oldest streets- a steep, narrow alley that connects the Royal Mile with the street below.

I'm not sure of the purpose of these arches.  I thought they marred the otherwise beautiful street.

We slipped inside a college entrance and were surprised to see this beautiful view from their courtyard.

An important municipal building in Edinburgh for over 400 years

The Kirk of the Canongate

A famous street in Edinburgh

Coventry Council House

The Kirk of the Canongate

A side alley with more modern architecture

Holyrood Palace- we made it down to the beautiful palace.  It is one mile between the two castles- hence, the Royal Mile.  With lots of shopping stops along the way, it took a long time and was hard on Ken's bad leg.  There weren't many benches.

Holyrood Palace

The palace was all behind an iron fence.

The end of the beautiful road.

A School

Finding a taxi that would take our credit card to go back to the ship was a challenge.  We were so relieved when we finally found one and climbed inside.

When we got back to the pier, the tide was in, making our walk to the shuttle very short.

On the water shuttle

Inchcolm Abbey on the shore

Shuttling to our ship

The views from our balcony in port and the sail away were beautiful. I probably took 50 pictures and Ken took a bunch, too.  You're welcome for not posting all of them.

My Grandma, my dad's mother's family is from near Edinburgh. The Moffats and the Adams both come from somewhere near the city.  As we sailed by these communities, I wondered if that is where they lived. I need to research it.

A beautiful day in Edinburgh, Scotland.