Welcome to Edinburgh!

We arrived at our second stop of our trip: Edinburgh, Scotland! First impressions as we got off the train was that it was very busy, tons of people everywhere. However, we realized today is a bank holiday here and the Edinburgh marathon was this past weekend, so people are likely taking an extended weekend here. Looking past the crowds of people, the city is very pretty and old looking. So many old stone buildings, with many of them leading up to Edinburgh Castle perched up on Castle Rock which we will be visiting tomorrow.

Once we checked into our hotel, we grabbed a quick to-go lunch and found a spot to sit in the grass in the park to eat. Not a cloud in the sky, mid 70’s, slight breeze, and an amazing view up to the castle….not a bad spot for a lunch.

We then set off to explore the “New Town” portion of the city. Some of the first things we saw were right in the same park we ate lunch in, Ross Fountain and the Scott Memorial.

We then walked down to Dean’s Village and the Water of Leith Path. Dean’s Village is a small area only a couple of blocks from our hotel, but was much quieter then area and had some beautiful spots to grab some photos. We then walked along the river enjoying the sound of running water and birds as a relaxing break from the city noises. We sat for a bit on some rocks at the edge of the river watching birds flying by, dogs playing in the water, and a few people moving rocks around trying to make a little dam in the river. Was a very beautiful and relaxing area.

A quick break and we headed out for some dinner and then to head to Calton Hill to watch the sunset. One thing that we already noticed in London, but even more so here, is how late sunset is. In London sunset was around 9pm, now that we’re further north sunset about 9:40pm. So after a late dinner we headed to the top of the hill, and the views were worth it.

While heading up the hill we did notice some smoke in the distance, and though we haven’t seen the cause, there is currently a brush fire on nearby Arthur’s Seat. Thankfully the wind is blowing away from the city and crews are working on putting it out, though it is supposedly a very difficult part of the mountain to get fire crews to.

Well, after what was supposed to be a “light day” since half of it was spent on the train, we somehow ended up with another 22k steps/11 miles. I don’t think our little 1.5mile walks around our neighborhood really prepared us for this amount of walking! But it’s been a lot of fun so far and looking forward to the rest of it.