Edinburgh Sept. 28-30, 2023

 We wrapped up our month long trip with three nights and two full days in Edinburgh, Scotland.  We had been in Scotland almost 30 years ago with Brad and Greta, but we did not go to Edinburgh on that trip.  Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is around 500,000 people; a pretty walkable city with lots of old stone buildings; churches; a castle, and is built on 7 hills.  We did a royal mile excursion with Hurtigruten as a last trip and after that we got our luggage and took a cab to our guesthouse, Ben Cruachan House.  The general manager, M…. Greeted us and gave us a good overview of what to see, where to eat, and where to walk while were were in Edinburgh.  She had a Scottish accent, but it turns out she was from Bulgaria.   Ollie, the proprietor, who is definitely Scottish,  took over on the weekend from M…..  Great breakfasts, nice room, and very helpful staff, and an easy walk up to central Edinburgh.  We really liked our accomodation.  We had three good dinners here; Italian at Mama Roma’s, Greek at Simply Greek, and pub food at The Mitre Pub.  Our first full day we walked about 10.5 miles all around town including the Stockbridge area; the Scottish Botanic Garden; the Dean area; the West Princes Street gardens; and parts of the royal mile again.  We toyed with going to a concert at Saint Giles Cathedral but Donna’s been sick since the end of the cruise, and it would have been too much.  Our second full day we returned to the royal mile madness and the Harry Potter store and picked up some additional souvenirs.  We read that Edinburgh was the third most visited city in the world, and based on the crowds on the royal mile, we believe it.  In spite of Donna’s health, we really enjoyed Edinburgh.