Good-bye Scottie
Today was our last day in Scotland. We are looking forward to the next segment of our trip, but before we completely close the door on Scotland, we have one more day to enjoy its hospitality. We started again with a nice breakfast at our B&B and got ourselves on the road back to Edinburgh. The weather is still windy, cold, and rainy as the tail end of the hurricane is still around. We turned our car back in and hopped a taxi to the Marriott Glasshouse, This is one of Marriotts luxury hotels and it is very nice. Our balcony overlooks Carlton Hill and is walking distance to many things.
As soon as we got settled in, we struck out. We found an up-scale pub called the Newsroom for lunch and the food was good - more about food later. Bill said his chicken burger and fries was great as was my Vegan sandwich.
After filling up, we continued on to Holyrood Castle along a scenic stretch of 'the royal mile'. As you can see, it was still raining and quite chilly.
Across the street from the castle is the Scottish Parliment. This is a very modern building not at all like you would expect to see as the Scottish Parliment. It is a bit of a joke with the Scottish people and they are none too happy about it. BTW - there will be a referendum here in Sept to decide if Scotland will break away from Great Britian and be an independent country. We hope they don't so we will be watching with interest as it comes about.
Holyrood Castle was a very enjoyable tour of an active working castle. It is the home of the queen when she comes to visit during the summer and they have many royal events there. We learned a lot about the castle and its most famous resident -Mary Queen of Scots. It seems she had a very difficult life. Maybe being a queen is not what it is cracked up to be.
After an afternoon rest, we set out to find some dinner and found a lovely place next door to the hotel and it finally stopped raining.
Now for some commentary about our time in Scotland...First of all, the people here have been wonderful. Very gracious and hospitable.
About driving in Scotland - Bill did great without many frustrations or misques. Aside from sheep on the roads in the highlands, rainy weather, and a few missed turnoffs in the roundabouts, we did very well. We were almost rear ended by a tour bus when we had to stop quickly to avoid some sheep, but the bus driver was able to stop and miss hitting us. We passed some cute sheep going the other direction one day. They had legs with wide bands of black and white on their legs. Bill said they looked like they were wearing socks. It reminded us of the socks Jared wears.
About the food in Scotland - it has been very good.
At our first meal here Bill learned the difference between American yellow mustard and English mustard. Same color but not the same. Much hotter than we are used to.
We have tried porriage and oat cakes. Both very good. Some staples here are leak and potato soup and macaroni and cheese. Bill tried both and liked the Scottish version. Chips (or french fried) are very good here. Always cooked crispy. We did not try the Scottish national dish - haggis. Not that adventurous. We saw some canned haggis so we could bring some home if any of you want to try it. The Scotch love it. Also the shortbread is good.
So we are getting up before dawn tomorrow (Wednesday) for our flight to London and then on to Copenhagen. We are excited to see Carla and Mike and Ric and Vicki for the 2nd part of our adventures.
As we prepare to leave, the real Scottie posed with his picture to say good and have a lovely trip.
As soon as we got settled in, we struck out. We found an up-scale pub called the Newsroom for lunch and the food was good - more about food later. Bill said his chicken burger and fries was great as was my Vegan sandwich.
After filling up, we continued on to Holyrood Castle along a scenic stretch of 'the royal mile'. As you can see, it was still raining and quite chilly.
Across the street from the castle is the Scottish Parliment. This is a very modern building not at all like you would expect to see as the Scottish Parliment. It is a bit of a joke with the Scottish people and they are none too happy about it. BTW - there will be a referendum here in Sept to decide if Scotland will break away from Great Britian and be an independent country. We hope they don't so we will be watching with interest as it comes about.
Holyrood Castle was a very enjoyable tour of an active working castle. It is the home of the queen when she comes to visit during the summer and they have many royal events there. We learned a lot about the castle and its most famous resident -Mary Queen of Scots. It seems she had a very difficult life. Maybe being a queen is not what it is cracked up to be.
After an afternoon rest, we set out to find some dinner and found a lovely place next door to the hotel and it finally stopped raining.
Now for some commentary about our time in Scotland...First of all, the people here have been wonderful. Very gracious and hospitable.
About driving in Scotland - Bill did great without many frustrations or misques. Aside from sheep on the roads in the highlands, rainy weather, and a few missed turnoffs in the roundabouts, we did very well. We were almost rear ended by a tour bus when we had to stop quickly to avoid some sheep, but the bus driver was able to stop and miss hitting us. We passed some cute sheep going the other direction one day. They had legs with wide bands of black and white on their legs. Bill said they looked like they were wearing socks. It reminded us of the socks Jared wears.
About the food in Scotland - it has been very good.
At our first meal here Bill learned the difference between American yellow mustard and English mustard. Same color but not the same. Much hotter than we are used to.
We have tried porriage and oat cakes. Both very good. Some staples here are leak and potato soup and macaroni and cheese. Bill tried both and liked the Scottish version. Chips (or french fried) are very good here. Always cooked crispy. We did not try the Scottish national dish - haggis. Not that adventurous. We saw some canned haggis so we could bring some home if any of you want to try it. The Scotch love it. Also the shortbread is good.
So we are getting up before dawn tomorrow (Wednesday) for our flight to London and then on to Copenhagen. We are excited to see Carla and Mike and Ric and Vicki for the 2nd part of our adventures.
As we prepare to leave, the real Scottie posed with his picture to say good and have a lovely trip.
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