Edinburgh - Day 1

Did a whole lot of touring Edinburgh on foot today. Over 25,000 steps worth, in fact! The day started with me going across the street to Cafe Nero to pickup coffees for Laura and I to have in our room. Rather pricey. Might want to start looking at brewing our own though whenever we have a coffee maker in our kitchen. We’re already doing our own breakfast and lunches by picking up groceries in the local store. And last night, we even made a nice pasta with salad for dinner using our kitchen.
We started the day’s touring by heading to the Royal Mile. So amazing to see all the historic buildings that have stood for twice as long as Canada has even been a country! Went inside the Giles and marvelled at the beautiful stained glass windows and massive pipe organ!
Also, ventured inside a free history museum which focussed on the history of life for those who have lived in Edinburgh. So much that we have in our homes today that we all just take for granted never existed for many, years ago. No running water. No toilets or sewage treatment. No electricity. No heat. No A/C. Tiny rooms for entire families.
Our tour de foot continued with a hike up Arthur’s Seat to get a great view of the city and surrounding landscape. It’s actually an ancient volcano turned into favourite hiking destination for locals and tourists. Lots of people. Looked liked a scene of hikers going up Everest except that there is not a single trail up. It’s quite wide open with many, well worn routes to the top. The panoramic view from the top made the effort well worthwhile!
We took a slightly different route back to our room for lunch. Emma went via a route to a camera store so she could get her camera cleaned. Laura and I followed along a popular jogging and cycling route back to the Royal Mile and then to our room. Felt good to take a break and have some food to fuel up for the afternoon where we did a little more touring the sights and a bit of shopping. Laura’s suitcase fell apart on arrival yesterday so we needed to find a replacement!Read more