God it's busy.

A challenging arrival meant a laid back plan for the day. Two key things on the agenda - take a trip to Edinburgh and take a nostalgia trip spiritually back to Canada in the form of breakfast at Tim Horton's - doughnut emporium extraordinaire. We liked them & they've branched out to the UK, including Dunfermline. And the breakfast was every bit as good (tasty) and bad (unhealthy) as remembered. Quick sort & off to Edinburgh. Rather than drive the Park & ride was close at hand and meant not getting caught in the traffic. Originally thought it'd save on tolls across the Forth Bridge but there haven't been tolls in the last 10 years. Finger on the pulse. Still it seemed like a good idea. Parked up, got tickets & headed to bay 3. First bus in was full standing room only. Not keen for a 40 min trip. Bus driver said there'd be another in a couple of minutes. There was - full - completely as was the next & the next. Not impressed. The queue was growing as was the level of chunnering. After 30 mins of full buses we finally got a break - just happened to be a bit of crocked bus - crawled up the hills. Still got a good view of the 3 bridges and made it into Edinburgh while the heavens opened. Pondered moves in the bus depot. Opted for the Scottish Museum along with what seemed like half of the population. Some interesting bits & pieces, very impressive space and some great views from the roof. Tried to take in the Royal Mile but a combination of performers, tourists & Saturday shoppers made it unbearable. Adjourned to Princes Gardens - much better. Decided to try Arthur's Seat tomorrow - too risky today - the rain had largely been avoided. Not sure that would stick. Equally with the festival just starting the level of busy wasn't going to diminish any time soon, so a little more wandering and then back to the bus to plan how to catch the road race tomorrow.Read more