Edinburgh Castle and Hogmanay

Today was a chilly day but nothing a few layers couldn’t handle (which is good because Gid lost his glove immediately this am). Since we are right on the Royal mile we start our day hearing bagpipes, which is super cool. We went out after breakfast and headed to Edinburgh castle and spent the morning and into the early afternoon there. Elliot has been studying Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth the 1st pretty thoroughly and she knew a lot of the history that we were experiencing. We walked the grounds of the castle, saw the Crown Jewels, the amazing views of the city and the water from above. Other highlights were the great hall and the section for the prisoners and the 1p cannon shot. The audio tour was just ok, but the castle was terrific.

Afterward, we walked Victoria street and found some delicious pulled pork at a place called Oink (def recommend) and walked the streets looking in shops and finding the perfect wool scarves. We checked out more bagpipes and headed back to warm up and played board games.

Headed out to grab dinner at a place called The Mussels and Steak bar. Lots of fresh seafood here and we had fish and oysters and mussels. Everyone tried Haggis and it was actually delicious😋

Hogmanay is the Scottish celebration of the end and beginning few days of the year meant to be a time of reflection (and partying). The beginning of Hogmanay kicks off with a parade of 20k people with torches and drums, and of course, bagpipes. Incredible to watch! That said, we had to blend in and cross over to get back to our place. Luckily Tige found a loose gate. The police were out enforcing the parade route and not keen on crossings! Back home to get ready for bed and get some sleep. Overall a great day!Read more