Scotland Trip: Day 1 & 2, Edinburgh

My trip to Scotland was fantastic! I loved everything about it except for the exhaustion and lack of sleep. I must have missed almost two night's sleep between here and Edinburgh, what with the early hour I got up the morning we took off and the late hour when we finally went to sleep. We stayed the first two nights at the Apex City Hotel on Grassmarket. Step out the front door and there is a phenomenal view of Edinburgh Castle high up on the hill above.

Our first afternoon there, we walked along Grassmarket and onto West Port. Interestingly enough, the citizens were doing a walk to raise money for breast cancer research. Lots of people wearing bras or T-shirts with bras over them or printed on them. Even the cars were decorated. Some people wore T-shirts with bare breasts printed on them. We said you would never see that in the US. We are apparently a very uptight nation. LOL

One thing that surprised us was the speed at which people drive on the streets. It is seriously dangerous to cross the street. If you see a car in the distance, best to wait. A motorcycle whizzed by us in a blur. It must have been going 60 mph, although the speed limit in the city is, I assume, about 40 mph. 60 mph on other roads and highways, even single track. Can you imagine? And these wild Scots do take advantage of these high speed limits. I can say that because I'm a descendant of wild Scots. LOL

Our first night, we had dinner and entertainment at the Edinburgh Thistle Hotel. Entertainment was a Scottish cabaret show including bagpipes, Scottish dancing, singing along with fiddles and other musical instruments. Comedy and a "haggis" routine followed, along with a sampling of the haggis. It reminded me of homemade sausage. It tasted like venison (though there was none in it) and liver mixed with spices. I didn't hate it nor love it. My friend loved it. I would give it another chance later. :-) For anyone who doesn't know what haggis is...first you must realize Scots, especially Highlanders centuries ago, were very frugal. They didn't let any part of a sheep go to waste. So, all the spare parts and organ meats went into a concoction called haggis. Oats, barley and spices were also mixed in and it was all baked in a sheep's stomach. The man assured us only liver and regular lamb meat along with the oatmeal, barley and spices were in the haggis we sampled. But who knows really? It's the not knowing what's truly in it that's half the fun.

When we left the show at 10 pm it was barely dusk, not even dark enough for drivers to use their headlights. It only gets dark for a couple of hours in Scotland during summer because it's so far north.

Manor Place