Edinburgh in the rain

Know the phrase "Biblical torrent"? Well, it was forecast.... So, armed with serious yachting waterproof jackets, we headed for Edinburgh in trepidation.

Sometimes, stuff just works out though. The normally tedious M25 was pretty quiet and the Purple Parking people were very organised. Gave us plenty of time to sit in the nice BA First lounge (probably for the last time) and enjoy their hospitality. Will miss that place next year when we are in sitting with the masses and buying our own lunch... See, there are some drawbacks to this retirement lark.

Edinburgh was duly soggy when we arrived but the nice no 35 bus took us all the way to Leith for the huge sum of £1.50 each. About an hour and half ride in the rush hour traffic and rain. Crew complained of numb bum courtesy of the rather thin bus seats. An excuse to put eat wildly in the next few days to increase her level of posterior padding the captain reckons.

This wasn't taken on Wednesday of course. The elderly little camera isn't waterproof......

Thursday saw more rain. Walked into town though in the dry spell and climbed Carlton Hill - part of the UNESCO heritage site so we didn't drop Irn Bru cans or similar litter. (see earlier posts from Dunoon). Despite the gloomy day (yes, the dreich word again) the views are still great from up there:

North Bridge and the Waverley station area:

And finally, Holyrood Palace:

The afternoon, after a good walk around town, was spent getting out of the rain / getting culture in the National Gallery. Lots of Cherubs, naval battles, landed gentry in their finery.

Princes Street gardens view from the gallery:

Friday was spent addressing a major wrong from our past. Despite living in the city we had never visited the castle. It started badly - in the queue to get admission tickets a dopey wasp decided to crawl into the neck of the jacket worn by a German man ahead of us. The crew spotted this, but her fear of wasps meant that instead of warning him, she slunk backwards, squeaked something about his jacket and a wasp to the captain but let our European visitor walk on blissfully unaware. So, to the German man who almost certainly spent Friday in hospital recovering from an anaphylactic reaction to the sting(s) - sorry.

At least the visit was well worthwhile. Amazing place. Why didn't we go before?

Examples of the views from the various vantage points:

and one with castle the dog cemetery in the foreground, used for the regimental mascots / officers dogs:

The prison cell hammocks looked a lot like the forecabin on our boat mind you:

The prisoners' food was probably better than we offer too.


Final thought - if you are visiting the city and want a good Italian meal - go to La Favorita  http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d951521-Reviews-La_Favorita_Restaurant_Leith_Walk-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

Our last visit there was with Peter and Amanda, the Aussie connection. This time we drank less alcohol. Wonder if there is a connection? Perhaps the crew should have imbibed more as her cold / sore throat developed nicely the following day.

The promised report back -  we couldn't steal any toiletries from the extra hotel room as the stuff was in big dispensers fixed to the wall. Not everything in Edinburgh was perfect....