Day 16 Edinburgh

We followed the scenic , A917, coast road 1/2 way to Edinburgh for a change of scenery from highway views. It is mild and sunny as we drive out of St. Andrews. It looks very much like the seaside roads of New England in the U.S. We stopped at Anstruther for "tea" and watched the boats come in and out of the harbor. One Anstruther restaurant won "Best Fish & Chips 2009!" Too bad it was only 10 am--too early for lunch.

It was a confusing drive into Edinburgh as we had no idea where our hotel was located. GPS Susan came through as usual and we drove right past it! Don is very good at turning around.

The lady at reception had a true Scottish sound--I could hardly understand what she was saying. She did remind me of Don's mom! Our room was in the attic. We looked out at this abandoned building that was a former school for handicapped children and now was just waiting for some developer to snap it up (under protest of locals!!)

It was only 3 pm so off to the city center of Edinburgh for us! Edinburgh is the cultural capital of Scotland and also the historical capital. The Old Town sits on a lava flow with the New Town separated by the beautiful Princes Street Gardens in a valley between the two areas.

The Old Town is the historic area with medieval skyscrapers, The Royal Mile (Edinburgh Castle at the high end and Palace of Holyroodhouse at the lower), and lots of narrow lanes. We walked around, heard some bagpipers and stopped at Deacon Brody's Tavern. Seems the real Deacon Brody lived a double life: He repaired locks, made copies of the keys and his gang robbed the homes at night to support his mistresses and gambling habits. Of course, he was caught and was hanged in 1788. But his life was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. And the tavern was great fun. I liked the Strong Bow Cider--it tasted like apple flavored beer.

Dinner tonight was an English original--"Toad in a Hole". It was a surprise--3 sausages, mashed potatoes, peas all served up in a square Yorkshire Pudding. And very tasty!!

We walked almost 8 miles today.