Monday and Tuesday

Monday we left for Scotland and spent a good part of the day traveling.  We stopped at Hadrian's Wall, which once marked the northern part of the Roman Empire. Built in AD 121, it was to ward off attacks but a key function was to be sure taxes were collected.  To be honest it was a little under whelming except for it's age.

We really just drove until we arrived at Edinburgh with a short stop at the border to take pictures.  We got there shortly before dinner.  The cool thing about traveling with a tour group, I learned, is they deliver your luggage for you.  I was in shock when I got to my room.  It was a single, which meant a single bed in a room that had about 6 inches on each side of the bed and maybe 2-3 feet at the end of the bed to fit a counter and TV.  The bathroom, which was awesome, was almost as big as the room.  Our rooms all had trouser presses built into the wall, which we laughed about at dinner.

We had dinner, which was interesting.  We had the choice of a mackeral salad or fan of melon.  I had the mackeral, which was smoked and very salty, but the salad was delicious and it was topped with a horseradish sauce.  Dinner was Pasta or Salmon or chicken, I had chicken which was very good and dessert was apple pie with a toffee sauce.  It wasn't too sweet and very good.  It had been a long day so to bed in my narrow, lumpy single bed.

Tuesday we headed out and got to see the Palace at Holyrood House, which is the Queen of England's residence when she is in Scotland.  It was originally an Abbey built in 1128 and eventually the castle as it appears was added.  Mary Queen of Scots lived in the Castle 9 of her 44 years and after our tour, we had a great presentation by one of the staff on the life of Mary Queen of Scotts.  We got to see the King's and Queen's rooms, the Royal dining room the Queen uses when in Scottland with a samle menu - looked pretty amazing.  We finished with a walk through the Abbey and of course, the gift shop.  I couldn't take pictures inside, but if you are interesed, there is a great website at www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/palaceofholyroodhouse.

Next we drove to the Edinburgh Castle, or close to it.  After a hike up the hill to the Castle entrance, the entire castle was like a big cork screw that you walked around to get to the top.  Steep and wet because of rain, it was a hike while we fought to keep umbrellas and hoods in place against the wind and rain.  But the Castle and the view were amazing.  There was a road that led down from the Castle that was lined with shops and pubs called the Million Dollar Mile and there was a statue of a little dog in the middle of the road - Greyfriar's Bobby - that was constantly by it's master's side.  When his master died, he followed the burial procession to the grave and everyday for fourteen years guarded his master's grave.  A year after he (the dog) died, a statue was erected in 1872 to commemorate the dog, a little Skye Terrier.  There is an assertion that it was a publicity stunt of the local businesses to attract business (how things never change!) but it is an enchanting story and the statue really is quite cute.

I finished the afternoon of at the Hard Rock Cafe to buy collectibles for friends, have a raspberry mojito and take a picture of it, then back to the hotel to finish the evening with soup, drinks and friends at the hotel.