March 23, 2012

EURO UPDATE Day 1: Edinburgh

We're off!
We are here settled at our first destination, The Hedges B&B in Edinburgh, Scotland! We didn't get much sleep at all on the plane Wed night, and then we spent an hour accidentally wandering around the Edinburgh University looking for The Hedges!

But a nice student pointed us in the right direction and after a bunch more walking, ascending 'Jacob's Ladder' (this ancient stair/path that led up to the New Parliament building--of which we accidentally walked through the open gates and heard a recording on loudspeakers saying, 'THIS...IS...SECURITY. YOUR PRESENCE HAS BEEN DETECTED AND SECURITY PERSONNEL ARE ON THEIR WAY TO YOUR LOCATION.' Haha!) and walking through the picturesque Calton Hill, we finally got to our place.

And the lovely hostess Heather had our room ready early! We HAD to catch up on sleep so we did that for about 3.5 hours midday Thu, then we got ready and walked about 15 minutes to the intersection of Princes Street and North Bridge at the apex of Old Town and New Town. We chose a charming little gastro-pub called The Mitre Bar (named for a 17th century ghost of a 'fugitive bishop' said to haunt there) in which to eat some fish, came back and slept, and now are about to eat our first full Scottish breakfast via Heather!

At the top of Jacob's Ladder! The Royal Mile behind us, leading to the Edinburgh Castle on the right.
An impressive structure at the entrance of Old Town from the North Bridge.
Looking down the Royal Mile to the east as it descends.
The Mitre Bar! I had fish and chips, Sarah had sea bass and a DELICIOUS apple pie with custard.