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Edinburgh: Out and about

After the bustle of London, Edinburgh was a wee more relaxing.  It still has the crowds of tourists and tons of stores selling goods for tourists, particularly around the Golden Mile and near the Castle, however outside these places things just felt a bit more sedate.


A good place to start a walk is on Calton hill, just outside the centre of the city where you could get nice views of the city as well as the Firth of Forth and Arthurs Seat.

Walking towards the city past the railway station the eye is drawn to the Scott Monument - the memorial erected to honour a famous Scottish writer.  Eric's first thought was it looks just like a medieval version of Thunderbird three for those fans of the old SciFi TV show.

Heading up into the old town, St Giles Cathedral, together with the Castle (tomorrows adventure), dominates the upper part of the town.


Walking down the Golden Mile it's hard not to come away with a scarf or other souvenir from the myriad of tourist shops.  Thankfully we don't like whiskey else we could have stayed their all day seduced by the Scot's favourite spirit.  There were certainly enough restaurants and specialist whiskey sellers to keep a whiskey fan busy for weeks.

Down the far end of the Royal Mile you can find the Palace of Holyrood, the home of Scottish royalty and residence for English Monarchs when they visit Scotland.

Finally to make sure you sleep soundly a climb up to Arthurs seat on a sunny yet windy afternoon is a great way to finish the day.  The 360 degree views are amazing, once you get your breath back you can see for miles in all directions.  For Eric it was his second trip up to the seat that day having run up early in the morning.



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