The Weather

Moderate

The weather here in Edinburgh, and Scotland, is quite different from home in Roanoke and Virginia. It is much more moderate. We like that.

Since Edinburgh is on the coast, and since Scotland is an island, temperatures are fairly constant; no extremes. During the summer, we will rarely experience anything other than mid-to-upper 60s for highs and mid 50s for lows. Wind is a constant; that is where 90% of this country's energy comes from.

It rains about the same amount in Scotland as in Virginia, but not all at once. Instead, the rain arrives as a drizzle intermittently mixed with clouds and sun. Always a good idea to carry a rain jacket, but not an umbrella; see comment about wind. So, even though we have 17+ hours of daylight here because of the northern latitude, only about 1/2 of that on average involves sun. No humidity - yea.

Four Hours

After 11pm

Four hours. That is the current length of the night-time here. Not much. And, that four hours doesn't really involve but so much darkness; let's call it twilight. Not dark enough to see stars. And, not dark enough to preclude a game of golf; courses have an "honesty box" to be used after hours when the clubhouse is closed. The posted photo was taken just after 11pm; still plenty of light to support doing a proper window clean at that late hour. 

We are pretty far north. Edinburgh's latitude is 800 miles north of Montreal, Canada. Thankfully, our flat has black-out shades. Otherwise, we might never be able to get to sleep.

No Money

Contactless Payment

We have not spent any money during the month we have been in Scotland.

That statement is technically true, but hugely misleading. Here is the explanation. We have not spent any cash money, and we have not needed to use any credit or debit cards. Every single purchase can be done here using an iPhone. Every one. In big cities and in small villages. At the grocery, in a restaurant, with a vendor at a craft fair, tickets on a bus, admission to  distillery, in a coffee shop... You get the idea. Contactless payments. This is hugely convenient and way more secure than carrying around cash or cards. Just whip out the phone, hold it near the point-of-sale terminal, look at the screen for facial recognition, done. This has worked for us in the US on a hit-or-miss basis, but not everywhere like here.

Not Illusive

Scotch Whiskey

As illusive as we might have found the Highland Cow to be, we had no trouble finding a whiskey distillery (Scotch). After all, in a country that is one-third smaller by population and land mass then Virginia, Scotland has 134 whiskey distilleries. That is a remarkably big number.

We toured one of the oldest and largest, Tomatin. They have been doing it since 1897 and exclusively make single malt whiskey. We liked the decidedly un-touristy nature of the tour; tight spaces, smelly rooms, and low head-bumping structures. We also liked the three tastings at the end of the tour, particularly their 12-Year Old. It is aged in ex-Bourbon and ex-Spanish Sherry casks.

Nice way to end the day after visiting the Cullodin Viaduct, 4,000-year-old burial cairns, Fort George (built 250 years ago as the largest fort in Europe at a cost equivalent to the entire GNP of Scotland, it is still active today), and, wait for it, seeing more Highland Cows.

Illusive Cow

Hairy Coos

Only one big goal for the day. We have had this goal since arriving in Scotland and were convinced the goal would be easy to meet once we journeyed from Edinburgh north to Inverness and the Highlands. It wasn't happening. We were even more convinced we would meet this goal on the stunningly beautiful day-long driving loop through the Highlands and along the west coast. Nope.

No matter how hard we tried, we could find nary a Highland Cow anywhere. Those are the ones with long shaggy fir. Mike saw shaggy fur cows a couple of months ago while trekking to Mt. Everest Base Camp; they were Yaks. We all thought it would be fun to see something similar here. But we were striking out in the Highland Cow department. Illusive. Maybe this is one of those overhyped tourist things.

Then, eureka. We saw an entire herd of them; well there were three, not quite a herd. They were not exactly out roaming the Highlands. They were in a fenced pen next to the departure point for day cruises on Lock Ness. Hey, we saw Highland Cows after all. Or, in Scottish lingo, "Hairy Coos."

Stunning Beauty

Dramatic Coast

Stunning beauty. Not just Beth, but the scenery ;-)

We took advantage of another fine weather day and ventured out in the car on a day-long loop through the Highlands, along the west coast, and back to Inverness. Owing to the lack of trees, we could see practically forever. We saw stark rocky dark mountains, green lowlands, lake after lake (the Scottish name for a lake is "loch," as in Loch Ness), bogs, streams, dramatic coast lines, costal islands, and wee (small) villages. Since there was little traffic, and the roads were not as narrow as they could have been, and Mike is getting better at driving on the "wrong" side of the road, we managed the driving quite well. The scenery on the loop was unlike anything we have seen in the US, or elsewhere. What a treat. 

Well, except for the flat tire on our car rental, on a remote road, with no cell service, 75 miles from our Airbnb in Inverness, no spare tire, and the only auto repair shop did not have a tire that fit. Maybe that is a story for another time.

First Munro

Carin Gorm

We summited our first Munro today, and it was spectacular. In the US, the term for ascending to the tops of mountains is called, "peak bagging." Here in Scotland, you have bagged a Munro. The mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet in height are called the Munros. Named after Hugh Munro, the first person to compile a list of them in 1891. There are a total of 282 of them. The peak we bagged is in Caringorm National Park, the largest National Park in all of the UK. The mountain is named, naturally, Carin Gorm.

Owing to the northerly latitude of Scotland, and to the ever-present high winds, nothing grows on these peaks taller than an inch or two. They are all above tree line. And, they are dramatic as can be. Steep, windy, above tree line, clouds/sun, few people, and perilous cliffs. Carin Gorm is the sixth tallest Munro. By the way, during this hill walk, we happened upon the UK's only free-ranging herd of reindeer. As motivating as that was, Beth found herself more motivated by her desire for a big hot cup of cappuccino after the hill walk. We thought the day was terrific.

Historical Adventure

Stunning Defeat

Plenty of history, and adventure. Let's start with the history. Just outside of Inverness is the historic Culloden Battlefield. Since we are big fans of the Outlander TV series, we wanted to see how accurately that 1746 battle was depicted. Turns out, the TV series was spot on. The Jacobites were slaughtered in no time flat; only 40 minutes. Some 1,000 of the Jacobite army, serving under Charles Edward, the Young Pretender (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) were killed by the British Redcoats, who lost only 50 men. The Battle of Culloden marked the end of any serious attempt by the Jacobites to restore the Stuart dynasty to the British throne. Our tour guides brought the bloody history alive in a most humorous way.

Then, on to Urquhart Castle for more history. Once one of Scotland’s largest castles, Urquhart saw great conflict during its 500 years as a medieval fortress. Control of the castle passed back and forth between the Scots and English during the Wars of Independence. The power struggles continued, as the Lords of the Isles regularly raided both castle and glen up until the 1500s. Scotland sure has a violent past.

By the way, the castle sits on Loch Ness. Yes, that place. No monsters. The 30 mile long, half mile wide, lake is surrounded by beautiful Highland mountains. Since the weather was warm and sunny, we drove around the lake stopping repeatedly to take in the views. This is where the adventure happened, the driving. Many of the roads were single track, meaning the road is so narrow that only one car can fit, even though the traffic is two-way. Lots of oncoming surprises around blind curves and blind hill crests. White knuckle adventure.

Highlands

Massive Train Strike

Sometimes, timing is everything. One month ago, about the time we were departing the US for Scotland, we booked a week in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Booked an Airbnb cottage. Booked round trip train tickets. Booked a rental car for after we arrived. The northern section of Scotland has some terrific scenery and history.

Well, who could have predicted that the very week we picked would coincide with a massive rail strike in the UK, the largest in 30 years; no end in sight. Luckily, we were able to quickly pivot to Plan B; booked travel by bus. Happily, the four hour bus ride was quite comfortable, and it was uneventful; quite a contrast with the chaos at the train stations.

The only drama was related to the fact that driving in Scotland is on the left side of the road. Oh, and the car we rented has a manual stick shift transmission. That shouldn't be a problem for Mike, since he drives a stick shift sports car at home, except he now has to shift with his left hand. Can you say, "learning curve."

Serious Mud

Sank Straight In

Impressive. That best describes Mike's early impression of the mud encountered while hill walking with a local club. He initially observed the mud to be deep enough to swallow your boots. Incorrect.

The mud is much more serious that that. After all, this is Scotland, where rain is often a factor. The accompanying photo shows the efforts involved with trying to extract one unfortunate club member who is standing almost waist-deep in the mud. That's right; almost waist deep. He, like all the rest of the hill walkers were walking through more miles of mud, and mud puddles, when one of the mud puddles almost swallowed him.

This particular mud puddle was almost bottomless. The poor fellow sank straight in. That is amazing. Also, serious. It was no laughing matter; well, until later when it was discussed at the pub. By the way, Mike said this was his favorite hill walk with the club thus far. To each his own.

Don't Understand

Plants and Coffee

As time marches on, we thought experience/education/wisdom might help us understand some of life's little mysteries. Perversely, it seems the opposite is happening. The list of things we don't understand is growing. Even travel to other countries/cultures hasn't reversed this trend.

Take today for example. The weather was textbook perfect. It was the warmest, sunniest, least windy since we arrived. Got up to 70. Some people were actually wearing shorts. Remember, this is Scotland. Rather than continue on the touristy track we were on last week, rather than put in another big day of hill walking or exercise walking, we chilled. We strolled through the nearby Royal Botanic Garden, parked ourselves on a bench in the sun to read, and stretched out on the manicured grass to relax.

Afterwards, on the stroll back to the flat, a stop for coffee was in order. The English may be a tea drinking lot, but the Scottish are coffee lovers. What we can not understand is why a number of garden products shops sell coffee? How did someone think live plants, flower pots, and coffee went together? See photo. Don't understand. Also, back in Roanoke, don't understand how a shop selling only cupcakes stays in business? Or a shop selling only olive oil? Don't understand. Maybe we don't need to understand.

Electrifying

Outstanding Views

This blog post begins with an electrifying event. There, a dozen of us stood. And, we all heard the shout saying, "It is not live." That is when it happened. One member in the group grabbed the wire, Oops. Wrong. Definitely wrong. Way wrong. In an instant we saw and heard a most pronounced reaction. Standing there near the top of a hill overlooking the town of Kelty, with cows and sheep nearby, with wind turbines spinning in the near distance, with the Firth of Forth and Arthur's Seat in the far distance, with stone walls and wildflowers and grassy hill sides around us, we witnessed the sudden look of surprise on Mike's face and heard something that resembled the shrieking sound a hawk makes when diving upon prey, "IT IS LIVE." He had grabbed the electrified fence in an effort to secure it for others to pass. William was holding onto Mike. Both felt the sudden and unmistakeable jolt of electricity. At first Beth thought they were kidding, then offered concern and sympathy.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show? Actually, it was a spectacular 12 mile hill walk with the Club; plus 2,000 feet of elevation gain. We ventured north of Edinburgh where the hills dominate the landscape. Plenty of views from treeless terrain. Plenty of socializing with long-time Club members. Plenty of walking on marked trails, bushwhacking through unmarked fields, and scrambling up steep slopes.

Happy Father's Day.

Cookery School

Thai Cooking Class

Mike was excited to attend an all-day cookery school class that he received from Beth as an early birthday present. The school is but a short walk from our flat. He cooked his favorite food, Thai. Salty, spicy, sour, sweet. And he cooked plenty of it; six different courses, plus two additional courses that were provided. Besides eating some of the food for lunch, he brought a number of containers of it home for dinner. Definitely yum.

Beth and William spent the day on a walking adventure. First, a couple miles to the neighborhood of Leith for glimpse at the Royal Yacht Britannia and lunch in a Turkish cafe, then a couple more miles to Portobello Beach to walk on the sand with a couple of islands in the distance, then past Arthur's Seat (highest point in Edinburg) on the way back.

Big Sights

Guildford Arms

We ended the week with another day of touristing; went to a couple of the big sights. Fun and educational. Today's outings included a tour of Holyrood Palace. And, based on the price of the tickets, we are expecting a new wing of that palace to be built and named after us. Regardless, it is a must see; no trip to Edinburgh would be complete without a visit. It is the Queen's official residence in the Scottish capital. And it is best known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots – she was married here and witnessed the brutal killing of her secretary in her private apartments. Bonus; the tour not only included handheld audio devices, but they displayed interesting narrated video clips as well.

More of a bargain, tickets were free, we headed directly across the street for a tour of the Scottish Parlament. Since the 1717 Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England have existed as "Great Britain." For the next 300 years Scotland was governed entirely by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Just 20 years ago, a new devolved Scottish Parliament was established, with tax-varying powers, in Edinburgh; power was transferred from Westminster to the new Parliament.

Since so much history in one day generates a thirst, we headed nearby to an old historical pub for refreshments and dinner. This place was built 125 years ago and exudes Victorian opulence. Great way to end the week.

Old Peculiar

Read the Bottle Name

Not sure how much more really needs to be said here once you have read the bottle name in the photo.

This may be one of those blogs where the picture says it all. While grocery shopping we stopped in the beer section. Mike does enjoy sampling whatever is local. Well, it was like a burst of music and a flash of light emanated from one particular spot on the shelf. Both of us immediately focused on the same bottle of beer named, "Old Peculiar." How could this be we wondered. How could a beer be so perfectly named for _____. You fill in the blank.

Two Unbeleiveables

Edinburgh Playhouse

More tourist stuff today. All the better since the weather was as nice as can be, 70F and blue sky. After the morning exercise walk and workout we headed over the the Royal Botanic Garden just a short walk away. That place continues to amaze. We focused our attention during this visit on the Chinese Garden and the Alpine Garden. We also walked along what must be the world's largest hedge; it is 500 feet long and 25 feet tall. That's right, 25 feet tall. Unbelievable number one.

An afternoon walk took us into the City Center and the Royal Mile; this is the historic heart of Edinburg. Plenty of tourists were enjoying the area. We enjoyed a guided tour of St. Giles Cathedral. That place was founded in the 1120's and was the church of John Knox during the Reformation; it is referred to as the Cradle of Presbyterianism.

Unbelievable number two occurred in the evening at the Edinburgh Playhouse, the largest theater in the UK. We went there to see the Lion King. As many Broadway shows as we have seen, and in as many citys in Europe and the US as we have seen them in, we were blown away by this show. The costumes were over-the-top creative. And, there were too many of them to count. So glad we sprung for center orchestra seats up close. Can't say enough about this show.

Dinner Guests

Live Plants

We are having a couple of rather busy tourist days. Yesterday, museums in Edinburgh Castle. Today, a walk along Queen Street Gardens where we saw a working 10-foot diameter clock made of live plants (pictured), spent a fascinating time in The Peoples Story Museum absorbing historical first-hand accounts of the day, walked past myriad shops and restaurants along the touristy Royal Mile, and roamed through many in the National Museum of Scotland where we saw the first cloned mammal (Dolly the sheep).

We ended the day as dinner guests at the home of a real nice couple we met on a recent hill walk with the Club we joined. How nice of them to invite three virtual strangers from America to their home. Even nicer, they were generous with information and recommendations about interesting places and sights in Scotland. They are from the UK, have lived in numerous European countries, and have returned to Scotland to be near children and grand children.

More scheduled for tomorrow and the day after.

Scottish Fighters

Edinburgh Castle

This is impressive. We toured several of the museums in Edinburgh Castle. Those museums told a story of the long and proud history of Scotts fighting in wars.

Edinburg Castle sits, naturally, on Castle Rock. It is the dominant historical feature in Edinburg. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. This is where the war fighting history began, and continued through WWII. For centuries, Scots have gone into battle fortified by their reputation as wild, impulsive, fanatically brave warriors.

Since we bought memberships in the Historic Scotland organization, we can return to this Castle without paying the £18 per person admission price. Also, we can visit plenty of other historic sights for free or reduced admission as well. Stay tuned.

Exciting or Ordinary

Stockbridge Market Entrance

Sometimes it can be instructive to see familiar things through another's eyes. They can often notice or interpret what they see a bit differently. Between the trip here two years ago and the time we have already spent here on this trip, we have familiarized ourselves with a bit of our surroundings. We now walk past the nearby fish monger's shop without staring through the window display case every time. Likewise for the beautiful view of the Water of Leith from the Stockbridge bridge, or the historic Stockbridge Market entrance; we mostly just walk by. It is only natural to begin taking some things for granted. Now, since our son just arrived, we are interested in his reactions to those things we are finding familiar.

He has done a considerable amount of European travel, with us and on on his own. He spent one summer while in college studying math in Budapest. Home to eminent mathematicians such as Paul Erdős, John von Neumann, and George Pólya, Hungary has a long tradition of excellence in mathematics education. Anyhow, every weekend during that summer while in Budapest, he got on a train and ventured out to explore another country/city/area.

So, when we asked him about his initial reaction to being in Scotland for the first time, he quickly responded that, "It looks like most other European countries." Hmm, he is blasé about that which excites us. Readers of this blog can make up their own minds, exciting or ordinary.

Lonely

Red Jacket

Loneliness is a curious thing. It can occur when by yourself, and it can occur when in a crowd of unfamiliar people. Sadly, this was a lonely day for one of us. The day began on quite a positive note, sunny and warm. All three of us headed off on a hill walk with the Club. We met up with the other dozen walkers at the bus station, used our phones to purchase tickets, and enjoyed the beginning of the hour and a half ride into some beautiful countryside south of Edinburgh. That area is known as the Borders, as in the border with England.

While we all sat on the upper level of a double-decker bus, toward the end of the bus ride, the sun was replaced by rain; the forecast was for rain throughout the remainder of the day. This is when we first became aware of the loneliness. One of us, who shall not be named, reached into their daypack and discovered their relatively new, perfectly waterproof red Gortex rain jacket had been unintentionally abandoned. It was spending the day alone on a hook in the foyer of our flat back in Edinburgh. Sadness, and a bit of panic followed.

Luckily, especially since this is Scotland, the weather did not do more than spit a few drops for fifteen minutes or so. No rain jacket, no problem. The reunion with the red rain jacket, upon returning to the flat, was quite moving.

Van Gogh Over Hyped

Slide Show

We went to what I am told is quite a popular experience, a Van Gogh Alive immersive experience. They advertise it is the most visited immersive multi-sensory experience in the world; 8.5 million visitors across 75 cities. It was just OK.

We spent just over an hour in a big tent; standing to read read Van Gogh history wall displays followed by sitting on the floor watching a slide show displayed on 30 wall-sized screens. Music played and a faint aroma filled the tent. About 50-60 of us simultaneously had this experience; tickets were for timed entry. It was somewhat informative and somewhat entertaining, but did not measure up to the hype.

Besides, we will be in Amsterdam in a few weeks and plan to go to the actual Van Gogh Museum.

Old Friend

Plenty of Rain

Mike spent the day out with an old friend. When we were here in Edinburgh two years ago, he got together with this friend on several occasions, each time for the day. They renewed their relationship today during another hill walk. This walk, as with others, involved public transport to the start, a point-to-point hill walk, and public transport back. The scenery and 12-mile route were terrific; a mix of walking along country roads and well marked tails. This walk also allowed Mike to put in a few more miles on one of the famous long distance trails here in Scotland, the Southern Upland Way. That is the trail that goes from coast to coast.

Turns out, it rained all day. Turns out, his old friend is M-U-D. That's right, Mike and the dozen other hill walkers, spent the day walking in the mud. Mike is now just as well acquainted with the mud as the other members of the hill walking club. Welcome to Scotland, where the frequent rain turns perfectly good walking paths into mud. He also learned a new expression, "There is no bad weather in Scotland, only bad clothes." Fun was had by all. 

Now We Are Three

William Arrives

Now there are three of us here in Edinburgh. Our son, William, just arrived. We are excited. He is a University professor at Louisiana Tech, and his teaching responsibilities just ended for the summer. He intends to spent the next couple months focused on his political science research. Doing that allows him to progress toward meeting the University's tenure requirements. Fortunately, he can do the research from anywhere there is an internet connection.

We took the 30 minute bus ride from the Edinburg city center to the airport and eagerly greeted him after his 24 hours of travel; all three of us rode the airport bus back into the city. Now, all three of us can enjoy some of what Scotland has to offer.

Wee Washer/Dryer

Wrinkled

Not all flats have a washer/dryer; we are glad ours does. Take a look at the photo and you will see a very compact unit under the kitchen counter; it does the wash and it drys. Laundry loads are quite small, an armful at a time at most. And, it takes a long time to do that armload:  an hour and a half for the wash and a couple of hours to dry. Caution, drying anything beyond damp results in wrinkle city. Really, we have never seen laundry that wrinkled, worse than the face of a Shar Pei.

Fortunately, we have a couple of clothes horses. AKA drying racks, airers, clothes maidens, or winterdykes. Now, there is a name for you, winterdykes. In Scotland, the word "dyke" means a wall or a fence made without mortar that was occasionally used for hanging laundry in the summer months. Hence the winter dyke refers to drying in the colder weather months.

Wee Gym

Glenogle Pool

Bear with us. Here is another bit of Scottish terminology. I expect that once we have been here for a longer period of time we will have mastered the basics of Scottish terminology and will be less fascinated with sharing. But since we are not yet at that point, here we go.

Beth resumed her membership at the Glenogle Swim Centre, something she enjoyed during our pervious stay here. It is but a short walk from our flat. That center is one of many such facilities run by the City; it is the one with the most spectacular Victorian pool (as shown in the photo). The century old facility underwent a total renovation ten years ago; the original baths are now a swimming pool. And, they now have a small fitness area, which is properly referred to as a wee gym. "Wee" meaning extremely small; a gym that size suits Beth perfectly.

She goes to the wee gym to spend an hour on the elliptical and rowing machines and runs the pathways on the alternate days. The wee gym is usually uncrowded and sometimes empty; others are more likely to be in the pool.

The Bomb

 

Gullane Point

Let's start with the bomb. Yes, that kind of bomb. This is not another terminology lesson. We are talking about the kind of bomb that explodes. That is what we happened upon today. We joined the hill walking club on a walk along the coast of the North Sea; technically, since there were no hills, it was just a walk, not a hill walk. Anyhow, our path oscillated between the firm hard low tide sand and the path along the dunes. We went for miles point-to point with a bus ride at each end. It was spectacularly scenic. The wind was unusually calm for Scotland, and the sun frequently greeted us from behind the intermittent clouds.

It was along one of the dunes near Gullane Point that we happened upon a man and a woman frantically waving and shouting as we approached their location. Perhaps it was because the wind had momentarily picked up that we had a hard time making out what they were saying. But their body language was unmistakable; they were in distress. Some of us stayed back while others of us continued to approach the frantic couple. Strangely, that approach only seemed to amplify their distress. Come to find out, he was an off-duty member of Her Majesty's Coastguard; he had found what he suspected was an unexposed WWII bomb poking out of the sand but a foot away from our path. Those of us who had approached sheepishly apologized for ignoring his warnings while the others circled safely around.

After the walk was over, but before we boarded the bus to go back, we happened upon a pub where we each gave our differing versions of what happened. Got to love Scotland. The Darwin awards were mentioned. By the time we finished that discussion, I doubt there was much truth left in the version we all agreed we liked. 

Blue Sky Day

Arthur's Seat

Today was a terrific day to get outside. And, plenty of people did because of the perfect blue sky warm weather, the fact that it is a Saturday when most are off from work, the fact that it is a Bank Holiday weekend (official holiday), and the fact that the UK is celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. Whatever the reason, people were outside; so were we.

Mike directed his daily exercise walking energy toward the highest point in Edinburgh, Arthur's Seat. This former volcano is now a 600+ foot hill of mostly rocks offering spectacular views across Edinburgh to the coast. He was hill walking. Although no certainty exists regarding the name, one leading theory is that the Arthur's Seat name is from the Scots Gallic phrase "Àrd-na-Said," which means "height of arrows." This is one of the "you haven't really visited Edinburgh unless" type of places.

The afternoon was spent leisurely strolling around the Royal Botanic Garden; a picnic lunch was included.  And, on the way back to the flat, you guessed it, we made another stop at the grocery store. We have stopped counting the number of those trips. We have started carrying a small day pack and a small shopping bag with us pretty much everywhere we go, just for this purpose.

No Pants

Trousers

Well, Mike is now walking around Edinburgh without wearing pants. No, thank goodness, he is not in a kilt. This is another terminology thing. Turns out, he is wearing trousers. Here, pants means underwear. Well, he is wearing that too, just not so anyone can see. Trousers it is. Travel is so educational.

This trousers thing came up when he went into Tiso, a popular outdoor chain (not unlike REI in the US). His old pair of hill walking trousers (hiking pants) are in need of replacement. They had a huge selection just as expected; remember Scotland is a walker's paradise. He waited to do this shopping in Scotland, rather than in the US, for this very reason. We sorted through about two dozen racks of different brands and styles. Finally, after two trips back to the same store, he purchased blue trousers. Less than ten minutes after arriving back at our flat with the purchase, he was online visiting the manufacture's website ordering the same trousers in a black color; he is going to return the blue pair. Just wondering what the Scottish word might be for this situation.

Royal Botanic Garden

Spectacular

A short walk from our flat is one of the world's leading botanic gardens. This is yet another reason we picked Edinburgh and the Stockbridge neighborhood. We took a two-hour naturalist guided tour and were struck by just how international this place is; they have plants from and cooperative agreements with countries all over the world; Chili, China, and Nepal were featured on our tour.

This place is spectacular, not just what you can see, but the work that goes on behind the scenes. The garden of 60 acres includes a quarter million plants and features special collections of rhododendrons and heaths. The herbarium holds almost two million dried specimens.

Five years ago, when we returned home from seeing countless elaborate ceilings in Italy (including the Sistine Chapel), we thought about starting a project to upgrade a couple ceilings in our house. After today's visit to the Botanic garden, we are talking about upgrading our yard at home. Not. Never gonna' happen. Nice fantasy, though.

Hill Walking

All Year Ramblers

Scots do not hike. They hill walk. We learned this terminology when we were here two years ago. At that time, Mike joined the All Year Ramblers hill walking club. He was so impressed with that experience that both of us are now members. The club, as the name implies, goes on hill walks throughout the year; they go in all weather, twice every week. As mentioned in an earlier post, since it bears repeating, Scotland is a paradise for people who like to hike; excuse me, hill walk.

Today was Mike's first hill walk with them since we arrived last week. And, they genuinely welcomed him back; very nice people. Today's hill walk was a point-to-point on one of Scotland's famous trails, the Southern Upland Way. They spent an hour and a half on the bus getting to the hill walk and the same again returning. They covered 13 miles with 2,500 feet of elevation gain with unobstructed views; no trees to limit the view distance. This 200+ mile trail; oops, another language slip. This 200+ mile foot path extends coast-to coast paralleling, and not far from, the border with England. When it opened, it was the UK's first officially recognized coast-to-coast long-distance route.

 Both Beth and Mike will join the club later in the week for another hill walk.