September 20, 2019- Edinburgh, Scotland

I'm feeling a little scatterbrained so this entry should be interesting.  This morning we had a great breakfast at our hotel and continued our conversation with Gordon and Margaret who we first met last night at dinner.  They are Scottish and bicyclists. I have included a short video that captures their great senses of humor and wonderful accents.  Sooz and I really enjoyed their company.

We loaded up the bike and rode the exhausting distance of 28 miles to a hotel in downtown Edinburgh. Sooz had a difficult time finding a room because most hotels were full.  We are staying 2 nights at a nice modern place right next to a train and tram station with access to downtown.

Once again, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. No clouds, warm sun and cool shade.  We decided to walk to the Edinburgh Castle and explored it for almost 3 hours.  It is a major compound built in the 1500's that sits on top of Castle Rock, no kidding.  I took a lot of pictures and included some below.

The castle is much more than just a structure. Each section includes a museum showing weapons, uniforms, ornaments, art work, and written information giving visitors a real feel for the use of the castle over the last almost 500 years.

We then had a nice steak dinner on the way back to our room.  Tomorrow Sooz made reservations for a tour of the Edinburgh Museum which is supposed to be amazing, and a tour of the parts of town that inspired J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Walking up to the Edinburgh Castle

Long lost member of the Clark Clan (maybe)

The Castle is built right into the rock

Suit of armor

Statue of Mary Queen of Scots made in the 1500's

Robert the Bruce King of Scotland from 1306 until his death in 1329

Old wall

Sunning at the Castle

The original Thin Red Line

Cartoon from the 1700's making fun of the quality of Scottish recruits into the British army

View from the Castle

They were pretty tasty

Gordon's high-tech electric bicycle loaded and ready for the road

Gordon and Margaret