Castles and Hastles

 I’ll start today’s post with a Happy Father’s Day to Brian! I really wanted to get a picture of him with the girls today, the day and the distance walked got away from me and the moment passed. Last year we flew to Italy on Father’s Day and this year we get to celebrate in Edinburgh. We are very blessed. And tired. 

The day started with an earlier departure to Braw Brunch for a really yummy breakfast. We had 9:30 tickets to wander around the castle and being full helps everyone enjoy that more! The veggie breakfast was really tasty!

We headed to the castle after our breakfast and joined the crowd of anxious travelers outside the gate. There was a group of older travelers that was so funny. They were very full of energy and taking many, many selfies. We tried very hard to get up ahead of them so we didn’t have to enjoy the whole castle with them. Did it work? Not really. I think we are in many of their Edinburgh Castle photos. 

It was a beautiful castle and I was surprised how big the grounds were. Mack seemed to be most interested in the weapons on display. There were lots! I struggle to capture the size and beauty of the castles and buildings when I travel. 

After the castle visit, we wandered Grayfriar’s Kirkyard  in search of Tom Riddle’s grave. Once we found the direction, we just had to look for the crowd. So many beautiful and extravagant graves. Always enjoy a good cemetery walk! 

Hangry happened in the cemetery. Brian found an indoor street food bonanza! There was a lot to choose from. One might argue that a hungry teenager might have a hard time choosing what to eat. They have a way to order from all different restaurants and pay once. We struggled a bit with ordering that way, but got it and got some good food! There was a plant based taqueria and I must say it was so nice to be able to order anything! I had some Mexican and Asian, Fiona had Indian, and Brian had BBQ! Mack had a moment and ate nothing. 

Fried corn ribs with crema and pomegranate seeds! Yum

Post lunch we headed on an adventure on the way back to our place. We got to choose between Calton Hill and Aurthur’s Seat hike. Decisions were made based on pneumonia and we did a hike up Jacob’s Ladder stairs and up to Calton Hill which was okay and mostly I just cherished the fact that they had a bathroom. 

Now it was time for the Godsill adventure portion of our day. We will call this part, “Rent a Car Abroad”.

It’s time for us to begin the road trip part of our excursion so we found the car rental in the middle of Edinburgh chaos and went to pick up the car. I had been dreading this part even though I’m not even the driver. Being the co-pilot on the left side is a hard job too. He did a little parking lot driving practice before we hit the streets. Mind you. He is sitting on the right and driving on the left meanwhile shifting a manual transmission with his left hand. Mind you. The clutch smells like burning (car issue not driver) and Mack, who tends to panic easily, has opened the door on the street and was preparing to exit the vehicle so as to escape the imaginary fire. She’s back in. We are making our way up the hill still figuring out the gears and such and he makes a successful right turn into the left lane…and we’re off! Until we weren’t. Right turn leads us to a narrow road with ambulance lights. Cars are turning around. Police motorcycles arriving. My husband on the right side shifting with his left hand is reversing and heading off course. While the map recentered, the car passengers recentered, and we made it back to our street. The last part of the drive was parking this car. That entailed squeezing between cars and curbs so closely that we could smell our insurance coverage. The car is now parked about 5 inches from the wall. He did it. Happy Father’s Day you badass.

We are up at 4 tomorrow and out by 5. We are headed north to the Isle of Skye. On the way we plan to stop to watch The Jacobite Steam Train cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct. If you know the Hogwarts Express, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It crosses at 10:45 in the morning so we have to head out early! Note- I am too tired to reread and edit this tonight.