A Sunny Afternoon in an Acheronian City

June 19: With the B&B conveniently located at a nearby bus station we found out that three buses were headed from downtown. Not even ten minutes later we jumped on the bus, paid the (exact!) fare, and enjoyed the cheap ride without having to worry about traffic, parking or parking fees.

Edinburgh, Scotland's capital has a population of about half a million. This medieval city is rooting in the 10th century, and naturally comes with plenty of history, that we haven't even begun to digest.

We got off the bus on North Bridge Road, and started walking up 'The Royal Mile' towards Edinburgh Castle. Its buildings radiate a certain somberness that even the sun wasn't able to chase away, as if these dark bricks and rocks had seen too much gruesome in their time.

Maybe that's why the store fronts have an especially colourful design.

 A policebox (?) at Grassmarket reminds of Dr Who.

 Roland spotted some Bugatti eye candy.

 St. Giles Cathedral as backdrop for the Bugatti rally.

 A walk in the Park: Princes Street Garden.

View on Edinburgh Castle with Ross Fountain.

 The castle in close-up.

We checked our budget, and decided to spend the bucks (16GBP = 25USD, yes, per person!) entry fee, and it proved well worth it.

Not only were the vistas spectacular, the buildings on the premises were in fantastic shape, there were also plenty of exhibitions on Scottish history including a display of the Scottish crown jewels (No pics were allowed.), and while strolling up the cobble stone lane you could imagine how life in the middle ages might have been.

We wondered why the cannons were still directed towards the city.

 Mons Meg with its 20" caliber cannon balls - A more than 500 years old monster.

Sun and blue skies, we were really lucky with the weather today.

Later the day we found ourselves walking towards Calton Hill with its various monuments. On our way a weird tower caught our attention: A memorial for Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish poet and novelist of the 19th century (e.g. Ivanhoe, Rob Roy).

The hike up to Calton Hill was steep, hence we had to gather some strength upfront at a very nice Italian Restaurant. A pizza and some cocktails later we were ready for the road again. Sorry, no food porn, we were too hungry.

A view on the National Monument for fallen soldiers on the left and (Horatio) Nelson Monument on the right.

 Dugald Stuart Monument (Scottish Philosopher)

Completely overwhelmed by the impressions and vistas of the afternoon we returned to North Bridge Road, where a bus came around the corner right on cue to take us 'home'.