Day 16 Edinburgh, Scotland

What an incredible day!!!! I love Scotland….. I find Scotland amazing in so many different ways, it is a country steeped in incredible history, unbelievable architecture, beautiful landscapes and wonderful people. I ate Haggis today (surprised Allan) so I won’t comment on the food. I was out on deck this morning as we sailed up the Firth of Forth into South Queensferry and the sights didn’t disappoint… I saw some incredible light houses, castles and South Queensferry looked pretty awesome as well. I went on my tour to Edinburgh and was awestruck by the sights. We saw great sights along the way to Edinburgh and stopped first at Holyrood Palace, the Queen’s residence when she is in Scotland. We meandered out way to Edinburgh Castle way up on its perch on the hill overlooking the city. The castle tour was fabulous and I enjoyed seeing the Crown Jewels... I included a couple of photos specifically for my friend Ian relating to his hero William Wallace..... Just before noon I left the tour and made my way down to the Sir Walter Scott Monument, an incredible spire in the cityscape. I had arranged to meet two great friends from England, Harry & Margaret at the monument around noon. They had decided to take the train to Scotland for the day to have an Edinburgh visit with me. I met them back in 2004…yep; you guessed it…on a cruise ship. It was great to see them again! The first thing we did was climb up the Sir Walter Scott Monument, talk about a tight spiral staircase. It was a long way up to the top. The views from there were absolutely incredible. Great views of the castle for there... I have to give Margaret a lot of credit for being a great sport and going up to the top. I’m sure that wasn’t on her list of things to do in Scotland. After coming down from out lofty perch we made our way to the Royal Mile, the path from the castle to Holyrood Palace that is about a mile in length. We first made out way up to the castle and then walked all the way to Holyrood Palace stopping along the way for lunch, shopping and photos… It was a great time…. At the end of the day I made it back to the ship for a Haggis dinner and Harry & Margaret headed for the train for a ride back to England. OK, so I ate very little Haggis, for me an amazing accomplishment is just eating a couple of bites. Anyway, I want to that Harry & Margaret for making this day so special….. Tomorrow we have a day at sea on our way to Rotterdam, Holland where I will be reuniting with my friends Aart & Yvonne….. Another great day in the making… I am really loving this voyage even though it is very tiring.... not too many sea days. I would consider doing this again...surprised? Sun worshiper gone bad...