Happy birthday to my “big brudder” Clayton!

Today was so good! We went on a city tour of Edinburgh- Old Town and New Town! We witnessed many beautiful old buildings with where JK Rowling started the Harry Potter series and where she wrote the last one at the Balmoral Hotel. Upon examining Edinburgh Castle, we saw prisons, dungeons, and Scottish Crown Jewels, which were pretty much borrowed from the Queen.

Upon leaving the windy, windy, windy castle (we were literally walking parallel to the ground sometimes into the wind), we visited the tartan making factory where many beautiful items were being created. Harry Potter items were plentiful and so nice. I was so tempted but I didn’t choose my wand today. This witch will wait until another day 🤪.

We walked down the Royal Mile and stopped for lunch for fish and chips (again) but we also tried haggis. Heart, lungs and liver mixed with oatmeal and spice served with potato and turnip. Sounds gross but was delicious! Really! Much better than the guinea pig I tried in Peru. Also, our guide said that if we ever ate a hot dog, we should try haggis. Fair enough, I guess, as we all know what is in a hot dog. 😳🙈

We continued our walk and visited Holyrood Palace where the Queen does her work when in Scotland.

We then caught a cab and went to tour Brittania, the Royal yacht that is now permanently parked in Edinburgh harbour. It was quite incredible. Lots of family pics of royal family that you don’t usually see and you got tour everything. They even had on display the Queen’s room, Prince Philip’s room and the double bed Charles had brought in for his honeymoon with Diana. Only single beds were on board before that. Even the royal geek in me thought that may have been a little too personal to know 🤪. The tour was pretty comprehensive and we enjoyed it as much as Windsor Castle. By the way, Windsor Castle hosted a wedding today of Princess Eugenie.

Over our 25 years of “wedded bliss”, Allen has convinced me to attend many things I may not have gone to on my own – CFL season tickets, NFL games, NHL games and NASCAR races. On this trip, we have visited the cathedral where Charles and Diana for married, Kensington Palace and Gardens where they lived, her dress exhibition, Buckingham Palace 2X, Windsor Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and Brittania. I’m quite sure Allen may not have chosen all of those on his own. I think we are now even. He is such a good hubby 😊

We went to an Indian restaurant for supper with a wonderful couple from Cape Cod, Ed and Carole. Then we went to a pub to meet up with more of our travel mates and then to another one where I found a drink that came with a rubber duck!!!

We have one more week with this tour. Our group is incredibly lively! So many fun people who really just want to enjoy themselves. I look forward to what adventures we will have in the next week with them!