Pints and Some Walking Around and More Pints

Today was not as sunny as yesterday, and despite cloudy skies only a few raindrops actually fell. We're staying at a hotel in Edinburgh's Old Town which became Scotland's capitol in the 15th Century and together with New Town (only slightly younger, dating to the 18th century) forms the City's UNESCO World Heritage Site. We started off the day with a walk up the Cowgate, a street that was named in the 1400s probably because it was used to move cows to and from the Grassmarket. Still a weekend market, but also home to a row of pubs!

We wound our way uphill to Edinburgh Castle, which sits at the westernmost end of a long volcanic plug; Holyrood Palace is at the eastern end and the Royal Mile connects the two. The Castle has served intermittently and sometimes concurrently as a royal palace and fortification, and the views across the Old and New Town sections of the City are amazing!

The Castle on its volcanic plug from below
And from above



All this walking up and down steep hills made us thirsty so we stopped for our first pint of the day after a stroll through the Princes Street Gardens.


Back up on the Royal Mile, we stopped at Deacon Brodie's Tavern for another pint and a snack.

Deacon Brodie's with unidentified bald patron sitting right next to us. Pubs are crowded!
 

At this point in the day, Jen got a text from her cousin who had just seen Jen's most recent IG post. It turned out that her cousin and family were in Edinburgh on vacation and had no idea Jen was here, too. Plans were made and we all shortly found ourselves at the Cafe Royal (third pub of today, if you're counting). 

The day ended with a delicious dinner at Vinyasa, conveniently located directly across the street from our hotel and also listed as one of the City's best Indian restaurants. Yummmmm!



   
 

 

    

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