July 9 – Siteseeing in Edinburgh

After a slow start we spent the entire morning at Edinburgh castle. We stopped for some tasty fish and chips for lunch, then continued on to climb Arthur's Seat, a nearby volcanic plug (that means “hill” in English). It was a great walk, and we enjoyed the pseudo-highland terrain of grass, heather, and gnarled pine. The views from the windy summit were breathtaking. We could see all of Edinburgh and it's seaport; east to the Bass Rock and the North Sea; and west to the Firth of Forth bridges -- even all the way to Stirling, where we could just pick out the William Wallace monument on the Abbey Crag (we had to break out the 300mm lens to see that one, so maybe it's cheating).

We climbed back down just in time for dinner and headed for our now-favorite pub, “The World's End”, which has been a fine establishment of Edinburgh from the 1500's. The name comes from the location next to the former outer wall of Edinburgh, which has since been taken down and marked with brass plates in the street. We started off by tasting some Scotch Whiskey: a very strong single-cask Ardbeg, and a very smooth whiskey that we just can't remember the name of. The whisky made us brave, and for dinner we had haggis. Haggis, as it turns out, is very similar in taste and texture to meatloaf. We loved it! It was served with mashed turnips and mashed potatoes. This particular haggis was made with “normal” cuts of lamb and beef – rather than the oft-feared “don't ask” parts. Yum.