Friday, April 12th......

It had to be an early start this morning because we were catching the train to Edinburgh.  I had heard that snow was forecast so I dressed warmly.  Luckily there was no rain. 

Edinburgh Castle dominates the city. Your eye is drawn to it wherever you are.  We decided we would start from there and work our way down, which meant climbing up Cockburn Street which might be the most attractive little street I have ever seen with great little shops.  This brought us to the Royal Mile which  leads up to the castle.  This is a tourist trap with most shops selling Scottish souvenirs.  I could have had a 'party' kilt for £20 or a good quality one (12 yards of material) for £50 but Marilyn had warned me not to bring one home.

As a fan of Ian Rankin books, I was delighted to find Fleshmarket Close and Arthur's Seat, and note that you can get a tour of Mary King's Close.  There's a niche market for someone to do a tour of the areas mentioned in the books.

The Royal Mile is pretty long, as you would expect, but we walked it anyway to see Holyrood Palace, the Queen's Edinburgh flat and the new Scottish Parliament building.  The Parliament building is very interesting but not very sympathetic to the beautiful old buildings which surround it.  The Scottish Parliament itself seems like a waste of resources; they seem to spend their time debating 'no smoking' legislation and so on.  The important stuff is all done in Westminster.

There's a referendum coming up when Scots will vote on whether they should be independent. The tipping is that 65% will vote against it.  That's surprising, but probably sensible.

On the way back up the Royal Mile we stopped at Clarinda's cafe for lunch.  Clarinda was one of Robert Burn's mistresses.  They served great toasted sandwiches and had an array of home- made cakes for anyone who didn't have my willpower.  A few doors away, we found a dealer in old books and I managed to find a copy of The Broons Annual.  When I was seven, we had a holiday in Johnshaven on the East Coast and Mum gave me a copy of The Broons to keep me quiet on the bus journey. I'm getting quite sentimental in my old age.

I loved Edinburgh. It is a beautiful city and I will have to go back for another trip.  I was exhausted when we got home so I was in bed by 8.30 and slept for ten hours.