Scotland 1 - Edinburgh

Dramatis Personae:

Brice - (Me): Curator, autobiographer, protagonist? Tragic victim of my dumb choices
Brian/Sue: (Pops/Grammy): My parents, and really the ones to credit/blame for all this
Adam/Dani - (A/D): Brother and wife, parents of Sage and Oli (A/D/S/O)
Ethan/Hannah (E/H): Other brother and wife, parents of A (E/H/A)

...

To set the scene: The week before vacation is always the worst. Last minute deadlines hit on all fronts: Professionally, semi-professionally, even slanging scoots. Luckily our flight didn't leave Dulles until 11pm, which gave me time to get the cat accommodated despite staying up far too late the night before finishing some carpentry for a client.

The flight looked good on paper, 6 hours of flight and a 10am (uk) arrival, so if you fall asleep on takeoff you end up pretty synced! That worked for Ada, my 16m/o niece, who passed out as she was buckled in and awoke during the final round of trash collection. The rest of us fared worse by degrees: I managed two hours of fitful dream-snatches and an hour of actual sleep - I'm not sure my brother managed any. 

Customs was automated and rapid, bag check was the total opposite, and finally we took the tram to Edinnburough proper! [I've edited most of my butcheries of Scottish from the blog, but I'm gonna leave remnants for authenticity] Your standard light-rail with a conductor who was very particular about luggage being exclusively on the luggage rack, but once we sorted the bags we got our first ground-level glimpse of Scotland proper! 

First impression: Seems a lot like England or most of the standard European cities. Not green enough to be Ireland (TBF we are on the west [dry] side), and your standard mix of Olde buildings, tightly-packed suburban sprawl, and a few depressing concrete monoliths mixed about. But on the last leg of the tram ride we could look up the cliff and see the castle [add castle name? Literally Edinburgh Castle you peasant] seated over the town.

We then hiked (with all our bags) up to our Airbnb. A short hike, less than a mile [2000 feet. It felt longer], and only a few blocks from the castle. Edinburgh, at least old-town, is a very vertical city. The main promenade slopes significantly up from the parliament to the castle [400 feet over a mile], and side streets always veer down, some looping to pass beneath the Royal Mile five floors below grade. Which makes for some very cool views, but some rough hikes.

After a quick snafu entering our bnb (We we entered our code to the keybox and found it empty - remedied by a lot of frantic texting), we ditched our bags and headed to lunch!  Between the sleep deprivation, the hike, and a bit of nicotine withdrawal, I was fully in my "I'll be delighted to eat wherever you decide, and that is the entirety of my opinion on the matter" mode. Said abdication meant I couldn't complain when E/H lead us back down the street, down a 200 step staircase, and back to the train station for lunch.  So I won't! The pesto was great and the slow service gave us all a chance to rest our legs. - Ada even got a nap, screaming her head off in the stroller but content to sleep on Pops (he was delighted).

Refreshed, we then set off to... do a Rick Steves walking tour, or... something? Clearly despite the nourishment I still wasn't all there. We cut through the foyer of a museum, seeing only the collar of some famous historical dog, back up a different set of stairs, and then we wound down the second half of highstreet. We saw a couple churches, Adam Smith's grave (the grave next door was far more interesting, as it featured an eagle-lion-with-udders-being-stabbed-by-man-with-a-rams-head-and-grabbing-a-snake statue), and a few other historic sites; but all in a very cursory way. Reaching the bottom, the baby-clan split off to diaper or something, and my parents and I trudged back uphill with side-quests here and there for groceries. Finally back up top, we rejoined baby-crew at the Airbnb for chilling! I gladly shucked off my boots, reclined on the couch, and woke for dinner! I have no idea how long I slept, but they said they gave up calling my name and were on their third poke before I showed signs of life.

Dinner was a traditional Scottish place. Down hill of course, but not too far this time.

Haggis: Too mushroomy, but not that bad. Served with turnips (which might be called neeps here?) and mashed potatoes. Ada absolutely loved it and ate at least half the plate we got to share.  Sausage, Stew, literally five different types of mashed potatoes, shepherd's pie... all the classics. All good, but nothing that would ever inspire me to say "Oi, I'm truly craving a Scottish carvery" in my day-to-day life.

After dinner, we saw a statue of the famous dog from earlier! Nose gleaming golden from all the pets, the rest of him verdiginous green - a little yorkey, smaller than anyone expected. Maybe tell the story here [nah]. From here we split again. My parents and I veered off to check Bobby's grave (there was an offering pile of sticks), and detoured to walk by the castle. Quite impressive and perched over the city, but the skeleton of the grandstands?? for the tattoo? detracts from the imperial majesty.

Back home, a shower, a quick blogging session, and now bed. 11k steps.