A wee bit of Scotland...Days 1 & 2

Whew....we just spent the last 10 days traveling and have finally made it back to Dublin.  Who new vacationing could be so exhausting!  That being said we had an amazing time : )

Chad had a neurosurgery meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland so I tagged along so we could do a little sight-seeing as well. Scotland is AMAZING!!  We are totally in love and both agree Edinburgh may be the most beautiful city we have ever seen.  The city restricts the height of all buildings leaving an open skyline with gorgeous views of the highlands, castles and country-side.

We stayed at The Caledonian Hotel which was perfect.  The location was central to the city and the staff was excellent.  The hotel used to be an old train station and the name Caledonia is the old Roman name for Scotland.

The views from the hotel were just as impressive! When you walked out the front door you could see Edinburgh castle in the distance up on a cliff.  Everywhere you turned the view was breathtaking.  I felt like I was in a Disney movie!

View from the hotel

Edinburgh castle from Princess Street

Green space in the city center

Our first day in town we wandered around the city taking in all it's beauty.  The streets are filled with little cafes, pubs, and shops.  We also stumbled upon a number of men in kilts and some playing traditional bagpipes.  I had no idea, but the traditional wool kilt costs about $400.  That's a pricey skirt!  Also, the stories are true...they do not wear anything beneath the kilts.  Why you ask?  Well apparently back in the day a man would only have one kilt which would be made of heavy wool. Undergarments sort of "got in the way"as they would also have been made of wool.  When the men were fighting battles they would usually take off their kilts and fight in the nude apparently as to not get them bloody or destroy the fabric. It was called going "regimental" which we (Americans) changed into going commando.  Who knew there was so much history behind that expression : )

These little guys still needed a bit of practice

Ok, back to what I was saying.  The buildings, churches and scenery was magical!  To know that many of these structures were built before the Americas had even been discovered really puts a few things in perspective.  Our history barely scratches the surface!

The Scott Memorial...dedicated to Sir Walter Scott

The following day we went to Edinburgh castle.  The castle sits upon an extinct volcano (Castle Rock) and was established in the 12th century.  Since then it has been added to and expanded by the royals who lived there and the military who used it as a fort.  Now it houses a military museum, the Scottish crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny.  The Stone of Destiny (or Stone of Scone) is a hunk of red sandstone that was blessed by St. Patrick and used when crowning royals in Scotland and later England.  The coronation throne has a special spot below it for the stone.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of the stone or the jewels : ( 

Walking up to the castle

The first gate

View from the castle over the city

Inside one of the castle rooms

Chad checking out the canon

The key to the castle

That evening we headed to dinner at The Prestonfield House Hotel.  The restaurant had been recommended to us by Dr. Wright, one of Chad's attendings at Wash U, and it was incredible!   The grounds were beautifully manicured and had peacocks wandering around. We also came across Hamish the Highland cow while we walked around before dinner.

pulling up to The Prestonfield

Cute front porch

The gardens

Hamish the Highland Cow

Entry way

Sitting room while we were waiting for dinner

 Dr. Wright had told us one of the rooms in the house was lined with 17th century leather from Spain...well he was right.  It doesn't look like leather in the photo but you can take my word for it.

The meal was great and after dinner we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep before the next days activities. Still lots more of Scotland to see!!