Edinburgh - End of the Scottish adventure on Sunday

After a nice warm night's sleep, I woke up much more refreshed and ready to hit the cold weather again.  As with Saturday, Sunday greeted me with snow and wind, but with some sleep under my belt, it somehow felt warmer. 

I made the hike up the Royal Mile to find breakfast.  This time, I went with the full American breakfast.  I find it so hard in the Netherlands to find a decent breakfast place, so this both mornings made my weekend.  I had another pot of tea....I killed it with the tea this weekend.  I know tea has caffeine....I hope I'm not getting addicted. 

After breakfast, I made my way to the bridge where the airport bus supposedly picked up.  There, I found that the hop-on, hop-off buses originate.  I decided it can't be a bad way to see some more of the city, so I got a pass and jumped on the first one headed out.  Edinburgh has 5 different routes of hopping buses, some of which are live narration and others that are recordings.  The one I got on was recorded and went all the way out to the Brittania:

On another day, I will see the Brittania (Queen Elizabeth's boat).  Sunday was not that day.  It was so cold and you can't see the snow, but it was snowing as well.  I instead opted to stay on the bus, take some pictures, etc.  One thing of note on the first bus - a kid threw up right in front of me (thankfully into a bag), but I'm a sympathetic vomiter.  The whole portion that the family was on the bus I had to take deep breaths to avoid a similar incident, sans bag.

I made the full loop back to the bridge and got these pictures:

I then decided that due to the cold, it only made sense to jump on one of the other tours to see some more.  The next one I caught had live narration and was focused on the UNESCO world heritage sites.  This one was infinitely better.  I almost forgot to take pictures because the lecture on the sites was so good:

Having made that loop and enjoyed it so much, I went on a third.  This time, I got on the vintage bus with live commentary.  Again, the commentary was so good, I forgot to take pictures:

 This is the inventor of anesthesia.  Thank you for doing that.

Only decent sign I could find of the University of Edinburgh.  Took this to prove to a co-worker that I saw the university.

Statue of a Greyfriar's Bobby (night watch dog).  Read his story here.

I did actually hop off of this bus.  I got off at Holyrood Palace for the tour:

Holyrood is where the queen stays when she is in town, along with several other royals who call it home throughout the year.  She was not there during the weekend, so the majority of the palace was open for viewing.  No pictures inside again, but they had great exhibits on the tumultuous life of Mary Queen of Scots.  I spent a lot of time reading the exhibits and I also got an audio guide, which was invaluable.  I also saw the Queen's gallery, which is a rotating art exhibition.  This time it had photos from one of the first trips by a royal to the middle east.  Pretty good as well.

My favorite part was the old Holyrood Palace abbey ruins, mostly because it was a chance to have fun with the camera:

 Nice girl offers to take my picture, subject instantly freezes up and puts on weird smile.

 Look mom, black and white!

Art house photo, no?

After that, I realised I was getting close to my flight time, but had some time to spare, just not enough time for a new site.  The palace had a café.  What better way to end your trip to the Highlands than having a pot of tea in the Queen's backyard?

Peppermint tea....my favorite.  Felt like a princess.

A few more shots from the palace:

I then hiked up to the hotel and from there hiked back to the bridge to catch the airport bus.  The airport bus was super cheap and added maybe 10 minutes to the trip.  Great photo ops as well:

Finally, I just can't time airport returns correctly.  Considering all the time it took me to get into the country, I figured it would take me a while to get out.  That was not the case....security was really easy.  So I got a beef pie and mash for a late lunch:

Security was funny though - there were several "lads on tour" groups who were clearly drunk before the flight.  It was awesome to watch them attempt to get through....it's hard to clear out your pockets, take off your belt, get rid of liquids or baggie them and pull out your ipad when you are three sheets to the wind.  Thankfully they were in a different line from me, but it was hilarious to watch.

See you next time Edinburgh (hopefully when you are warmer).