Arthur’s Seat

First thing we had to do today – well, after a nice breakfast – was look for a replacement pair of shoes for Rachel. Walking around for days in too-small shoes was no way to spend a vacation!

We were still getting used to the astonishing press of tourists on the main roads. It was an outdoor festival atmosphere all the time, especially with the ambient noise of bagpipes…

The shops were in full effect with their tourist-catering signage!

We descended into the Princes Street Gardens, and saw the floral clock, allegedly the first of its kind, built in 1903:

Rachel found some animals. First the Wojtek the Soldier Bear Memorial, and then Andy Scott’s sculpture:

The gardens were lovely in general. Relatively quiet and a little bit cooler, perhaps because of their position in a small canyon next to the castle.

Next we meandered south to the Hight St and I met a fine companion:

From there we zig-zagged and got ice cream from a shop picked at random, and strolled through the Canongate Kirkyard.

Many intriguing banners hung over the street. How far back did these symbols go? Hundreds of years? Or only a few?

Soon we located the trailhead for Arthur’s Seat, the only activity that was officially on the list for today.

We took our time with the ascent, admiring the flowers and vistas. Our friends had suggested we bring a baked potato to the top and eat it there, but we were too full of ice cream.

Like other tourist places that have a bit of romance, there was a tradition of sticking locks on a thing to communicate — something. Commitment? Whatever you decide, really…

The panorama at the top was magnificent.

We made it! Time to celebrate with goofy faces.

Humans weren’t the only ones hanging out up here, of course.

We lingered for a while, eating more snacks, taking photos, and hopping around on the rocks. While we were there nearly all the humans were replaced with other humans, but the number of them remained constant.

Eventually we made our way back down, and then back into the center of the city to find something more substantial for dinner.

We found a restaurant in an indoor mall. The elevator up to the third floor had a strange wrap-around video display.

Back at the hotel we got busy with gear, re-packing things for the ride. We’d worked pretty hard to reduce our kit but it still looked overwhelming spread around the room.