After a bit of a nutty experience at the Manchester airport, we made it safely to Edinburgh, Scotland. We have the cutest hotel (The Grassmarket Hotel) right in the center of everything. I have a very small room but it’s full of character and it has something I have never experienced before… A bed shaped like a trapezoid.
No joke! It might be hard to tell from the picture, but it’s true. Thanks to my luggage scale, which includes a measuring tape, I know that the head of the bed is approximately 3 feet wide and the foot of the bed is approximately 4 1/2 feet wide. I am just really curious as to where they purchased this mattress!
Once we were settled, we took a serious hike up several very steep sets of stairs to make our way to Edinburgh Castle where we had time on our own to explore.
I found the great Hall particularly interesting for its daring weaponry-themed decorating style. Haha!!
Makes me wonder if all those swords, spears and guns were handy tools in case a duel broke out over dinner or dancing.
The grounds around the castle were beautiful. We have been so lucky. The weather today (and overall) was absolutely gorgeous and it made wandering around the castle a really enjoyable experience.
After our castle exploration, we had a walk down the Royal Mile with our Scottish tour guide. He was full of stories and interesting anecdotes.
He also explained a bit about the history of the kilt and how each Scottish clan had their own tartan patterns and colors. The history of Scotland was something that I was not very familiar with so I really enjoyed his tour.
He knew many in our group were Harry Potter fans and included some tidbits including the name of the place where J.K. Rowling wrote the first chapter of the first book as well as the street that was the inspiration for Diagon Alley and the school that inspired Hogwarts.
We also got to see the officially licensed Harry Potter store.
We ended with a group dinner at an Italian restaurant. Very authentic and very yummy!