Edinburgh

 We stayed in a delightful old home in Edinburgh, with 14 foot ceilings and more floor space than three motorhomes my size.   It was one of a row of homes, built side to side with  open space across the street.  Occupied by wealthy families of the merchant class, this home, and several others along the street have been converted to B&Bs and small hotels.  At the end of the row of houses was the trail to Calton Hill, great for views of the city.   Three siblings run Adria House which was bought as a residence by their parents in the 1950's.   Here are a few scenes:

Our bedroom had a queen and a twin bed, easy chairs and coffee table in front of  the fireplace (which we didn't use as it wasn't winter yet), dresser, small table and "en suite" bath.

View from our window of the sloped garden.

Breakfast room.   Full Scots breakfast included eggs, local bacon and ham, hash browns, black pudding (a blood pudding with grains), baked beans, grilled tomato, toast, tea (or coffee), juice and fruit.  Good thing we were doing lots of walking.  

The afternoon of arrival we walked around the block (it wasn't rectangular, but we walked to the other side of what would have been our garden, with some land behind that) to an even more elegant street that now houses a couple of  foreign embassies.   Down a long footpath took  past the Robert Burns Monument, because no trip to Scotland is complete without paying tribute to this famous poet to Holyrood Palace.

View from the footpath

Robert (Rabbie) Burns Memorial

  Due to incorrect information we arrived too late to enter the The Holyrood Palace.  But we did get a few photos of the outside.  This is the formal residence for the royal family when in Scotland although they spend more time at Balmoral. 

We walked back through the city, enjoyed dinner out and got ready for an early morning photo shoot.

As the lights came on in the evening

The next day we did a walking photo tour.  It was disappointing as the photographer was quite opinionated and  dictated how shots should be taken.  He also repeated, often, that the only way to shoot was in manual mode because all professional photographers never use aperture or shutter priority modes.  That is blatantly untrue.  He raced us along to his designated photo spots, often telling us exactly where we should stand.   We did get some good shots, and probably went to some spots we would not have found on our own, but we are not used to being told what to do and when!  After our last stop with him, we stayed around to do more photography on our own.\ which was when the photo below was taken.

Edinburgh Castle sits high on a volcanic hill overlooking the city.

Cambridge to Edinburg

We landed in London but immediately took the train to Cambridge so Chris could attend the annual Battle of Britain exposition in nearby Duxbury.  I figured he would have more fun at that event talking to other enthusiasts of old planes and military strategy without me, so I opted to walk about Cambridge.  Beautiful day, glad  I wore my favorite walking shoes.   The following day, together, we did a punt ride along the route past many of the colleges.  Touristy, but delightful.

We have enjoyed the tradition of afternoon  tea, accompanied by all manner of delightful baked goods....good thing we are walking a lot.

I will load some photos now, but think I will hold on detailed until I get home and have both a larger keyboard and easier access to loading and editing photos.  

Here are some from Cambridge,  You can see the weather was generally sunny.  Our small hotel was right next to the train station, convenient and delightful.

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Next adventure: Across the Pond

I am taking a short break from packing and organizing.  It's almost done but I needed a change of pace.  Thursday morning my neighbor, Joyce, will take me to the Amtrak Station in Fresno for the ride to the Bay Area.  Friday evening, Chris and I board Norwegian Airlines for the flight to London.

Watch this space for tales and photos of England, Scotland and Wales.  Return to the States on Oct. 26th.