July 16, 2018 — Edinburgh

Jim and Laurel got up early, as usual, and then went on a walk to the Royal Mile — nothing was open yet, but we enjoyed the "Closes" and the exercise, nonetheless.

Back to our apartment for breakfast with Mom, and then window-shopping at the myriad charity shops along Stockbridge's high street (we even bumped into Allen and July doing the same).  Next was the highlight of the day — meeting up with Anne, Mom's on-line "Words with Friends" friend, who lives in the Leith area of the city.  She is very jolly and we enjoyed a great lunch with her at a local cafe.

Post lunch, we strolled through a lovely park below Edinburgh Castle and then returned to the Royal Mile (this time with Mom and a million other tourists).  After a while, we met up with Dusty and Cheryl there, too.  The evening, and our stay in Edinburgh, finished up with the whole group having supper together at the Raeburn, in Stockbridge.  Tomorrow, Jim and Laurel and Mom will drive to Glasgow, while the rest have another day in Edinburgh.

Wow, it's hard to believe our wonderful adventure in Scotland is almost over ... from visiting Mairi, to hiking the highland and lochside trails, to riding old-fashioned rails, to exploring family history, to sightseeing with Clan MacDonald of Glenside from Inverness to Skye to Edinburgh, it has been a truly special summer!  Thank you, all, for joining us!

July 15, 2018 — travelling from Blairgowrie to Edinburgh

Mmmmm — we enjoyed the hot Scottish breakfast served to us by our friendly hosts at Rosebank B&B before we got on the road again, heading onward to Edinburgh.  

Along the way, in the Stirling area, we made a stop in the small town of Alva — this is where Jim's great-great grandparents got married and lived in the mid-1800's (Lothians).  It's a plain, but tidy, town dominated by a large bald-topped hill right behind it.  Being early Sunday morning, and lightly raining, the town was very quiet; luckily, we found a nice coffee shop that was open and we popped in for a bite to eat.  

Our next stop was in Falkirk, to see the one-of-a-kind engineering marvel called the Falkirk Wheel.  It's a large rotating boat lift that lifts/lowers boats from one canal level to another, as an ingenious alternative to using a traditional lock system.  Amazingly, when lifting/lowering a boat, the Wheel uses the same amount of energy as is required to boil a mere eight tea-kettles of water.  Lots of tourists (mostly engineers, I suspect) were watching the boats go up and down between the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal (a height of 24 meters — 79 feet — about a seven-storey building).

Thanks to a bum steer from our GPS, we took an unplanned detour over the huge Queensferry Crossing Bridge before we arrived in Edinburgh.  Then, upon checking in to our lower-level apartment on pretty St. Bernard's Crescent, to our dismay we realized that there is no public parking there (or anywhere nearby).  Luckily, Dusty and Cheryl, and Allen and July, were staying in an apartment just three blocks away and had an extra parking stall!  Jim and Laurel and Mom wandered through the outdoor Sunday market that was set up in our attractive Stockbridge neighbourhood, then met up with the rest of the clan at The Scran and Scallie Pub for a fantastic evening of food, drink, and live music.