I'm in love with Edinburgh.
Today was wonderful.
I can see why Will and Jackie love it so much! I could totally live here for a while if I had to.
This visit has been one of the highlights of my trip thus far.
The day started off with sleeping in (so very grateful for that. Havn't been getting much sleep since I've been here!) and then Jackie and I headed out to see some sights. We started off with having a traditional Scottish breakfast at Links which included: Haggis, black pudding, sausage, bacon, a fried egg and biscuit, baked beans, a tattie scone and a grilled tomato.
Quite a meal.
Oh, and please make sure you click on the link for Haggis and Black Pudding and read what they are.
Yea.
I ate that.
Or at least a bite of each.
The tattie scone was delicious though.
Might need to learn how to make those (you know, when I learn how to cook one day...) though it was odd having baked beans for breakfast. Apparently a normal breakfast food item in the UK. My friend Jenn thought it was very odd when I mentioned that we eat them at cookouts with burgers and hot dogs.
Not on our toast at breakfast.
After breakfast we went to the cutest little yarn shop and I got some yarn for my travel blanket (I'm crocheting a blanket with yarn from the locations of my various travels) and some for a cowl (that was a splurge) and one... or two... or three other skeins.
Just because.
We also wandered into a little street market that had various interesting vendors. Met a couple from Texas who had been living here for 3 or 4 years. Their accent was interesting. An odd blend of American and Scottish. Or something like that. Do you suppose you'd acquire an accent after being somewhere only a few short years?
After that we headed to what is quite possibly the best coffee shop I've ever been to.
It's called Henderson's at Saint Johns.
It's home is underneath a beautiful old church and the atmosphere is one of the coolest I've been in. It's also an art gallery of sorts and has interesting paintings all over the dark stone walls.
Not to mention the bright stain glass windows that shine colored light into the room.
We sat and knit and drank tea and caught up on life.
It was lovely.
I really wish I could find a little coffee shop back home that I love just as much.
Any suggestions Richmonders?
Once we were done with our tea we set out for Calton Hill, one of the highest peaks in the city.
The view from the top was just gorgeous.
Let's just say I had to put in another memory card by the time I was finished taking photos!
You could see Arthur's Seat not too far off and all the little people who had climbed to the top. Hopefully I'll get to do that on my next visit!
The view really was magnificent though. You almost felt like you were on the edge of the world, looking out over the sea, even though you were still a fair distance from it.
It was simply breathtaking. I loved it.
Hopefully one day I can view the sunrise or sunset from the top.
I bet that's a sight to see.
We hung out at the flat for a bit after that, chatting and drinking tea (again) and knitting (again) with Will.
(Though Will wasn't knitting. Just giving knitting advice.)
Then we headed out to dinner.
We originally were going to go to a place called Under The Stairs but the wait was too long so instead we headed to The Villager.
It was a really neat place with big couches at the tables, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and painted robots on the walls.
I had a veggie black bean burger of some sort and it was delicious. As were the chips (fries) that came with it. I ate every single last bite.
Across the street was Elephant House, the place where J.K. Rowling apparently started writing Harry Potter. I'm not a Harry Potter fan but I thought some of you would find that interesting.
After that we called it a night.
It was a long and very good day.
My heart is full (as is my memory card) and happy.
One of the best days of my adventure yet.