Arthur's Seat
Yesterday our adventure (we keep it to one a day - sometimes the 'adventure' is going grocery shopping), was to hike Arthur's Seat.
From Nathan's place, we walked up to the Royal Mile, which in and of itself is worth visiting, so just the pre-walk to Arthur's Seat was quite enjoyable as well. The Royal Mile in the opposite direction leads to the Edinburgh Castle, which again is also definitely worth visiting (but skip that war museum-thing they've got, ick!!).
So we went down the Royal Mile, past the now completed Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace (the Queen's residence when she visits Scotland), and then just round the bend is Arthur's Seat. We left after 7 p.m., so we got to Arthur's Seat shortly before 8. We hiked up to the major plateau, had some water, apples, got totally gnat-infested and decided we'd gone far enough, hiked down the other side, and headed home. We got home shortly before 10, had some dinner and crawled to bed!
I included the links for two reasons. The first is that I think all of these places are worth at least seeing, if not visiting. The second is that I was the only one without a camera last night. I bet Melanie will have pictures up shortly, though. (Mark can take a while to fiddle with his photos sometimes, but they willl be beautiful once he does finally put them up on Flickr...)
Comments
Remember our walk up Arthur's Seat? What an abortive attempt that was. I would love to try again, with better shoes this time, and maybe a walking stick. Poor Nae, remember? He slipped and rebroke his just healing arm. I felt so bad for him. And then we couldn't get a taxi because there was a Open the Christmas Shopping Season Parade. By the time we were on a street where we might be able to find one, we were home. And I was wearing that long trench coat -- not the best hiking gear. I'm glad you finally made it.
Posted by: Ma | July 26, 2006 4:29 PM
Oh my goodness, I'd totally forgotten the parade part!!! Yeah, that was pretty poorly planned. We brought hiking shoes expressly for Arthur's Seat this time, plus a backpack with food and water. We didn't make it any further than the time when we went together, though. Mark and I did make it to the top with Nathan the last time we visited Edinburgh, though.
Posted by: Mara | July 26, 2006 8:03 PM
I DIDN'T REALISE NATHAN HAD RE-BROKEN HIS ARM ON THAT TRIP. MY GOODNESS! I AM SO SORRY NAE! It was really special to have Nathan home here for a few days. I do miss him when he is away in Scotland. I miss all my kids. Rae was here recently and Mensch and Kristen will be here for reunion.
I eagerly await pictures of the places you talk about. I am glad you are getting out and walking. It is such great exercise and melts off whatever was too hastily enjoyed for dinners. Just keep hydrated and do lots of walking. I love to watch people; and kids are my favorite to ogle. They often catch me slyly staring at them and they go "all embarassed" when it happens. It's so fun......
Posted by: papa | July 27, 2006 4:22 PM