On Monday morning, we packed up and headed to Edinburgh(pronounced like boro not burg due to tricky English rules no longer observed). The weather started to decline rapidly as we approached the city and by the time we arrived, it was raining pretty steady, something that continued throughout the day. We met up with our friends at their hotel and headed out to see the sights. Our first stop was the Edinburgh(boro) castle as it is one of the most famous castles in Scotland but that doesn't mean its the best. We stood in line at the ticket counter in a line longer than one would think would be there standing in the rain in near freezing temperatures. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had Easter week plans challenged by the cold, rainy weather. When we stepped up to buy our tickets, the girl starts into a prepared speech trying to sell us this multi-pass thing but it turned out to be quite a good deal. We paid .40 more than the cost of Edinburgh castle and were able to see 3 more castles later in our trip for free. The pass is a great way to travel through Scotland if you are castle hopping and sight seeing outside the major cities because there are a ton of historic sites included in the umbrella of the plan. The castle at Edinburgh was well preserved and had lots of historical things with great explanations of the history of the castle. It sits right between the old and new town on a hill high above the rest of the city. One can easily see why that spot was chosen for the castle. After the castle, we walked over to another hill that had a dome building and some Greek style columns. It wasn't anything spectacular, just 1/3 of a building preserved quite well that looked like it had been transplanted from Greece to Scotland. For the rest of the day, we simply wandered through the streets looking at the amazing architecture of the buildings and just trying to see as much as we could since we were only going to get one day there. We went to a restaurant near the castle at the recommendation of our friends and it was quite tasty, the food that is. The drinks on the other hand were a whole set of different issues. We tried to types of Scotch upon recommendation from another friend in Madrid who lived in Edinburgh for years, and according to him, we had to try some here. We ordered a peaty Scotch filled with iodine and another that was more fruity. Needless to say, the fruity Scotch was much easier to get down and the peaty, iodine glass was never completely emptied. The amount of water didn't matter much because the smell and the taste was just too much for the senses. We all also decided to take the plunge together and order haggis, the traditional Scottish style sausage made of sheeps heart, liver, and lungs minced with oatmeal, onion, and other spices and simmered in the animal's stomach for three hours. It was tasty and spicy and we all enjoyed our fill. It was made famous as a national dish, according to some, by another poem by Robert Burns, the poet we met earlier in Ayr. Enjoy the photos.
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