View from the top of Edinburgh Castle
Sightseeing tour of Edinburgh
Follow a Scottish local on a sightseeing tour of the city.
- View the Georgian New Town and the Royal Mile, two UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- Pass the Sir Walter Scott monument.
- Enter Edinburgh Castle to view the Scottish crown jewels and Stone of Scone.
Abbotsford House and gardens
Abbotsford House & Melrose Abbey
Travel through the Scottish Borders region to Abbotsford House, the 19th-century estate of Sir Walter Scott. The poet designed his home in the Romantic style to imitate the elaborate baronial estates of British aristocrats. Today it serves as a museum for the Scottish memorabilia and artifacts that Scott collected throughout his lifetime.
Later, visit the ruins of Melrose Abbey, one of the most impressive of the four Borders abbeys.
I tried traditional British thick, soggy bacon this morning. Still prefer crispy American bacon, to be honest.
So far everything’s been lovely. The people on the tour are lovely. The tour guide is lovely (not in a sexy way, just in a nice way). The scenery is lovely. The beer is lovely.
Some punchlines I have delivered since arriving:
*in the middle of a conversation about putting funny hats and things on dick pics to make them more acceptable*
Kate: Maybe a pirate hat and an eye patch.
Me: Well. It does have one eye.*innocuously doing girl talk about hairdos* No, my hair is coarse and dirty. Like my mouth.
Me and Jaimie, cheesin’. Photo credit: Kate
There’s a woman in our party (Jaimie) who’s about my age who makes “that’s what she said” jokes every hour or so. I like her. Surprising no one.
We played a game on the bus called Cow Cow Cemetery. Every time you see a cow (or group of cows) the first person to yell COW gets a point. If you see a cemetery, the first person who yells CEMETERY gets to keep all their cow points but knocks everyone else back to zero. It’s surprisingly addictive and fun. And I have never shouted CEMETERY so gleefully in my life.
Margaret leans over the cannon (as one does) for a photo of Edinburgh.
One of the ladies on the tour teaches English to high school students in Alaska. She and I and the tour guide (who is Irish and named Colm, no joke) stayed up tonight until 12:30 talking about American politics. Margaret and I mostly tried to convince Colm that we’re not all Trump supporters.
I pet two friendly dogs today. One was a golden retriever who wandered in the gift shop at Abbotsford.
The other one was a chow mix outside an ice cream shop at Melrose Abbey. The chow was owned by an American dude from Tennessee who was living in Scotland with his Scottish wife. Our favorite line from him, delivered in a Tennessee drawl: “I hate Alabama. That whole state can kiss my ass.”
Climbed to the top of the ruins of Melrose Abbey. It’s a little scary climbing up 900-year-old stairs. Worth the view though.
On Scottish bus tours, sometimes they give you whiskey when you get on the bus.
I now silently read all the signs in Scotland in a harsh, deep Scottish brogue. My favorite so far has been, “Slow Down,” which sounds like, “SLOH DOON!” in my head and makes me giggle.
Enjoying myself greatly.
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