Day 1 in Edinburgh

We spent about 4.5 hours on the train this morning, which unfortunately I slept for most of (what I saw of the ride showed me a lot of beautiful British countryside, though, and some great views of the North Sea).

Person:

Pat's friend Dave met us in Edinburgh for dinner. Dave was a great guy, and it was very fun getting to hang out with a local. He took us to several diverse local pubs, and to a fantastic Indian restaurant for dinner (this was probably the most delicious food today, but for the food of the day I had to choose a different one; more to come).

Place:

We took the wrong bus to get into City Centre from our hotel and ended up on the southeastern edge of Edinburgh at a long dormant volcanic site called Holyrood Park. We climbed up a very steep road to a point called Arthur's Seat. It affords the best views of Edinburgh, and we got to enjoy the unusually clear day and get some great photos (I seem to be a weather good-luck charm so far this trip).

Food:

Around 3:00pm I found myself sitting in the middle of Edinburgh on the Royal Mall, which leads from the Scottish Parlaiment to Edinburgh Castle. I could see several medieval churches and could hear someone playing the bagpipes. All this, and yet I was eating in an AMERICAN restaurant! Luckily, it was a Europeanized version of American food called Wannaburger, and I still managed to try something new: a burger of grilled Halloumi, which is a Greek cheese. It was served with mediterranean vegetables, and we got fries (which they called fries instead of chips, as most British restaurants do) with a delicious garlic mayonaise. The photo is of Pat eating his bean burger (which was also very good). Note the French's mustard on the table. They gave us peanut M&Ms with our check.