Let the Adventure Begin

My goodness, what a whirlwind the past 12 hours have been. After a surprisingly smooth plane ride where my neighbors were a darling man from Edinburgh and a woman from Montana, I arrived in Edinburgh at 7am local time. After schlepping all my luggage onto a bus and then getting a tad bit lost on the way to my hotel, I finally arrived, dropped off my stuff, and began exploring.

 North Bridge, right by my hotel.

It turns out that my hotel is quite close to the Scottish National Gallery, so after grabbing a quick cup of coffee, I headed out for some culture. I did appreciate that the Gallery had free admission and although it was not as large as other art museums I have seen, it had a good collection of art from various time periods, as well as Scottish Art.

The Edinburgh Festival Ferris Wheel that was up during the summer and The Scott Monument in honor of author Sir Walter Scott.

I then realized that it was only 11am so I still had a minimum of 3 hours to kill before I could check-in to my hotel room. Now this scared me a bit because I am not one of those people who usually picks up and travels solo to new and unfamiliar places. I like plans and schedules. But I swallowed my fear and decided to just wander. I walked up towards the Edinburgh Castle, checking out the floral clock on the way, and checked out the souvenir shops around there and then made my way back West along High Street, which is a touristy area of Edinburgh. A few hours later, I ducked into a narrow alleyway only to stumble upon an extremely charming tea shop. After enjoying a ham sandwich, scone, and some tea, my jetlag was beginning to set in so I went back to the hotel, where I am currently sitting and writing this blog post.

The floral clock.

The Edinburgh Castle and Ross Fountain.

I am excited for the next 110 days. I know that this will be an adventure that I will be glad that I had. It just may take me a few days (or weeks) to settle in and feel less lost.

And now for some random photos:

Apparently Edinburgh is really big into baked potato bars.

American Candy is apparently popular. 

There was a Anti-Scottish Independence gathering outside the National Gallery and for some reason there was a man in a chicken suit.

An add for a show that went up during the Edinburgh Festival.

This is a painting of the Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch by Sir Henry Raeburn. It looks like Putin to me. 

Just goes to show, there's a kilt for everyone and every occasion. 

Cheers for now!