A dry day

I woke up today with a confirmed cold which was resting mostly in my throat so it is more livable than a constantly runny nose.  We met to eat quickly at 7:30 and wanted to be outside the hotel on the bay for sunrise or closely thereafter.  It was clearing up nicely but with some remnant clouds for a bit of drama.  I purposely asked more questions today and got more help with my new wide angle lens, which I think turned out nicely.

We spent a lot of time here and didn’t hit the road until 9:30.  Our first stop was in Fort William where there is a shipwrecked boat right on the beach.  I worked with Karl first and learned how to do exposure bracketing, which will help even out the darks on the ship and the highlights in the sky.  The problem is I won’t see exactly how it worked until I get home and combine the three exposures into one in Lightroom.  Ah well, something to look forward to!  I also used my wide angle lens here to photograph the ship from a very low angle at the bow, which should look really interesting.  The culture or history behind a lot of our stops gets a bit lost in the photography so I’ve been making a point to either ask or look it up myself. In this case, an inebriated captain beached the ship in a bad storm and the water has never risen enough to float the boat again, so it’s just been left.  I saw another one further up the coast also just left to decay in place.

We ate another lunch from Karl’s cafe today.  I had cheese and chutney sandwich with potato chips and a lovely slice of date nut pound cake.

From here we drove on towards the Isle of Skye.  Karl stopped for us at a hairy coo farm.  They had six hairy coos of various ages, which was cool to see (and quieted a few of the women who’d been repeatedly asking about them).  But more significant for me was a wild deer sighting near the farm.  I quickly swapped out my landscape lens for my longer lens and got some really nice shots.  It was a truly handsome animal.  I was thrilled to have seen it.

Next stop was Eilean Donan castle, which I must have seen on a million calendars over the course of my life.  Never did I think I’d ever get to see it!  We set up in a great spot and again I worked with Don on perspective and composition.  Still using my exposure bracketing, I took a zillion photos even dabbling in some black and white.  We moved our positions a few different times to get different angles.  I’m really hopeful they come out well when I get them compiled back home.

It took another 45 minutes or so to get to Portree, where our hotel is.  It was dark and (surprise!) raining again after being dry all day.  The area looks really pretty but I’m really looking forward to seeing it in the daylight.  The hotel is gorgeous. My room is huge with a big soft king bed.  It is quite warm too so I turned the radiator off and opened a window or I’ll be coughing all night.

Dinner tonight was lovely.  I chose the bleu cheese croquette with the potato gnocchi and the chocolate gingerbread with gingerbread ice cream.  The croquette had a sliced fig which was a nice pairing.  The gnocchi was unlike any I’ve had before, it was more like rigatoni stuffed with potato with a light almond sauce rather than tomato.  The gingerbread was to die for.  I’m a big gingerbread fan and this did not disappoint.

Early to be because I hope to beat the worst of the cold before tomorrow’s activities.

Just call him Noah

Our poor local guide, Karl, is really at a loss when it comes with what to do with us now.  The rain, even for here, is pretty relentless.  We get moments of brightening and apparent pause, but by the time the 10 of us get out of the vans, grab all the gear and start to make our way to whatever it is we’re shooting, we’re all wet again.  He joked this morning that now we just ought to call him Noah.  I feel for him, he’s digging deep for indoor things for photographers to do.

The day started at the same time with the same breakfast as yesterday. I woke up with a scratchy throat that didn’t clear up all day.  I was also cranky (yes, really!) and tired of being wet.  But I signed up for this, so I’ll stop my griping.  Until the next paragraph.

I’m in the second van, driven by Don.  He just follows Karl.  He has a loose idea of where we’re headed.  This morning we headed out despite knowing it would likely be a washout all day.  Our first stop was Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe.  It is a gorgeous ruined castle at the base of a mountain and on the loch.  When we pulled up at the side of the road, it was raining moderately but I saw Accuweather said we’d have a window of about 40 minutes in 20 minutes.  So we waited, and Accuweather was right.  The rain abated and we were all at the ready to hop out. The problem was we were on the road and between us and the castle was about 1/8 of a mile of soggy bog.  Off went Karl in his Wellies.  I’ll cut to the chase, I followed and gave up. It was far too deep water for me to keep going.  I didn’t want to sit in wet shoes all day.  I thought for a moment that maybe I should have brought my hiking shoes from Rwanda but now in retrospect and in seeing how wrecked my fellow travelers’ shoes were, I don’t think they would have helped.

So I found a somewhat solid plot of land for me to stand and shoot.  It was bright enough that I thought I could handhold the camera.  And I shot shot shot away.  Then I realized I probably ought to bump up the ISO a bit but then noticed all my menus were different and couldn’t find that setting.  So I kept shooting. Turns out I was still on the sunset setting from last night when the camera was on a tripod.  Long story short, I got crap photos on the camera.  Only a few iPhone shots and not very good at all.  I tried to make my way to Don for some help but he’d made it so far down to the loch and then the rain really kicked in again, I just abandoned the effort.  I was really cranky and frustrated.

Our next stop was Saint Conan’s Kirk, a 15th century church on Loch Awe.  It is a gothic church and the thought was that we’d do some detail work here.  Part of why I’m doing this trip is because I don’t feel I have a great creative eye, and I have trouble breaking a whole down into parts.  But my camera settings were still mucked up and I was frustrated from the castle, so I was spiraling.  Don finally miraculously fixed my menus and I dug in to try to salvage something from the church shoot.  I found a lion statue in the cloisters that really lit me up, so I started there.

Lunch was from Karl’s shop while standing in the cloister.  I had a cheese, tomato and pesto sandwich with chips and the best pound cake I’ve had in a long time.

We next went to the Cranachan Power Plant for a quick walk through of their exhibit and a snack in the cafe.  I really enjoyed the birdwatching outside the cafe.  I added 4 more birds to my life list here (this is after 4 yesterday and 2 in Edinburgh). Then we started heading back towards our hotel.

Karl took us down a single lane road into Glen Etive, which ran several miles into the mountains.  The rain coming down the mountains in naturally carved downspouts was so intense, with waterfalls letting off what looked like sheets of smoke half way up the mountains.  It was almost unnatural how the water was just streaming down the mountains and joining with the small stream that was powering down towards the loch and onwards to the sea.  It was a lot of water.  That was an understatement.  We stopped to shoot the rapids which was great because I’m still practicing my long exposure photography.  We lasted a few minutes until the rain powered up again, so then we packed back up into the vans and off we went again.

We passed a bothy, a small cottage that is used by trekkers and hikers for a bit of respite as they make their way through the highlands.  I’d seen it in photographs and knew it was the iconic shot of the wee white cottage against the backdrop of the mountains.  The scale of it is just hard to describe.  But it was raining too hard to stop.   Fortunately we passed a similar cottage a bit further on and stopped there because the rain had pressed pause again.  I got some good shots, since I’d rectified my camera settings and used my tripod.  So the last shots of the day were good ones.

Dinner tonight was leek and potato soup, which was really good, hot and a bit of a kick; felt good on my throat.  The main was salmon, cod and coley fishcakes, which were wonderful with big chunks of potato in them and topped with a tomato salsa.  And the dessert was Eton mess.  Right there my day turned around 10000%.  It was quite good (although I still give the edge to Chef Luis at the Sunset Marquis!).  Tonight instead of a G&T I had Inch’s Apple Cider which is a local seasonal hard cider.

We’re all up early tomorrow to hopefully shoot sunrise here on the bay outside our hotel.  We move on to Isle of Skye tomorrow too, so hopefully Noah can work some magic and dry things out.  In the meantime I’m flipping my shoes again on the radiator. Hopefully they’ll dry out by morning!

Tested by the elements

Sunday, November 1

What an amazing night’s sleep!  It was so quiet here it was almost deafening, but for the downpours that hit overnight and tapped me awake on the roof windows.

We met at 7:45 for breakfast.  It was continental with hot and cold options.  I went for yogurt with berry compote, two small croissants with jelly and marmalade and OJ and coffee.  That lasted me a few hours until I found some Scottish gin fudge which tided me over until lunch (sooooo good, believe it or not!)

We were really challenged by the rain this morning.  All the weather apps kept telling us a break was coming and it would eventually stop for the day, but that stopping point was elusive.  And we did have some clear patches, but they seemed to hit while we were engrossed in ‘fallback rainy day activities’ or lunch.  Our timing was just off.

It stopped raining so we decided to visit Signal Rock which was an area where the clans would light a fire on the mountain to alert the highlanders when an invasion was going to happen.  It is a nice nook at the foot of a few overlapping mountains and a stream running through it.  The area however has gotten so much rain in the last couple of weeks that the stream is practically a river, and a loud one at that.  It was a bit of a slippery scramble through some thicket, mud, and rocks but we all found our footing right at the river’s edge just in time for the rain to kick in again, so then it became and effort of putting rain gear on our cameras, pulling up hoods and securing them against the wind.  I didn’t love the shots I was getting or the fact that my gear was getting soaked, so I headed back into the trees where it was less wet and found a footbridge over the river that I took some shots at.  By then everyone else was ready to head back to the vans and lunch, so off we went.

Karl has a few “rainy day” activities in his back pocket in the event that it’s just too bad to be out at all.  One of those is the Glencoe Cultural Center.  This was a good stop because it explained that the area is actually a caldera and then covered its often sordid history, which includes locals fighting off the English as well as intra-clan battles.  There was also a thatched cottage to visit and a ton of local birds that I had fun identifying with the Merlin app and trying to photograph.  

After our time here we went to Karl’s cafe and gift shop for lunch.  I had no expectations for lunch but I was simply blown away.  I had a flatbread with vegetarian haggis, Brie and onion jelly that was just fabulous, and incredibly filling.  I was really impressed how good it was.  We noticed though that while we were eating, the skies were brightening and things were drying out.  But we were committed to lunch and there was no rushing the group at this point.

By the time we left lunch it was coming down again.  And when I say raining and “coming down”, I mean it in not a friendly, gentle shower way (which I think we’d all be fine in).  This rain was bucketing down.  There was some discussion about what we’d do next but Karl thought we should head to Castle Stalker ahead of sunset with the hopes that we might more brightening and dry air by then.  So off we went.

We arrived and it was indeed dry but overcast.  No worries, we gathered our gear and headed to the beach.  The castle is on a tiny island out in the bay with the mountains of the highlands behind it and, hopefully, the sun setting just to the left of it.  It stayed dry for about 20 minutes while we got to move around, shoot lower to the water and then it started to rain again and with the wind it was blowing directly at us and into our lenses.  We all turned our backs and protected the lens and the rain passed quickly.

Then a crack in the clouds started right where we guessed the sun might be.  Don got excited that we might see sunset after all.  The sun’s rays streamed out of the crack and it was almost as if the late autumn sun was still warm enough to burn off more of the clouds.  We were all shooting like mad, getting the light and its reflection off the water as best we could.  And this brightness lasted all of 3 minutes when the sun dipped below another deck of clouds and the rain picked up again.  It looked like it might clear up again but we all headed back to the vans to get warm and dry and wait it out.  In the end, it only got darker so we headed back to the hotel.  All told though, it was a really spectacular sight.  And I got to try some black and white photography that I hope turns out well.

I took a hot bath and hung anything wet on either the towel warmer in the bathroom or the radiator in my room.  Nothing was too soaked so it all dried quickly.  I am really happy that I have my lined rain pants and the waterproof shoes because I think if I was soaked through I’d be really miserable. 

Dinner tonight was a superfood salad (quinoa, butternut squash, spinach, cranberries and a yogurt dressing), the same hake entree as last night (the other choice was pork or a garlic gnocchi, and I didn’t think garlic in a van all day tomorrow was a nice choice!) and sticky toffee pudding for dessert.  It was all really good.  Tonight I tried the 1881 Rafters gin in a martini.  It was billed as a smoky gin and I have to say I really didn’t like it.  I didn’t finish it and replaced it with the 1881 Rhubarb and Rose gin, which was a nice upgrade.  

Don and Karl had wanted to take us to a pub for some music tonight but all of us are tired and still not warmed up yet so it was off to bed instead.  Karl says tomorrow is a “biblical washout” as it’s officially the rest of Melissa hitting here, so he’s digging up some more rainy day stuff for us.

Onwards to the Higlands

I slept a lot better last night. It was quieter in my new room on the back of the building.  We were to be on the road by 10, so I was mostly packed last night and just had to do my yoga, shower and have breakfast (same again!) and I headed downstairs to wait for the group.

Don and our Glencoe-based local guide Karl picked up two vans and met us at the hotel.  We piled all of our gear (my duffel was hardly the biggest/heaviest!) into the back and off we went around 10:45. I rode shotgun with Don.  The hardest part was getting out of Edinburgh.  Once out of the city proper it was fairly easy driving, although I wasn’t doing it, I was the able navigator (which really meant just keeping an eye on Karl in his van!)

The skies would rupture with downpours in the blink of an eye and be gone again just as quickly.  We saw three rainbows in the space of about 45 minutes, and even got to see where they touched the ground!  No, none of us got out to check for the pot of gold.  Karl is being nice when he says this week’s forecast looks ‘mixed’.  We all know the remnants of Hurricane Melissa are knocking on the doorstep and whatever storm that just hit home is probably right behind that.  We’re to dress for rain tomorrow, so we’ll go out anyway.  But all that aside, what I saw of the Highlands today is beautiful.  A lot of the drive reminded me of route 2 in northern MA, which is the Mohawk Trail.  Winding, narrow roads lined with rivers and streams and waterfalls, and edged in the remains of fall’s foliage.  It is really pretty.

We got to a lunch stop at about 1 pm.  I had a cheese toasty and a chocolate raspberry shortbread dessert with a bottle of water.  The stop had cafe/restaurant, gift shop, liquor store and outdoor gear outfitter, so quite the mishmash of things to see and spend money on, but it was good to get out and stretch our legs.

We got back into the vans and arrived at our Glencoe home, the Isles of Glencoe hotel.  It reminds me in a way of Fawlty Towers, although not so faulty and without the misadventures of Basil and Sybil (RIP to Prunella Scales who only recently passed away!). It’s quiet, clean and somewhat newly renovated, right on the lake.  The view out my window is of the lake and a boat moored up right beneath me.  The peaks of the Highlands lie beyond that.  I will do fine with this location!

We dropped bags and dressed a bit warmer and headed out for our first bit of photography at a deserted church in Ballinchulish.  It too was right on the lake and has a small cemetery around it.  I told Don I’m here to work on my weak points, which is to say landscape photography and a lack of a creative eye.  He gave us some tips on not trying to capture the entirety of the site, but find a piece of something that interests us and focus on that.  I was interested in the living things among the dead.  The different colored lichen on the stones, the sprig of fern finding a will to live among a dilapidated tile roof.  And then I found some birds in the nearby bushes.  And off I went.  I got four new life birds out of that stop, and was easily able to identify them by call or photo using my Merlin app.  A thirst for wildlife is never far from of my blood.

We met just before dinner for drinks.  Don convinced me to try 1880 Gin, which there are several types of.  I went for their navy strength to start and it was pretty good.  I think maybe it was a bit overhyped today when we were talking about it, but it was a nice Gina.  I want to try their smoky gin, which I’ll have the chance to do over the next couple of days.  

Dinner was a three course set menu from which we could choose one of three options for each course.  I had the goat cheese and beet salad for the starter, hake with white wine sauce and roasted potatoes, and a slice of salted caramel tart.  All of it was very tasty and it was a nice meal with the group.

Karl and his daughter Inna gave us a slide show of the locations he has scoped out for us this week, the weather, and the plan for each day.  I’m excited at the prospect of it all, weather depending, but also of the potential for how much I can learn.  Fingers crossed!

Slower Day

Friday, October 31

Today was a bit of mental and physical regrouping, which was long overdue and very welcome.  I got up early-ish and had hoped to run on the treadmill before heading out for the day, but it wasn’t to be.  I got the pass to the gym and there was already someone on the only treadmill.  I didn’t want the bike or elliptical, my whole purpose was not to lose the progress I had made with my PT for my foot.  Never mind, I pivoted, showered, had breakfast (same as yesterday) and headed out.

Today was also the day I had to change rooms.  The photo tour doesn’t include the castle view room, so I was able to switch to an interior room further down the hall from my original room.  It may end up being better, although smaller, because it’s not on the front of the building overlooking all the bars (and tonight being Halloween, probably a good thing) and I like that the shower is not the huge climb out tub but rather a walk in shower.  I can also open these windows a hair so it won’t be so warm.  The move taken care of, off I went.

The only thing I had left that I wanted to do here was to visit the National Gallery specifically to see its Vermeer.  It was about a 15 minute walk up and over (literally) the Royal Mile to the museum. I stowed my coat and my bag in a locker and headed to the European collection.  There were some surprising little gems, like a da Vinci I hadn’t seen and a gorgeous couple of Botticellis.  I’d forgotten that Sargent’s Lady Agnew (which I think I’ve seen 4-5 times at home in the last few years!) lives here when she’s not on loan for an exhibition.  There were a couple of interesting atypical Monets, one that was all shades of black, which was surprising.

I wrapped my visit up around noontime.  I decided I’d climb back up to the Royal Mile and try to do some photography.  The weather was a bit overcast but it was comfortably warm even with the wind.  Ultimately though most of my attempts were thwarted with the densely packed crowds.  I’m not sure why today was so much worse, maybe being Halloween? I’m not sure.  I didn’t love it and was growing frustrated so I started heading back toward the hotel.

At the top of the mile, I came across two street performers who had birds of prey (a tawny owl and a raven) they were showing off to crowds, and letting visitors hold one for a price.  The obvious animal welfare concerns aside, I was blown away by how gorgeous the owl was.  I have never seen anything like it, a gorgeous pattern and the most intense orange eyes.  I almost felt as if it couldn’t possibly be real.  

I finally gave in and was back at the hotel just before 2.   I was desperate to work out to fight off the anxiety of the crowds and just be by myself doing what I need to do to relax.  I managed to get into the hotel gym and no one else was around, so I did a run, a good session on the foam roller and some yoga and felt human again.  So after a shower and a quick protein bar and a gin and tonic at one of the pubs across the street, I was ready to meet the rest of the photography group and head out to dinner.

There are 11 of us total.  I don’t recognize anyone from previous walks I have done, but many have been with Don on other walks/trips.  He took us to a pub about a mile away.  It was a fairly good meal.  I got fish and chips and felt the fish I had at the hotel the other night was probably better.  We walked back and I caught up with the nice gentleman who works the reception desk before heading up to bed.  I’ll wrap up my blog and watch more safari tv.  We need to be ready to drive on to Glencoe by 10 am tomorrow, so I’m planning to get up to do yoga first.  I’m mostly packed since I had to move this morning anyway.  Not the most exciting day after how good yesterday was, but still a decent day on vacation!

One of those days

Thursday, October 30

Sometimes on vacation I just have one of those days when it’s happening I just know it’s going to go down as epic, a day I will want to relive again.  Today was one of those days.  And I’m mentally noting to myself how lucky I am that it happened.

I slept reasonably well, although I did wake up to Safari Live a few times, which I was on when I fell asleep each time.  I felt human again when I woke up (although my Garmin was telling me I still needed to recover from my stressful day yesterday…always an excuse with that thing!)

I was up and showered and headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, which was included with my room rate.  I had smoked salmon (amazing!) with scrambled eggs and sourdough toast (with orange marmalade, is there really anything better?). I also wanted more protein to help me get through the big walking day ahead of me, so I also had greek yogurt with berry compote and a couple pieces of fresh pineapple.

The morning was sunny with blue sky and no rain to be seen, so I wanted to do most of my photography and walking around today.  I did that and then some!

I grabbed a cappuccino at the coffee shop next door and headed to the Ross Fountain which is in Prince’s Street garden and right underneath the castle.  I have photos from there on my last couple of trips and was hoping for some nice foliage there, which I think I got.

I then made my way about 15 minutes further along to Dean Village, which is a hamlet within Edinburgh which used to be a milling village (~800 years or so).  It’s been redeveloped and now is a quaint, but tourist overrun village.  It is really pretty and quaint but I feel bad for the residents who have all of us traipsing around their neighborhood.  I was there early enough that it wasn’t too thick with tourists but it was getting there when I was leaving.  

My next stop was back closer to my hotel, Greyfriar’s church yard.  It’s a small cemetery and church within the eyeline of the castle.  Apparently the author of the Harry Potter books came up with some of her character names by walking through this cemetery and reading the names on the stones.  That means a lot of fans are here trying to find them all.  But again, I think the timing of my visit and that this isn’t the most popular time of year to be here cut down on the worst of the crowds.

As it was approaching noon, I started walking down the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Gin Distillery where I had my gin making experience scheduled.  I grabbed another vegan sausage roll despite not being super hungry only because I wanted something in my stomach before I drank gin all afternoon.  I also stopped along the way and bought my sister and myself each a cashmere scarf in a typical tartan pattern.  I’d not been able to find my maternal grandmother’s tartan but I think that may be because her family was from Glasgow, not Edinburgh.  So I chose different tartans for us.

And finally my long awaited gin experience.  This was just so amazing and I learned a lot.  It was run by two guys who work for the distillery.  Basically we spent the first 45 minutes or so reviewing dozens of botanicals, most in plant form but some in liquid too.  The guys helped us choose what might pair best together and also made sure we were making a balanced gin.  They had made the base alcohol spirit with the juniper and other base botanicals overnight, we were just choosing and adding the flavors that would make it shine.  In the end, I chose bitter orange, basil, cassia bark (smelled like cinnamon) and lapsang which is like a smoky pepper.  Once we helped set up our still, we went off for a tour of the distillery.

All of the products are made here in one of three stills.  The largest can turn out 2500 bottles a day.  They create about 300,000 total  annually, of all flavors and including their non-gin liqueurs.  It was pretty impressive.

We went back to the gin lab and did a tasting of 5 of their gins (Classic, Seaside, Cannonball (navy strength), Old Tom and Strawberry Pink Peppercorn).  They were all pretty good but I think I liked the Cannonball the best.  I was surprised to see that they still have my favorite Fever Tree tonic here, which has been discontinued at home.  The guys gave me a good idea though, they said I could make my own tonic with a soda stream or something similar.  That’s something to consider!!

Once our gins were ready, they cut them with water to fall well below the 90% ABV that they were.  They had a tool to measure the alcohol in the gin which let them know how much water needed to be added to get it closer to 45%.  Then we capped and sealed the bottles with wax.  But not before we got to try our gins, and mine was pretty good.  Granted I was pretty gin weary at that point, but I liked how it tasted at least in the sample!  We also got small tastes of what the gins tasted like at each phase of the nearly hour long distillation.  Eye watering strong and varied strength of botanicals as the process continued. Very interesting.

Too soon the gin experience was over and I was still standing!  It was a lot of fun with a fun group of like minded gin aficionados.

I headed back to the hotel, dropped my stuff off and quickly ate an impossible burger and fries at the hotel restaurant again because I’d purchased a ticket to see Depeche Mode M movie down the street.  It will only be played worldwide this week and I’ll miss it at home.  It was a nice treat and of course a great movie, I’m glad I went.

As I walked back to my hotel I reveled in the thought of a dry, sunny day here filled with many of my favorite things, photography, gin, music, retail therapy, walking and being outdoors.  I don’t think I could ask for anything more.  Tomorrow I’ll try to fit in a museum or two maybe!

The getting there

Wednesday October 29th 

No one said first class is promised good sleep, I suppose.  Let’s just say I’m not a Virgin fan.  I’d like to say I got no sleep, as that is how it feels right about now, but it also seemed like the flight went by much faster than the 6 hours it turned out to be.  But my Garmin tells me “no discernible sleep” for last night and I have a body battery of 7.  So Virgin has some ‘splaining to do.

I won’t belabor it, as much as that is not like me.  But I told the flight attendant I wanted to sleep.  No meals. No drinks. I laid down the mattress, pulled up the blanket and went horizontal the minute we were at 10,000 feet.  Because the flight was so short (50 minutes shorter than usual) I wanted to hit it hard.  I had no alcohol so I could sleep.  And yet, it did not happen.  Woken once for a meal I didn’t want, again when the sliding door on the pod across from me was stuck shut and they brought the construction team in to loudly deconstruct the whole thing, and again for a breakfast I said I didn’t want.  And it was bumpy pretty much of the fight, so constant ding-dinging of the bell.  So yeah, I was not pleased.  I’m hoping there’s a customer survey at the end of this somewhere.

I then had a 3 1/2 hour layover in Heathrow, and even having to change terminals didn’t eat up that much time at all.  I stopped and had breakfast at the Giraffe Bar in terminal 3; the best avocado toast of my life with poached eggs and iced coffee.  A full flight to Edinburgh loaded fairly quickly and it was 55 minutes in the air.  We landed in full sun and blue skies and it managed to stay that way most of the afternoon.

Since I was hauling a 30 pound duffel, I opted to skip the far less expensive public transport and grabbed a taxi to the tune of $60 (which is really a bargain since my Ubers to Peloton in NYC are regularly over $100!) and I arrived at Apex Grassmarket Hotel by 1:15.  A quick shower and I was out walking the streets by 2:00.

I splurged on a castle view room here and it lives up to its name, with a full on view of Edinburgh Castle right from the bed.  That’s pretty nice.  The Vennel, a steep staircase up from Grassmarket, is right around the corner from the hotel.  It has an Instagram-worthy view of the castle from the top of the steps, so I headed there first while the sun and sky were still behaving.  I then looped back through Grassmarket (down those Vennel steps) and up another very long set up steps to the Royal Mile.  It runs from the castle down to Holyrood Palace.  I popped up to see the castle then walked about 3/4 of the Royal Mile, realizing the further down I went, the more of an uphill slog I’d have on the return.

My next stop was Greggs for the vegan sausage rolls.  My sister turned me on to these ahead of my trip to Brighton last year.  They are essentially pigs in a blanket.  And ridiculously good and ridiculously cheap.  Two vegan sausage rolls and a water was less than 5 pounds.  I then meandered around a bit more, stopping into a bunch of wool/cashmere shops for a scarf (I never decided on one) and LO AND BEHOLD A GIN SHOP!

Yes, I stopped, and yes I got samples.  They are all locally produced so I’ve never had them before.  The owner was willing to keep pouring me samples as long as I stood there.  With jet lag and only two sausage rolls in me since breakfast, I went easy but have earmarked two I’d like to take home if my duffel allows on the back end of this trip.

By 4:00 the skies were growing thick and heavy with clouds and it was getting much colder (I’d estimate it started around 50 but was definitely in the lower 40s and windy once the sun went behind the clouds).  So I headed back towards the hotel.  I finally found an ATM (very hard to find now that almost everything is paid for with card or Apple Pay!) and returned to my room in time to take some photos of the castle at sunset.  My plan is to get up to the Vennel for sunrise tomorrow if the clouds allow for it.

I was trying to stay awake as long as I could, so rather than be tempted by a nap too early in the room, I went downstairs to have a G&T (Edinburgh Raspberry gin) in the hotel lobby bar while I pondered what to have for dinner.

Dinner ended up being in the restaurant at the hotel and it was quite good. I had fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding right in the shadow of the castle.  I also had a Rubi spritz, which was rhubarb and ginger gin with ginger ale and prosecco.  I could have that a few more times!

I got back up to my room and the castle was floodlit now that it was dark (sunset at 4:40!) so I set up my tripod and remote control and took some night shots of the castle.  Might as well make use of the location!

I dozed for a while and woke just before midnight so am flipping through tv and have found a “Safari Live” show and they are in the Mara on game drives and have found one of Nashipae’s daughters Nasieku, and they seem to think she is pregnant!  I’m so excited to see her. Small world…I guess I can try to get away from safari but it’s never far from mind!