No haggis in sight.

Didn't get quite an early start this morning. But we made it to Starbucks for some muffins and coffee before walking up the "Royal Mile" to the Edinburgh Castle. On the way up the hill, we got slightly sidetracked by the Folk Music store and picked up two new CDs.













We went up to the castle and walked around for a few hours. It was cold, but no snow today! We got the audio guides and wound our way to the top of the castle, which is up on the top of an old volcano. The views were incredible, from everywhere throughout the castle.











We had lunch at the castle (we both had a salad and some butternut squash soup with these little corn, chice, and chili pancakes. The soup really hit the spot today! After lunch, we tourned some of the exhibits on the prisoner of war quarters, and the prison within the castle. We also went into the military musuem before heading back towards town. We stopped in a couple of shops. I got a bracelet. There was also a goodwill sort of store on the main road specifically to provide funds for "pets in need of vets." They had some other stuff in there, and we picked up some mice for the kittens.

We walked some more before deciding we were tired and ready to sit down. We went for afternoon tea (shortbread for me, carrot cake for Greg) at a place called Always Sunday, then rested at the hotel for a while. We crossed the bridge to the "New Town" section and shopped for a little bit before ALL of the shops closed up at 6:00. We wandered for a while and found an Italian restuarant for dinner.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel with a quick stop at the only store still open -- the "99 pence" store. Greg finally found a pair of sunglasses, and I got a new pair, too, even though I didn't need them. (Hm, that's what happened when he found gloves yesterday, too.) We stopped on the bridge right next to the hotel (North Bridge) to get some night pictures of the castle, all lit up.

Tomorrow is another tour day. We're headed for Glencoe, the Highlands, and Loch Ness.