Edinburgh Castle (and haggis)

Morning dawns early in May in Scotland, but we didn't mind at all. If we can't sleep with lightened skies, we can relax in bed.

We found a restaurant near the Royal Mile that served a "full Scottish breakfast" and who knows what that actually means, but since we were taunted by our children the night before because we wouldn't try haggis, we decided that maybe we'd have to bite the bullet (or haggis).

This is a "full Scottish breakfast", as defined by the eatery. (We got there before it opened and sat outside at a table to wait. They gave us menus to peruse while we waited the few minutes.) Baked beans, toast, mushrooms, a half of a small tomato, thick cut bacon, a sausage, haggis (under the bacon) a friend egg on top of a tattie biscuit (mashed potato pancake).

Jim was first to take a bite. He didn't die or even choke or make a face. I tried it too, but did not get pictorial evidence.

Haggis uncovered. It wasn't that bad. It tasted like a finely cut hash.

After brekky, we walked up the Royal Mile, which at times got a bit steep. Others were making their way up as well.

I thought, oh, lots of people are waiting to get in. But guess what, a lot of people didn't have tickets and if you did not get your ticket ahead of time, you did not get in. We heard many people being turned away. I AM SO GLAD WE BOUGHT ALL OF OUR ADMISSIONS AHEAD OF TIME. As we were walking up to the entrance, a couple of men stopped Jim to comment on his Twins hat. Turns out this couple were from MN and on a tour around the British Isles. They didn't have tickets so weren't going in, but we chatted for a few minutes.

I like guards in kilts.

Put a beard on this guy and he's the spitting image of Graham Chapman's King Arthur

a map for reference

Walking along the fortress wall to get to the lookout platform. It rained a little bit during this walk and I thought we'd be all day under our brollies, but it didn't last very long.