We flew via Iceland. The flight from the US to Iceland is not far. We had spent a couple of days in DC, so that is where we flew from. It’s under 6 hours flight time. As we always do, we filled some water bottles once we were through security. The lid on one wasn’t tightened well and as I slept onthe plane it leaked all over my slippers (on overnight flights I put my shoes in the carryon and wear my slippers. I have learned I would rather arrive comfortable!). We landed in Iceland and I slid my slippers off as we were preparing to deplane. Great, I now have a wet slipper AND sopping socks. No biggie, I will just switch in the airport. Well, Iceland has a small airport. And it had been beautiful and warm in DC, so our coats were packed. It was around 2:30 am Iceland time. Temperatures were below freezing. We deplaned to the tarmac. The wind was howling, it was dark, cold and we had to wait for a bus to take us to the terminal. What a welcome to the land of ice! No coat and wet feet!
It only rained for a few short minutes and for the rest of the day the sun shone and it stayed dry. Edinburgh Castle sits high on a hill, so the views that you get from there are sweeping. This is a picture taken of us facing the castle.
The sun with the wet surfaces made everything look shiny and new – even though this part of the city is hundreds of years old.
One of the things on our list that we were just too tired to do was taking one of the night underground tours. The Real Mary Close tours were ending just as we finished lunch and the night tours were going to be past our point of staying awake. Next time. If we go back again, we will give Edinburgh more time than we did on this visit.
Walking the Royal Mile. Bagpipes playing. Rain, Snow, Sun and Sleet. All in one day.
A “Close” is an alleyway. There are lots of them. Many of them provide a wonderful framed view of the other side.
When I moved to Australia a couple of years following my time in Scotland, I remember thinking that part of the city looked as if someone had taken Scotland and dropped it in Florida. Now – it makes me feel like I am walking through the land of Harry Potter. England looks a bit more genteel. Scotland looks….lived in.
Karisa in front of the coffee house where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book.
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