Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 - Page 67 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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You got some great views from the road going around it for sure! But I will be hiking up it some day in the future, because I'm crazy like that! Looks like a good challenge. Very nice that it's peaceful and quiet too.
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Tanya
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You got some great views from the road going around it for sure! But I will be hiking up it some day in the future, because I'm crazy like that! Looks like a good challenge. Very nice that it's peaceful and quiet too.
Well, I would like to go up it one day - it's just a case of finding a time when I'm fit enough with the chronic fatigue and my ankle's not playing up.
Great views from up there! Amazing having something like that so close to the bustle of a major city.
I was blown away by the views and how quiet it was. I think most cities do thankfully have something like that - Tuileries in Paris, there are many, many parks in London and of course Central Park in New York City. It's just they're not always on people's must-do lists, especially for a first time visit to a city...
Wednesday 21 June – part nine: “you need to try British cheesecake!”
We made our way back into the city… and into the traffic. Sigh.
We ended up going past the Edinburgh Film Festival. We’d seen this on the news and knew there was due to be a premiere. We didn’t spot anyone famous, but we spotted lots of people who’d obviously been invited all dressed up, and heading down the red carpet with the paparazzi there, which was pretty neat, and not the sort of thing you see every day.
We continued along the way, seeing more buildings, and I did my best with my shots, as there was a little light rain now…
We finally made it to Mari and Raleigh’s hotel…
… and I don’t think they were too impressed with it, as it was quite a distance out from the city centre. Mari said on the website they’d said it was a “couple of minutes” from the Royal Mile. I can tell you it wasn’t. It was about a mile away! As they said, they’ll be taking a lot of taxis after tomorrow when we leave. If we’d have been with them the whole time, it would’ve been perfect, but we’re not. I did say to Mark that I was surprised by her choice, but by the time I’d looked at it, she’d already booked at it.
We headed back to the B&B, and only had about an hour there before we had to head out again, we’d spent so much time stuck in traffic.
We found Mari and Raleigh in the lobby and headed downstairs to the restaurant…
We put our orders in, and then I finally told Mark what this year’s birthday and Christmas present is. I was tempted to do it earlier in the trip, as when we’d stayed at Mallaig, he’d started to talk about always wanting to go to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo that takes place each year, and guess what we’re doing? I booked the tickets at the end of last year, and flights. We fly up on a Saturday morning, and back the following night, seeing the 10:30pm show. It’s the last of the season, and comes with extended fireworks. It’s also a Bank Holiday weekend, which means that we have the Monday off, so that all worked out perfectly, and I think it’s fair to say he was very pleased with that! Mari did ask if I’d got four tickets, so they could come back… sadly not.
Anyway, on to dinner… for appetiser, Mark had the crispy calamari with garlic mayo…
I went for the selection of mature Scottish cheeses, with grape and oatcakes, although I had to ask for the chutney to be left off, as it contained apples.
For entrée, I had the wild mushroom risotto served with truffle oil and parmesan shavings. If you think it looks a bit on the small side, that’s because I went for the starter size portion.
Mark had the rack of lamb with roast potatoes, asparagus wrapped in bacon, and jus:
When it came to dessert, I spotted something immediately on the menu that I knew I wanted, and went for that. It was the honey cheesecake with raspberry coulis…
Now we’d been telling Mari she needed to try British cheesecake, as it’s just so different to American cheesecake, and she decided tonight would be the night. She really enjoyed it… so much so that she polished it off in record time, and Raleigh didn’t even get to taste it! When Mari said that she enjoyed it so much, she could easily have another slice, we said why not get another one, so Raleigh could try it as well, and they did – and I tell you that one disappeared at record speed too!
Mark had the…. Yep, no surprise whatsoever here, the sticky toffee pudding with caramel ice cream and toffee sauce, and it was quite the wedge that turned up! His excuse was “tomorrow I’ll be south of the border”… yes, we will, but some places still serve it up, so I’m sure it won’t be the last time you get to eat it.
It was a very bittersweet meal, as it would be the last dinner we’d be having with Mari and Raleigh. None of us could believe our fun together was almost at an end.
We can’t give value for money scores for this, as Mari and Raleigh picked up the tab.
Now during the meal we’d had the thunderstorms that had been forecast, and wow, what lightning and thunder we saw! Thankfully, by the time we felt, the rain was a lot lighter, which was a relief, as we’d had to park the car a little way up the road.
We got back to the B&B and literally within about a minute of getting back into our room, the rain was torrential, and was absolutely pounding down on the roof, to the point where we couldn’t actually hear the TV at one point! Oh well, better now than during the day.
The weather today was dry with some rain, some cloud and a little bit of sunshine, and a lot of humidity and temperatures in the high 60s. The best thing today was the views from Arthur’s Seat. The worst thing today was all the traffic in Edinburgh. Today we tried visiting Falkland Palace And the result was it was quite the place with way more to see than I originally thought! The most magical moment today was getting to pet a Highland coo!
Next: how did you manage to spill that everywhere?
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Some great meals the last couple of days and Scone Palace looks pretty amazing as well as the gardens. The rain was incredible and can't believe how long the construction projects are taking in Edinburgh.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Some great meals the last couple of days and Scone Palace looks pretty amazing as well as the gardens. The rain was incredible and can't believe how long the construction projects are taking in Edinburgh.
No, that's a bit scary, isn't it? Sadly we do seem to have a history of projects taking longer than they should in this country.
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Nice dinner, but sad it’s your last one as a group.
That did put a real damper on things. I couldn't believe how quickly our time together had flown by. At least we know we'll be seeing them again in September 2018 (now less than a year away! ) on the NYC to Quebec City cruise on the Magic and we'll also be seeing them in March 2019 too.
Between this TR and your other one, I’m really liking Edinburgh. But without traffic. I see hotel location is key - good to know.
Your dinner looked wonderful and now I feel the need to find British cheesecake! I shall find it. Or make it myself with an authentic recipe!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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But I will be hiking up it some day in the future, because I'm crazy like that! Looks like a good challenge. Very nice that it's peaceful and quiet too.
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As they said, they’ll be taking a lot of taxis after tomorrow when we leave. If we’d have been with them the whole time, it would’ve been perfect, but we’re not. I did say to Mark that I was surprised by her choice, but by the time I’d looked at it, she’d already booked at it. 
I booked the tickets at the end of last year, and flights. We fly up on a Saturday morning, and back the following night, seeing the 10:30pm show. It’s the last of the season, and comes with extended fireworks. It’s also a Bank Holiday weekend, which means that we have the Monday off, so that all worked out perfectly, and I think it’s fair to say he was very pleased with that! 
Thankfully, by the time we felt, the rain was a lot lighter, which was a relief, as we’d had to park the car a little way up the road. 
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