We hiked the 822 feet up to the top of Arthur's Seat this morning. It's the largest hill just on the edge of the city, and it provides a 360-degree view of the city of Edinburgh and the city's port on the Firth of Forth. Chuck's pointing to the peak in the first pic. Took us about 45 minutes or so to get to the top. Other pics are the view on the way up and from the top. You can see the ocean in the background (it's actually the estuary bay).
We (well, me) picked up 2 new birds along the way - a Kestrel (related to our own American Kestrel) being harassed by a mob of carrion crows, and a Buzzard (the most common hawk in the UK, not vultures which we Americans sometimes refer to as buzzards).
Hit a pub for lunch before taking a city bus across town to wander around in the Royal Botanic Garden. Beautiful spot, and we had a nice stroll. Back to the hotel to nurse our feet blisters, then dinner.
Tonight the city celebrated the end of its International Festival with a concert and fireworks display. The Edinburgh Castle - high atop the oldest city hill - served as the launch site for the fireworks display, so the admiring throngs could watch the display from practically anywhere in the city. Last year, a quarter of a million people attended. It's Europe's largest fireworks display. So it is a big deal that shuts down all the nearby roads and brings lots of people out into the streets. Not us! We had a perfect view from our hotel window, and the concert was broadcast on a local FM station so we experienced it without needing to head back outside!
Tomorrow is a day trip to Stirling Castle...
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