Edinburgh

I really love Edinburgh. The look of the city, the feel of the city, just the thought of being in this city makes me feel happy.  

I'm sitting in the Elephant House Cafe, where J. K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. It's a really cute little place with views of the Castle and pretty elephant decor. I think it's magical for Jasmine to be here where a large part of her childhood was created. And they have a pretty good vegetarian chili. 

We started out by climbing to the top of the Scott Monumnet. Those of you who know me will be surprised to hear that if you know anything about the Scott Memorial. It was constructed to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, and is 200 feet tall. The only way to reach the top is to climb up a very, very narrow staircase in the middle of the stone structure. I actually forgot about being claustrophobic and afraid of heights until I started up the staircase. It was rough going for a little while, but I made it to the top and the view was amazing. I'm so glad I had my Valor with me!  

After that we did a hop on/ hop off bus tour of the city. We didn't hop off until the end of the tour, though, so let's see what we end up doing next. There are so many interesting sites here that's it's really hard to choose. Tomorrow we are doing a bus tour up to Loch Ness, so this is our only day to explore Edinburgh.

So, it's many hours later now and we are beyond pooped. We ended up doing a walking history and ghost tour this evening. In one day I climbed up a very narrow tower and went into several small ancient vaults below the city. I think I faced all of my worst
feaI really love Edinburgh. The look of the city, the feel of the city, just the thought of being in this city makes me feel happy.  

I'm sitting in the Elephant House Cafe, where J. K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. It's a really cute little place with views of the Castle and pretty elephant decor. I think it's magical for Jasmine to be here where a large part of her childhood was created. And they have a pretty good vegetarian chili. 

We started out by climbing to the too of the Scott Monumnet. Those of you who know me will be surprised to hear that, if you know anything about the Scott Memorial. It was constructed to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, and is 2000 feet tall. The only way to teach the top is to clim up a very, very narrow staircase in the middle of the stone structure. I actually forgot about being claustrophobic and afraid of heights until I started up the staircase. It was rough going for a little while, but I made it to the top and the view was amazing. I'm so glad I had my Valor with me!  

After that we did a hop on/ hop off bus tour of the city. We didn't hop off until the end of the tour, though, so let's see what we end up doing next. There are so many interesting sites here that's it's really hard to choose. Tomorrow we are doing a bus tour up to Loch Ness, so this is our only day to explore Edinburgh. I think I faced all of my worst fears today and survived. Surely I must be stronger now, right?

I also discovered today that our family name of Chism (Chisholm) means "cheese meadow". Does becoming vegan and then traveling to Scotland only to discover that you are descended from the cheese meadow clan constitute irony?