Sunset over Edinburgh

Notice the title?  SUNSET over Edinburgh.  That would imply that there was sun to set.  That's saying alot for Edinburgh, Scotland, where the locals will tell you that they rarely see the sun.

So, we were once again lucky to have a brilliant blue sky today to accompany the sun.  The weather was cold, but not very windy, so it was pretty comfortable walking around the town.

I decided to take advantage of days like these and explore outdoor activities while the weather cooperated.  So, today I took the train into Edinburgh and headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens.  It was quite a hike, but walking through Edinburgh's New Town is a pleasant experience in itself. And there was the added excitement of spotting a memorial to James Maxwell of "Maxwell Equation" fame.

It might seem a bit crazy touring gardens in the middle of winter, but with free admission, what did I have to lose?  I was surprised to see some of the very old trees totally uprooted.  A week or two ago, Edinburgh experienced high winds in excess of 100 miles per hour.  We had noticed damage in other areas, but the wrath of this storm was obvious by the number of old trees laying on their sides with the roots exposed.  There was no rhyme or reason as to which trees suffered from the storm.  It was as if someone went through and picked random trees while others were spared. As a result, quite a few areas of the gardens were blocked off for safety reasons.  But there were plenty of paths to walk along and admire the beauty of this special place.

One item of interest was the Queen Mother's Garden, a memorial to Great Britains's Queen Mother.  There is a stone pavilion at the end of the garden which holds a plaque in memory to her.  The interior is most unusual with the ceiling being constructed out of pine cones and the walls being inlaid with sea shells.

I don't know who came up with such an unusual idea, but someone obviously had a LOT of time on their hands in putting that together!

While walking along the paths, I spotted some more of those unusual trees that my friend Jennifer informs me are called  Monkey Puzzle Trees.  Here you see a little one and one that is obviously much older.

There was quite a lot of activity along the paths in the garden, as the locals come out to enjoy the tranquility.  One man approached me and began to ask me what had happened to a particular plant that usually grew in one of the gardens.  Of course, there'd be no way I would be privy to that information!

Soon, I realized that I needed to move on from the trees and songbirds and make my way back to the Royal Mile where I had set up a meeting point with Marty.  The girl at the desk showed me a much quicker route back to the Old town.  It involved a lot of uphill hiking, but it was worth it when I arrived at my destination much quicker than I had anticipated.

We toured "The Real Mary King's Close" which took us under the streets of Edinburgh and showed us what life would have been in the 16th and 17th centuries in Edinburgh.  The tour was quite enlightening, and the guide was very entertaining.  Marty and I were one of the few English speaking people on the tour, so we could appreciate the obvious humor that was directed at us.

After the tour, we popped into the National Library of Scotland just to take a peek.  Then, we headed to the same restaurant where I had lunched yesterday. The waiter was kind enough to give us the seat next to the window.  Marty and I enjoyed a fabulous meal while watching a beautiful sunset over Edinburgh.  Certainly a memory not soon forgotten.