Scotland Forever

Every once in a while in life, you have a perfect day. Everything goes your way, the sun shines, the birds sing, your heart is light- Friday was one of those days.

It was the perfect last day in Scotland. I am still on cloud nine about it.
So, we started the day by hopping on the bus and heading for Prince's Street. The National Gallery is free to enter ( so is the one in London), and absolutely wonderful. We really took our time and savored the gallery, that being said, there is no way to really see every painting.

I am not a huge art person, I like art, but until today I can't say I had a great appreciation for it. We were able to see works by Rembrandt, Monet, Van Dyke, Rafael, Van Gogh and so many more. It was overwhelming but so enlightening.

After our time at the gallery we had a little snack in the park, did some people watching and waited for the One O'clock gun from the castle. Then it was off to Arthur's Seat.
The Palace of Holyrood sits right at the base of Arthur's Seat and we were passing we noticed that there were buses of military men in kilts obviously getting ready for... something. My official Scotland Kilt Count had been at 55 but I completely lost count with all these guys! We were excited and hoped that we would get done with our hike before they finished what they were doing.

The hike was a little more intense than I had maybe estimated, but the Views were stunning. Scotland is a seriously beautiful country.

Making it up to the tip top was a challenge, I was huffing and puffing, but it was so worth it for two reasons-#1 We climbed to the top of Arthur's seat! Talk about bucket list achievement! #2 after all the stair climbing, walking and hiking I have done on this trip, my bum should be looking fantastic, ha ha.

So this is where the day really started being magical. We were standing on top of Arthur's Seat, about to come down, when we hear the pipers playing down at the palace. It was such a great moment, hearing the music, looking over city. Just perfect.

We made our way down the mountain, enjoying the natural high that comes from nature and exercise. When we got close to the palace we could hear music playing again and decided to check it out. It turns out that Friday the Lord Chancellor was arriving at the palace so the occasion was marked by performance of the military bands... and we got to be there, right in front! I absolutely love bagpipe music, it is so powerful and hearing it like that nearly had me in tears.

We walked up the Royal Mile feeling like we had just won the lottery and a life time supply of Jammy Doughnuts. We did a little shopping and soaked up the fun going on around us.

It was about dinner time so we walked around for a bit looking for something appetizing, and that came in the form of a serve yourself shusi bar. I know, eating sushi in Scotland sounds a bit odd, but we Love sushi and this was one of those places where the conveyor belt take the little dishes right past your table and then you pick the ones you want- in other words, the laziest buffet ever :) It was yummy and way fun and we also had a great view of the city which was the cherry on top of a perfect day.

Of all the cities I have been to, in the US and UK, Edinburgh is my favorite.