Scotland - Day 2

Woke up at 6:30. I find it simply appalling to wake up so early on vacation. Scotland is an hour behind Germany so that contributes to the early to rise and we have kids that are used to getting up at 7:00 so that just solidifies the deal.

After milling around the flat for a bit, I made breakfast, cleaned up and then we headed off to the Edinburgh Castle. We took a leisurely walk to the castle stopping at a few points of interest along the way. Once inside the castle gates, we spent a few hours there and then another hour or so at the castle gardens where the boys played around while Matt and I poured over maps and tour books trying to determine what we wanted to do this weekend.

We set back out on foot walking though the city via a new route we hadn't taken yet. We ended up roaming through an old cemetery, walking up a hill overlooking the city, and making our way back down to the flat in time to hear a little ruckus going on over at the Holyrood Palace. Our flat is just across the street from the Palace so I headed over to see what was going on. People were pulling up in taxis, getting cleared by security, and then entering into the Palace in formal attire while being serenaded by bagpipers. Formal attire for Scottish people means, none other than kilts! I was quite pleased with my paparazzi shots through the Palace gate. I still don't know what was going on there but it was cool none the less.

We made our way to a little Mexican restaurant near the flat. We were very excited to get some Mexican food. It was good but a little disappointing. We miss good old fashioned Californian version of Mexican food.

Here we are back at the flat, planning our day tomorrow and settling in for the night. As we walked through the city today Matt and I kept telling each other how much we liked it here. It is truly fabulous.