Edinburgh onward!

We pulled in to Edinburgh Friday evening. Because it stays light until 10 - 10:30pm, Paul and I decided to take a drive through the city to plan out the next day. It was strange sitting in the "driver's seat" without a steering wheel! Edinburgh is a beautiful city.

Edinburgh Castle

We woke early and drove in only to realize that the city was barely waking up because it was a Saturday! We found a local joint and enjoyed a typical breakfast of beans, boiled tomatoes, black sausage, toast, eggs, haggis, gammon, sausage and tatties. Delicious. Because it was located by a hostel we enjoyed conversations with others from many places along with a guide from the House of Usher in Edinburgh.

We became fans of site-seeing buses in London and have tried to catch them in each city. They tend to hit all the major sites and all you to "hop on/hop off" when you want. Public transit is huge here and it makes sense to use it. Even with a car, we find parking it is best (especially with inexperienced driving). Edinburgh is a gorgeous city. The day we were there was a "heat wave" of 58! The folks were all out in tank tops and shorts. . .with me sporting a beanie and sweatshirt!

The castle is the focus of the city and is built high upon the rocks. Rocks supposedly formed millions of years ago...yeah right. Anyway, it is amazing the views they had of those approaching the castle. The history is long and rich. We were excited to visit St. Giles church, where John Knox is buried. He is under parking place #23 in the parking lot. The contrasts are incredible. Huge memorials and monuments everywhere and the great Reformer of Scotland is in a lowly parking lot. At least the Scots acknowledge him, we found the Brits want to just wipe the Reformation from their history.  Sadly, at the John Knox house we found the lady in charge was either ignorant or unwilling to disperse information. She was fairly hostile and definitely not a fan of John Knox! Can you imagine having someone who hates Americans giving the tour of the White House! Strange. Was a God-forsaken isle Great Britain is.

Leaving Edinburgh we headed up to the Trossachs. Beautiful country in the heart of Scotland's National Park. It was a bit of a drive on narrow roads, but well worth it. By the time we arrived it was rainy and cool. We settled into the condo and rested. It was the most relaxing Sunday I can ever remember! After all the rush of the last week and varying sleep schedules, we didn't wake up until 10am. We enjoyed a quiet Sunday with a extra reading (we are all reading John Knox...) and long walks. Dave and Sandy celebrated 35 years of marriage in Scotland with us:). A very different day for a couple of Pastors, a director and a mom!

We had originally planned on getting up and heading to Glascow for worship service but the extra rest was needed. It also happened to be another beautiful day. Warm enough that I even found myself in shorts and a t-shirt. The locals are thanking us for bringing the California sunshine...hope it lasts! It's still only 60-65 here but the sun makes a huge difference. We enjoyed the outdoors and enjoyed some rest before heading out Monday for Stirling.

Our place for the week! Not too shabby...

Inside the unit:

Paul enjoys cooking

 The kitchen was small, but served it's purpose well. They did not have a regular fridge, but a dorm size fridge. The strange thing was that each appliance breaker had to be flipped on for use. We didn't realize this at first and wondered why the fridge wasn't cold! Thankfully, the weather was cool enough nothing spoiled. Also, no coffee pots anywhere on this island! I thought they might have one here at the timeshare, if requested, but not so. So, instant coffee it is.

The living space was nice, but the big porch was where we usually ate - the view was incredible!

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2

More to come on the trip to Stirling!