Construction began on Edinburgh Castle in the 12th Century. We walked around it today but jet lag exhaustion prevented a climb up the hill.
We arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland mid morning today after the usual airline issues - flight delayed by more than an hour, and paltry explanations (bags were late getting loaded). The pilot assured us we were #7 for takeoff from Newark with wheels up in 10 minutes. In airline time, that turned out to be 40 minutes. My wife
But now we are happily situated in one of the world's unusual and beautiful cities, and within just a relatively few miles of legendary golf courses. Many of them are well known by the Scots but not by Americans; the nine-hole Musselburgh Links, for example, opened in the 18th Century and is at the edge of the city limits (my son is already plotting to convince my wife and daughter to go shopping so we can go out and play Musselburgh).
You feel the pull of golf in Edinburgh. We were greeted at The Knight Residence by the concierge, Charlie, who noted our golf bags, mentioned he was a golfer too, and we were off and running with excellent advice and golf talk from him. As we left our comfortable rental apartment for an afternoon walk, a gentleman carrying three irons and a putter walked by. There was no course in the immediate area, but chances are he had walked the couple of miles to a practice range or muncipal course.
Our three-hour walk about town included the Royal Mile, which starts at the base of the Edinburgh Castle. The Mile is loaded with shops - lots of cashmere and lambswool at prices that were not as ridiculously high as we would have presumed, but a full outfit that included a kilt was listed for about $1,000. We passed many pubs, and I was taken by how many of them advertised "free wi-fi." If the spirits move me, I just might file a story from one of them this week. We had a relaxing dinner in the beer garden behind one of the pubs on Grassmarket Street. The food lived up to the Scots reputation not pushing the boundaries of culinary artistry. Boring stuff, but you could not beat the atmosphere on a glorious day (70 degrees F, breezy, low humidity).
Our apartment is within close proximity of the famous Edinburgh Castle, and indeed we have a glorious view from our kitchen. The oldest building inside the enormous footprint of the Castle, a chapel, dates back to the 12th Century. We are looking forward tomorrow or Tuesday to checking out the Queen's Jewels on display there. The Knight Residence is clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced - that is, reasonable given the current exchange rates - but certainly a lot more expensive than your average Holiday Inn.
Cheers.
