Edinburgh, Scotland

We had yet another 4-day weekend due to the Labor Day holiday. As luck would have it, Becky was in Europe for business and would be arriving in Edinburgh on September, 2nd. So we booked flights with our unused tickets from last year and stayed with Becky at the Caledonian Hilton in the heart of Edinburgh.

Once we arrived we met up with Becky and took a walk through town then met up with one of her co-workers, Chris, who came into Edinburgh for a holiday weekend before heading to London with Becky.

The four of us had a great time. Edinburgh is a neat city, very much alive - especially at night when the pubs and streets are full of tipsy locals and tourists. Edinburgh is different than most European cities we've seen because the old city and the surrounds actually look old. Through most of Europe the buildings are very well maintained, annoyingly so since almost everywhere you go there's something covered in scaffolding. In Edinburgh, it is not hard to imagine what the city looked like in medieval times. This feeling was enhanced by the two tours we took through the vaults of the original city that now lay beneath Old Town. The well known Mary Kings Close tour takes you through a close (an alley) that was home to both the rich and poor of Edinburgh; where you get an up close look at the dark, cramped and dirty conditions of life. Our second tour went through a different section of the underground vaults, while our guide told ledgendary stories of ghosts that haunt the underground world beneath Old Town Edinburgh.

While we were above ground, we toured the Edinburgh castle and the Holyroodhouse Palace, shopped for whiskey, and climbed to Arthur's Seat - an extinct ancient volcano that sits on the edge of the city and offers great views of Edinburgh and the surrounding area. The castle is truly amazing; it sits on a hill dominating the city with sheer cliffs that form a very nice natural defense for a large portion of the castle. At the foot of the cliffs are the Princes Street Gardens, which many years ago was the North Loch and served as the dumping ground for pretty much anything you can imagine - it is no wonder that the grass and flowers in the gardens are so colorful.

As luck would have it, we were in Edinburgh during the annual arts festival and were treated to a fantastic fireworks show from the castle on Sunday night. It was a great weekend, made even better due to the company of friends. Enjoy the pictures. We're looking forward to Becky's wedding in Vegas later this month, and another weekend with friends.

-Ed