Day 9 - New Itinerary, Old town.

With our bus debacle and missing our day in York, we decided to forgo our day trip to Stirling and instead stay in Edinburgh. We slept in a bit, and our travellers had to choose between a lovely walk along the river Leith and then visit to the Botanical Gardens, or a hike up Arthur's Seat, a volcanic peak rising in the middle of the city to over 800 feet above sea level. Eight choose the leisurely stroll down the river, while I led 15 up the hill. The river walk got rave reviews, but my comments will be limited to the climb I was on.

By 10 am, we had walked steady slope to get to the beginning of two trails, one gentle but longer, one steep but shorter. Everyone but two people took the steep route (it didn't hurt that some seniors climbed by as we discussed it), following narrow paths and climbing rock stairs until we got to the peak. I compared the climb to one in the Lord of the Rings, with only a little exaggeration. Notice the weather and we're all in t-shirts!

Not that we didn't need a few breaks,

but the views at the top were amazing!

The path down was much easier, and led us past the ruins of an old abbey from the 1400's.

After this it was into town for lunch and free time, followed by a ghost tour and supper. This felt like the last chance to get our souvenir needs taken care of as we're in St. Andrews tomorrow for our last day, but a few more museums and tours were hit as well.

And, as promised, a picture of some of the most "extravagant" souvenirs I've seen purchased: