Welcome To Edinburgh...

We flew from Jacksonville, Florida to Chicago, Illinois where we would have a four hour layover. Hey, that's not an uncommon thing with international travel, but it can be a hassle sometimes. We grabbed some lunch and watch the world walk by, on its way to its connecting gate.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Terminal C...

Our first two full days in Edinburgh were spent in and around the city, on the "hop on/hop off" bus that I've become such a fan of. I did this in Dublin last year and in Rome last year and, I gotta' tell ya', if nothing else it beats the Hell out of paying for taxis. But it also takes you to some of the more popular sites, too, so it's definitely worth it. We opted for the two day ticket, which would allow us to take three different tour routes, for £24 per person.

The day we arrived, though, we took the bus into downtown after getting settled into our hotel rooms and resting from the trip. It cost a whopping £3.40  piece round trip. Neither Jessy or I slept very well on the flight from Chicago, so it was a most welcome nap. 

We may have gotten off the bus a bit too early, but it gave us the chance to walk around the area a bit. We soon found ourselves near St. Cuthbert's Church, with its ancient graveyard (or "kirkyard" in Scotland) overlooked by the looming Edinburgh Castle. Our visit on this first half day would be restricted to outside, as the opening hours for St. Cuthbert's, and the adjacent St. John's Episcopal Church, had long since ended.

One of the hundreds of massive tombstones in the graveyard of St. Cuthbert's...

Edinburgh Castle affords a 360° view of Edinburgh...

Jessy looking all fancy after our graveyard visit...

 

St. Cuthbert's, with Edinburgh Castle lit, high above, in the background...

After a while, we decided to go find a pub to grab a beer and maybe a bite to eat. Our search, primarily due to Jessy's due diligence, found us at Captain's Bar. 

Captain's Bar on South College Street in Edinburgh...

 

A small neighborhood bar in the college district, there was an obvious absence of Scottish millennials and no shortage of older Scots who were there enjoying the "one singer, one song" open mic kinda' thing they had going on. It was a lot of fun and, if you've not sat and listened to traditional Scottish or Irish music with a pint in your hand, brother, you haven't lived. It's an absolute blast and this night would prove to be no different. Captain's Bar had no food, but there was plenty of tasty, local brew to choose from.

Yours truly enjoying a  locally brewed Captain's Ale (Photo by Jessy Parr)...

As the pub didn't have food, we found a late-night shawarma stand that was serving up some amazing food, and very inexpensive...

Tasty schwaramas for a late night dinner...

As it was too late to get the bus back to the hotel, we opted for an Uber which, thankfully, are ridiculously plentiful in Edinburgh. The next two days would be spent in full "tourist mode" and we'd need to be well rested...