UK 2022

I woke up at 7:30 am, feeling hungry. I got up, took a shower, and headed to Caffe Nero to get breakfast and coffee for everyone. I got back here to the hotel, and realized I forgot my hot chocolate! Gwyn and I headed out about 10:00 am to head to Palace Of Holyroodhouse. Stopped at a Caffè Nero for a luxury hot chocolate and a frappe for Gwyn. The barista was a bit tired since he had a long shift yesterday and had not had breakfast. We arrived at Holyrood about 11:30 am, so we were going to pop into the Scottish Parliament, but it was closed on Sunday. So, Gwyn was starting to feel a bit shopping starved, so we wandered back up to the shops. We found some of the cute ducks, and some magnets. Our plan was to go down the Royal Mile, stop at Holyrood Palace, then go up to Arthur's Crag.

We wandered back to the Palace, and Deb and Joe were waiting. We headed over to get into the Palace. I could not find our tickets. A lady handed them to me, as I had dropped them. Thank you! Picked up the headphones and audio guide, and went in. It was beautiful. Many rooms for official state visits by the Queen. She had some of her outfits on display. I thought there would be more. Saw Mary Queen of Scots room where one of her guards was stabbed 57 times. Very small winding stairs to get up to her chambers. Gwyn’s toe was bothering her, so we decided that Arthur's Crag was out. We went over to the Cafe by the Palace. We got the tomato basil soup with bread, water, and a gluten free chocolate cake. We ate outside, after waiting a bit for a table. A lady was just sitting and waiting, and gave up her seat.

After the quick lunch, we went to the gallery that had the paintings from Windsor Castle. Beautiful.

Joe met a Scottish veteran outside and chatted him up. He did not want to go to Belfast when he reinlisted, but his colonel got him into the US Army. He now pays 50 pounds a month to live in the Scottish home for soldiers. Really nice. The UK seems to take better care of their veterans.

As we walked back up the Royal Mile, we stopped in a few more shops. The Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe did not have as much Christmas stuff as they might. Neither did the other Christmas shop. One of the shops had the sweatshirt that I liked, but only had a small. I waited as the shopkeeper waited on a Scottish gentleman who wanted a full kilt setup. She did not have a medium as she had more boxes that had come in to look through. She suggested we go to another shop up to the right after the light. We looked for it, and could not cross to the other side since there was some construction. Back up and then across. Joe and Deb headed back to the hotel while we went down the street. They did not have the sweatshirt, but had a couple of other shirts. Gwyn bought them.

We stopped at a Pret A Manager for a water and a bathroom break. Saw an El Camino driving up the Royal Mile. Got back to the hotel a little after 4:00 pm for a foot rest.

Off to Cold House Restaurant for our 5:30 pm reservation. Joe and I had mocktails and the ladies enjoyed their margaritas. The steak was good. Deb did not care for her salty thin hamburger. We tried to go to Mary's Milk Bar for ice cream, but they were closing. The kind lady sent us up around the corner to Alandas Gelato which was amazing. We saw Greyfriars Kirk, the church where Greyfriars Bobby is buried, and walked through the graveyard. Back towards our hotel we stopped and sat to watch people. There was a cool breeze which was nice. The bed felt good when we got back.