Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Yesterday’s rain brought today’s sunshine. It’s a beautiful day. The temps are in the mid 60’s, just a wisp of a breeze and bright blue skies.

After breakfast, Sue went over to the Surgeons Hall Museum. It is a medical museum with a leaning towards all things surgical. Scotland is where many medical procedures were initiated and also where chloroform for anesthesia was discovered. The abundance of corpses for medical training apparently made a big difference. I stayed behind to catch up on correspondence.

Surgeon’s Hall Museum

Sue returned a little fascinated and a little grossed out. In her words “there wasn’t one body part that they didn’t have in a jar”. I guess musket ball wounds are better read about than seen. I’m glad I stayed behind and enjoyed my gin!

Up to the room to clean up and rest. Watched a bit of the Grand Prix of Monaco; they really take it so seriously in Europe. I’m sure the sports pages will be full of stories tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon we went to the area of Leith. It’s located near the waterfront, not far from where the Britannia is berthed. The area, especially around the river, is so charming.

We had dinner at a pub called “The King’s Wark”. This is a place that has been in existence for nearly six hundred years. It was originally the home of King James I dating back to 1434. It is also supposed to be haunted. I’m not so sure about that claim as the only spirits I saw were being drunk from glasses. Though it did seem like my glass kept emptying. Maybe?

We really enjoyed our meal. Sue had the ‘Sunday Roast’ while I had the beef stroganoff. We also shared a huge fishcake as an appetizer. Our server, though the place was full, would not rush us and kept telling us to relax and enjoy ourselves. So glad we chose to go there.

They called for a taxi for us and we got a great driver for the trip home. His driving skills were fine, but his personality was terrific. We were chatting about everything under the sun and the time passed by quickly. And his answer to the obnoxious tourists that ask him – “No, we wear nothing and let them swing to and fro”. You can guess the question.

Tomorrow is our last day in Scotland and “surprise” they are predicting rain and a chill in the air.