Edinburgh

Our full day in Edinburgh was a wonderful day of just the two of us (amid an endless stream of people) which was nice to have our own schedule after having been with an organized tour. We slept in, enjoyed leisurely coffee, had gentle oats for breakfast, then hopped a bus to the laundrette. We happily paid them to do our laundry and pick it up by 1pm, so we took a long walk around the King Arthur’s Seat mountain, then along the Royal Mile. Once it started to rain in earnest, it was time for lunch anyway, so we had some yummy cheese toasty and steak pie at a pub, The Albanac, that wasn't busy. It was a nice rest after the hike around the hill and up the mile. Then we went to find out where the location of our mysterious next reservation at 5pm would be, called the Department of Magic, which was actually quite centrally located. Then back to pick up our wonderfully clean and folded laundry! The laundry curse has been broken!

We then enjoyed a little leisure time in the hotel putting our clean clothes away and relaxing until it was time to leave for our appointment at the Department of Magic! This was something I had been wanting to do, it’s just a fun little place based on Harry Potter where you make up cocktails as if you’re in Potions Class. They give you a little Spellbook on how to make your potion, and with the dry ice effect, it was really fun! You can also book these Escape Rooms for a more involved experience, but we just wanted to see what it was like. I’ve been making my own version of what foods I might make for a Harry Potter themed thing, so it was cool to see what they did. John did the Dragon’s Inferno potion, which was a red concoction of cinnamon whisky and blood orange juice, and I did the Love Potion No. 9, which was gin and butterfly pea tea. They bring you a tray of potion bottles with the precisely measured ingredients and funny instructions, like one of John’s instructions said he had to arm-wrestle the person to his right, and mine had me pinching the person next to me and jumping up and down 4 times. I was astonished at how they were able to make the butterfly pea tea colorless for the potion ingredient bottle, because it normally is an indigo color when you brew it, and it will turn bright violet when mixed with lemon juice. Clearly, a chemist was consulted or is part of their development team. I had a great time feeling magical and full of ideas for making the condo into Hogwart’s Castle when we get home. 

We then went walking to Carlton’s Hill walk and took some photos of the scene overlooking a grey, cloudy Edinburgh. It was getting dark fast, so we navigated the very steep paths down before we lost the light. We were ready for bed at 8:30! Though I laid in bed for a long while before being able to fall asleep, I ended up finally nodding off. We both had a great nights sleep. 

Today we are checking out of The Parliment and heading up to Aviemore! It will be a 3 hour train up there, but tomorrow we get to meet the Cairngorms Reindeer Herd! This is the crowning jewel of this trip for me and I’m so excited!! They are trying to reintroduce wild reindeer to Scotland, because they used to live here before they went extinct on the continent (along with many other species of animals) and I can see why they would thrive here. They eat lichen, which grows on everything here! I can’t wait to meet these wild, gentle sweet creatures!!!