Monday, July 15, 2019 Second Full Day In Edinburgh It’s My Birthday 🎂

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear Mark. Happy birthday to me.

I am 64 years old today and I feel every one of those 64 years. I have never celebrated my birthday away for the good old U S of A. It is kinda strange.

Thank you all for your emails, text messages and ecards wishing me a happy birthday. That was very nice. My sister Karen and my brother-in-law Mark sent me a birthday card a month ago so I could take it on this trip and open it on my birthday.

Very funny card. Thanks Karen and Mark.

Jan sent an especially funny ecard with three nuns singing happy birthday. So far this trip I haven’t encountered any nuns. I am afraid that once I start walking on the Camino, word will spread on the nun grapevine and they will grab their rulers and make all necessary preparations to ambush me at every church, monastery and convent along the Way. My knuckles are already starting to ache.

I celebrated my birthday by sacking in and then walking over to the Cathedral to thank God for all the gifts he has given me over the last 64 years and to light a candle and say a prayer for Anna and Garon.

This is Garon. He was a flat out amazing human being. They don’t come any better than Garon.

And this is my sister Anna.

She is the one sitting between my mother and father. Anna is so generous and warm hearted. She has more friends than there are stars in the sky.

After I left the Cathedral I walked up to Calton Hill.

Once I got to the top of Calton Hill I toured the Nelson Monument.

They had a nice museum at the base of the Monument and for 5 pounds I was allowed to climb the 143 stair spiral staircase up to the top of the Monument.

I have always been confused about the difference between a memorial and a monument. Don’t think you can Google this question and get a straight answer. “The main difference between a monument and a memorial is that a monument is a type of structure that is either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or is used for that purpose. A memorial is an object that serves as a focus for our memory of a person or event.” Now that is as clear as muddy water. Why do we have the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial? What makes one a memorial and one a monument? Who knows?

I took some pictures of Edinburgh from the top of the Nelson Monument.

Edinburgh Castle is the structure in the middle of this picture.

This is the Salisbury Crag. You can hike up to the point of the Crag where there is a beautiful view of Edinburgh.

This is the Palace of Holyroodhouse. More on the Palace later in this blog.

After I descended from the Nelson Monument I hiked around the perimeter of Calton Hill and took some photos.

That is the Firth of Forth in the distance.

It looks like they started to build the Parthenon on the top of Calton Hill and after 12 columns they gave up.

After Calton Hill I decided to have lunch.

What a delicious and healthy lunch.

After lunch I hiked over to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

This is the front gate.

This is the central courtyard.

They would not allow pictures inside the Palace, so you will need to trust me when I tell you it was flat out amazing. Tapestries the size of a basketball court hanging on the walls. Portrait galleries with paintings of every Scotsman who played a significant role in the history of Scotland. And rooms and rooms of beautiful furniture.

After the tour of the Palace I went on a guided tour of the gardens. This is our tour guide, Peter.

Some of the lovely flowers in the gardens.

This is a picture of the ruins of the old abbey.

The final stop on the tour was the Queens Gallery which is an art exhibit exploring the relationship between the English royal family and the Russian Imperial family.

You know how much I love history. My visit to the Palace was one of the highlights of my trip so far.

After I finished touring the Queens Gallery I decided to have a birthday dinner.

First course was a gin and tonic. It was Scottish gin and Scottish tonic.

Second course was focaccia and olive tapenade.

Third course was a caprese salad.

And the fourth and final course was a pan fried cod fillet served over a bed of mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach.

That’s it for today. I hope everyone had a great Monday.

Good night from Edinburgh.