July 8, 2008 - Edinburgh

We headed for the big city today. It's about an hour drive from Stirling.

We started the day at Dynamic Earth. It"s an interactive exhibit featuring the earth"s history and regions. It's not as extensive as COSI, but it was nice. We also had lunch there.

Then we hiked the Royal Mile doing a scavenger hunt for clues to a "Murder Mystery." The hunt led us us right to the gates of the castle.

Edinburgh Castle is massive. We climbed to the gun turrets and had an awesome view of the city. We also saw the Scottish royal jewels in the Royal House. It's unbelieveable that this massive structure is built into a cliff.

We had some time to do one last shot of shopping in Scotland before we leave tomorrow. We found some great shops along the Royal Mile. It looks like several members of the delegation will be displaying their legs tonight.

Tonight at dinner we had the opportunity to sample a traditional Scottish food. The kitchen prepared haggis for us to try if we liked. It really wasn't too bad. I finished all I had. It's a lot like stuffing.

We were lucky with the weather again. It poured all through dinner. Then, when it was time for us to walk up to Stirling Castle, it stopped. It was beautiful for the dancers and pipers. Many of our lads and lassies wore the kilts they've purchased in Scotland. What a neat experience it was to see traditional dance and hear the pipes in front of the castle. We also got to talk with the artists afterward.

On the way back to the hostel, Andrew, Janet and I dropped back a little to take a picture at the gates of the old cemetary. As we started back down the road, we got swooped several times by a seagull. One of the locals told us that she had chicks nearby and was protecting them. Gotta say that it was a little scary seeing her fly straight toward my head!!

Tomorrow we'll leave Scotland and head back to England.