Beautiful Edinburgh, Scotland

Latitude: 55°56'59.46"N, Longitude: 3°11'39.66"W

Like all of our accommodations, we found this self-catering apartment (Capital View Apartment) on the internet and made the arrangements before we left. It was in a perfect location for seeing Edinburgh, right next to the Royal Mile.

Latitude: 55°56'56.17"N, Longitude: 3°11'40.75"W

We had breakfast (and then lunch because we liked is so much) at a renovated and re-purposed cathedral, now called the HUB. In addition to food, they have performances at the HUB and the Edinburgh Festival.

Latitude: 55°56'54.92"N, Longitude: 3°11'53.76"W

After breakfast, we walked up the hill to the Edinburgh Castle. This place was packed and was almost a little like Disneyland, but ended up being worth it. The cost to enter was $20 USD per adult. The views from this armament, located on a huge, tall piece of rock in the middle of Edinburgh, were well worth it. You can see the Firth of Forth, Arthur's Seat (has nothing to do with THAT Arthur) and another castle/abbey ruin on another hill. We were fortunate to have a beautiful and clear day.

Latitude: 55°56'47.07"N, Longitude: 3°10'27.08"W

Then we went on a James Hutton quest. James Hutton, a native of Edinburgh, was the father of the science of geology. We visited his birthplace, a memorial and a monument in his honor. We walked along the Salisbury Crag (we are the specks on the picture to the right climbing up the trail) near Arthur’s Seat and saw the contact between an igneous sill that intruded into a sedimentary rock formation. This is a walk young Hutton must have made many times as he pondered the age of the earth and how it formed.

Latitude: 55° 56′ 48″ N, Longitude: 3° 11′ 32″ W

We also visited James Hutton’s grave at Greyfriar’s Cemetery. His headstone was locked away in a part of the cemetery not open to all but that didn’t mean it was in some cared for condition. No, it was difficult to even see his headstone without the help of the person working there. One added bonus to going to this cemetery has a Harry Potter aspect to it. Not far away from the cemetery was the café in which J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. The café is called Elephant House. We had to eat there, as we are all major Potter fans. But this cemetery must have been the location of some reflection and inspiration for Ms Rowling in addition to her long-milked coffee at the café. We saw the headstones labeled with the last names Moodie, McGonagall, Black (this one was Josephus), and Thomas Riddell. From inside Elephant House, Ms Rowling would have looked out the window to see Greyfriar’s.


Edinburgh is a beautiful and terrific city. It reminds me of San Francisco with its hills, youthfulness and loads of things to do. I was wish we had a little longer to explore.

These photos and more from the trip are located on my Flickr page.