Matt and I stayed with his sister's family, which was pretty entertaining. On top of that, the Fringe festival and the Book fair were going on as well, so it was a great time to be in Edinburgh. Matt's sister Melinda got us tickets to see the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. She read some of her work and signed books afterwards; it was a great start to the trip!
We also ventured out to Matt's great aunt Ossie's farm. She showed us around and cooked us lunch, fresh from the garden. She's also related to all kinds of amazing historical figures, including John Donne. I was impressed, to say the least. :D
From left-right: Me, Matt, Andrew, Georgia, Melinda, little Eliza, and Ossie.
We also ventured out to Matt's great aunt Ossie's farm. She showed us around and cooked us lunch, fresh from the garden. She's also related to all kinds of amazing historical figures, including John Donne. I was impressed, to say the least. :D
From left-right: Me, Matt, Andrew, Georgia, Melinda, little Eliza, and Ossie.
Not kidding, it was a REAL farm.
We also went to the castle for the Tattoo show -- lots of bagpipes and drum corps and marching bands and dancing. Good times! Here's a shot from down in the gardens.
The view (of Prince's Street Gardens) from the Museum of Art on a gorgeous day.
We also made it out to climb Arthur's seat. You can see pretty much all of Scotland from up there! Even Diggory the dog came along.
Melinda's husband, Garry, got us tickets for a Food festival as well that day. We stuffed ourselves on goodies like REAL cheddar cheese, chocolates, and mojitos. They also had things like black pudding but I couldn't bring myself to try it. I have boundaries, you know.
A little later on Melinda took us (with Andrew and Georgia) on a "Ghost tour" of the city. It was really more like a history lesson, but very amusing regardless. Matt even got shackled IN PUBLIC, as an example for the rest of us. Wahoo! Here he is with the host of the tour.
Money well spent. ^^
Close to the end of the trip we all took a ferry to Inchcolm Island. The abandoned monastery makes for good climbing, and we got to see a few seals!
Edinburgh was a fantastic way to end the trip. We're very very very thankful to Melinda and Garry for letting us stay so long! Hope the rice cooker is working out for you guys. ;)
(Yeahhh... you know you have been in Asia too long when you get people rice cookers as presents.)
(Yeahhh... you know you have been in Asia too long when you get people rice cookers as presents.)
