Day 1 in Edinburgh

Our long layover in Amsterdam was fairly uneventful. Just tired travelers. Friday ended up well, with a taxi ride on the left side of the road to our flat. The taxi driver was chatty and told us all about places around town.  He also told us that the Edinburgh Zoo has a fine specimen of the wild Haggis. Thank goodness I'd done some research before embarking on this journey, or else I may have been fooled :). After getting unpacked, Ben found a grocery store and an Indian take-out place nearby. We were all in bed by 9:00 PM local time.

After breakfast at home, we started our first day in Edinburgh at a playground.  It was packed with people.  I assume that sunny Saturdays are in short supply here in the early spring. After the playground, we walked along a foot path through The Meadows leading north into Old Town.  We ate falafel on King George IV Bridge, found a public restroom at a museum, and located the Central Library. The Old Town is pretty amazing. I can't get enough of the atmosphere, with the stone architecture and bustling sidewalks.

We turned east at the Royal Mile and cut through to Cockburn Street by way of Jackson’s Close, a narrow, downhill-sloping alley between two Old Town buildings.  Our destination was Waverly Station Post Office to pick up Ben’s biometrics card.  Now he has all his documentation to work here for six months. Then we stopped at the Lothian Bus office and got set up with bus tickets.  Our first bus ride was from The Mound back to The Meadows.

After some chill out time back at the flat, we spent a drizzly 15 minutes at the park before heading to The Southern for dinner and drinks. Here is Car Moose, our steadfast traveling companion, next to my delicious margarita:

All in all, a pretty dang nice day.