Scotland Travel and Climbing a Volcano

Waiting in the airport with the mammoth

It's that time of year again, for Jim's and my annual vacation. This year it is Scotland. We had an evening flight out on British Airway.  The flight was smooth and uneventful to London where we cleared immigration and customs before getting on the flight from London to Edinburgh to start our Scottish adventure.  

So what do normal people do after a long overnight flight and checking into a hotel, usually clean up, eat lunch,  relax, and maybe take in some local city sites.  Not us, we went out, got lunch, then climbed a dead volcano. Yes there is a dead volcano in Edinburgh, it is called Arthur's Seat, then went to see some old church ruins.  There are two ways to get to the top of Arthur’s Seat, the long gradual incline that can take up to 3 hours or the steep 30 minute, hope you're a mountain goat,  ascent.  Guess which one we took, the steep one. Now the climb wasn’t that horrible just some spots were a little tricky for me because I have short legs. The other issue was the wind, the higher you got the more wind there was; I wish I had about 10 more pounds in my bag so I wouldn’t feel like I was going to blow away.  Now if you are wondering why we made this ascent the first day we arrived and jet-lagged,  no specific reason it got the blood flowing and it provides gorgeous vistas of Edinburgh.

View from part way up Arthur's Seat

Sitting at the top of Arthur''s Seat

Ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel

After we made the summit of Arthur's Seat we came down the easy way, it had steps and nice gentle path that lead to the ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel.  There is not much of the chapel remaining but it makes for a nice photo opportunity.  This is one of those spots I wish I could just summon a model in a magnificent dress.  It is such a lovely location.  From there we headed up the Royal Mile to get some dinner.

So now after a long day of hiking and walking it is time to turn in and get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow will be a full day with going to castles, some monuments, and The Whisky Shop.