Edinburgh
Highlights to Look For
A goodbye Slainte
Diagon Alley
Queen's Jubilee flowers
Edinburgh Itinerary
Day 11: St. Andrew's, Pittenweem
Day 12: Walking tour of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle
Day 13: Time to say Goodbye
The next morning we began the trek to Edinburgh, with a pit stop in St. Andrews.
St. Andrew's - home to the oldest golf course in the world, Scotland's first University, and who could forget the place where William met Kate.
The town was under mass construction as it prepared for the Open Championship the following week, which unfortunately made it difficult to get near the famous golf course. Instead, we wandered through town visiting the Cathedral, Castle ruins, and the University of St. Andrew's.
Between St. Andrew's and Edinburgh, we took one final and special detour into Pittenweem. This small fishing village sits along the eastern shores and was the place of our final tour farewell, as our driver Ian would be leaving us that evening.
Our group wandered down to the lighthouse where we shared the Blair Athol Whisky Ian had won at Highland Nights, as well as a bottle of Harris Gin, distilled in the outer Hebrides, and a local favorite of our guide James.
Our final full day on the tour took us on a walking tour of Edinburgh. Our tour took us through Prince's Street Gardens, The Royal Mile, St. Giles Cathedral and ended at Edinburgh castle where we were let loose to explore on our own. In the Castle, we saw the Crown Jewels and Stone of Destiny - which has an interesting back story.
My aunt was able to join me on my walk through the Castle, the Scottish National Gallery, as well as my afternoon search for all things Harry Potter. We wandered Victoria Street (Diagon Alley), the grassmarket, and Greyfriars Kirkyard - all of which are said to have inspired the Harry Potter books and movies.
Our farewell dinner took place at Harvey Nichols, followed by a night cap at a local favorite - Cafe Royal.
We parted ways the next morning, each of us heading back to our respective homes. I had plans to stay in London for a few days following the tour and took the train from Waverley in Edinburgh to King's Cross in London.
My days in London consisted of following a band dressed like Beef eaters as they marched toward the Military Music Spectacular, The Borough Markets, the Tower of London, a showing of Wicked at the Apollo Theater, and an entire day spent at the Warner Bros Studio Tour - Harry Potter. But those are all stories for another time.
Background: Isle of May off the southeast coast