We had breakfast at our hotel and took our time getting ready because we were simply going to walk a bit around Edinburgh. We had no plans to visit the castle or other sightseeing. At least that’s what I thought.

We took the free bus to town, bought our train tickets, boarded and were in our way. Funny story we had the option for first class for £2 more so we took it. We got on the back of the train to be told that first class would be at the other end. So we walked all the way to the other end only to find that this train had no first class. 😂😂 but we were essentially alone in the car so it worked out.

Our next adventure came by way of a discussion on how we were getting from Edinburgh city center to our hotel. Or should we take the stop before. Usually we have all this figured out before starting out for the day. But apparently we hadn’t really decided. We started scrambling to find busses, trains or taxis. It was a humorous discussion that had us ready to jump off the train a stop early to just going into Edinburgh Waverly. Then we start looking again. We were informed that bus stop P3 would take us to our hotel. Nope. There was no easy way to get there except by taxi. Decision made.

It was only noon so we couldn’t get into our hotel so we decided to go up to the royal mile and look around. We climbed about 150 meters to get there, with backpacks. An older couple walked with us and he shared interesting information about the city. Then we found our way to St Giles Cathedral. It was surreal being there after all the coverage of the Queen’s death. It was like we were paying homage as we walked through the cathedral. It’s so beautiful and I remember worshiping there many years ago.

We sat down in a pub for refreshments. We went to Deacon Brodie’s pub. Deacon Brodie was a real person who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Deacon Brodie was a respected and wealthy councilman by day but at night he was a gambler and thief, dissipated and licentious. The annals record “His cunning and audacity were unsurpassed.” He was hanged from the newly designed gallows. Ironically he designed the gallows that were to seal his fate.

From there we made our way back down to Waverly Bridge and found a taxi. Traffic was quite bad, especially going in the opposite direction thank goodness!! Our hotel was nice, we ate an early dinner in the pub and then went back to our room where I promptly fell asleep early again. Oh well.

Our learnings are that at times being spontaneous is exciting and fun and other times planning is helpful. ALSO: always have a sense of humor and be ready to adapt and shift as needed.

Hope your day is full of fun and adventure and a little spontaneity!! ❤️

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