Edinburgh here we come!

Edinburgh is a tender port, but we were off the boat early, Dennis was a wee bit antsy to get to the Castle. He should know not to worry because with Julie’s expert online ticket-ordering skills, we had advance tickets in hand. We snagged taxis at the port and zipped up the hill, where the lines for us were mercifully short. The Castle sits at the top of the hill, surveying all it commands. We visited the crown jewels (before anyone else) and saw the Stone of Destiny, which sites in the coronation chair for coronations. The chair lives at Westminster Abbey (saw it!), and the stone is in Edinburgh. We saw St. Margaret’s Chapel (Abby’s favorite – hi, Maggie!) and the birthplace of King James before heading down the Royal Mile. The place was getting super crowded when we left, with at least an hour’s wit for tickets. We were soooo glad we hit it early!

Down the Royal Mile we trod, making stops at St. Giles church, the Writers Museum, a few shops, which provided 2 for 1 matchingish sweatshirts for the kids. Tummies began grumbling and kids began crumbling (no more churches, please!) so the Grafes with the Cremin kids retreated to the ship for pool and hot tub r-and-r while Dennis and Rebecca continued to walk their feet to bloody stumps visiting the new parliament building, Edinburgh Museum, and New Town before training it back to the ship.

Five Crowns came out for play at the wine bar while Dennis worked while we spent many frustrating minutes – or was it hours? – trying unsuccessfully to overcome issues with internet connections on the ship. Please be patient with us. We still haven’t gotten and photos downloaded and cross our fingers each time we open the computer. Drinks of the day are generally necessary.

Today was Invergordon, the port for Inverness and the Invergordon 500. Two cars were waiting for us at the pier, and the boys drove their matching Peugeots all over the district. Matching shoes are one thing, but matching cars are so overrated (until you check under the hood). Following the motto, look right, stay left, we managed to traverse the region in both forward and reverse, without incident. We headed south through Inverness to Loch Ness in search of Nessie, We didn’t find her, but Ben thinks he found some of her droppings. The views of the loch were stunning, and we did a driveby of Urquart Castle. We found a woodland walk in the hills that was lovely. Emma says it was her highlight so far. Everyone but Rebecca and Emma managed to take part of the downhill on their rears (laundry tonight!), but the trees and ferns and wildflowers and moss and distant baaing sheep were picturesque.

Then it was a long drive through the country to Dinglewall for lunch and a shorter drive to Tain where Dennis enjoyed viewing his mound of dirt while the kids played at a park and Julie shivered in the cold. Then it was back to the ship, filling up the cars with diesel to return them at the pier. Now the kids are playing in the pool while Dennis naps (excellent supervision!)and Luther is getting a hand massage to help with easing the death grip from the steering wheel – those trucks pass really close!

Later dinner tonight - Cosmopolitan night – then a sea day tomorrow. We’ll catch up again in a couple of days, if the good Lord’s willing and the internet runs.