Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy...

We began the day with a Scottish breakfast (or so we were told) that consisted of fried eggs, bacon, sausage(both very different from American style), toast, baked beans and grilled tomatoes-lucky for us there was no haggis or black pudding. We caught the bus into the city centre (no that's not a misprint that is how it is spelled here) to check out the sights. First stop was the Edinburgh castle which is perched high on the hill above town surrounded by cliffs on 3 sides. We were able to tour throughout the castle and military museums located there.

After a few hours we headed for a stroll down the Royal Mile which is a street lined with museums, churches, and shops that gradually descends from the castle down to the Holyrood palace which the Queen usually stays at one week of the summer. We made stops at the most important cathedral in Scotland (it's where John Knox preached Presbyterianism and basically converted the entire country) and the Museum of Childhood (a collection of toys from over the years with some hands-on exhibits). We caught a double decker bus back to our B&B to get the car and head to the nearby park to hike Arthur's seat, a 998 foot mountain in the middle of town. Whitney was a good hiker and enjoyed rolling down the grassy trails on the way down.

After the hike we decided to drive across the bridge that spans the Firth of Forth and head to Kirkcaldy. Some of Jim's ancestors are from that area. We drove through town and stopped at a park that was located along the water and near the castle ruins. The park was fun in that it not only had fun equipment for the girls to play on including an in-ground trampoline but it also had a separate high adrenaline teen/adult playground (see video below). We enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner at a local restaurant there before heading back to Edinburgh.

Whitney was a trooper with all the walking and hiking albeit with a few complaints. We thought it was funny when we asked her what the favorite part of her day was she said "riding the bus and playing at the playground." So much for taking them to some amazing places when they can be so easily entertained otherwise.