As with the rest of the old town, doorways and spiral staircases aren’t meant for broad or tall people. I had a few close calls nearly missing a solid wack off my head.

I also found my new recruiting method for when I can’t find the right talent thanks to the British military...

After the castle I wanted to tackle getting to the top of Arthur’s seat since the weather was cooperating. Of course that changes as I was partway up the trek, but I couldn’t stop and turn around without seeing the top! It made for some cloudy, a wee bit rainy in some cases pictures from the top of the hill.

My poor feet and calves were pooped after the hike so it was back to the hotel to change and rest a bit before going to see the rest of old town.

Final stop for the day was to check out St. Giles’ Cathedral as a means to get some shelter from the wind that was picking up. It’s covered in intricate works that were so high I’m not sure how they were put together. There was a guide who said different trades had to work offsite in other areas and drag their pieces through the small doors and corners and reassemble just to make the construction go faster. Wowzers. \240

I stayed in the West end of town, known to be a bit more hip and young, there were plenty of students and bars with student deals there. It must be well known, because after posting a picture of Edinburgh on social media an old coworker from Starbucks reached out and said I needed to spend time in Glasgow, specifically the West end and Ashton Lane. As if perfectly planned, Ashton lane was about an 8 minute walk from where I was staying and exactly where my Scottish coworker suggested I go for dinner and a drink.

It’s a very cool litttle cobblestone road with bars on either side all the way down. It has a vibe that I thought was similar to a Queen West type area in Toronto. I left at a reasonable hour, but already at 10 pm there was some folks stumbling and struggling a wee bit with the uneven road.

I had dinner at the Innis & Gunn Beer Kitchen and tried a flight of their different beers. Some great, some not my favourite...

On day 2 in Glasgow I checked out a few things before heading back to Edinburgh to fly home. One of the top things I wanted to see was the cathedral. It’s hard to compare all the different cathedrals I have seen, but this one had quite a bit more commemorative plaques and stones throughout. Some were from hundreds of years ago but also more modern authors and artists who may have died in the 60’s or so.

On the way back to the city centre I walked by a local brewery called Tennents. This was the outside street art at the Wellpark Brewery. I got quite a chuckle at the last one...

Temporary tangent story: Now the horsemen with a cone on his head seems quite random. Had I not seen the real statue the day before I think I would have been extremely confused. \240🤷‍♀️

The real cone head statue is in front of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow’s city centre. When I first saw it I thought there was some prank played by ‘neds’ the previous night. This has actually been a tradition of sorts in the city since the 80’s and the police now just allow it to happen since the Glasgow people would very quickly replace the cone each time it was taken off the Duke of Wellington. I think it says most about the humour of people here - it’s pretty hilarious! 😂

*tangent over*

Now, as I said, I was on my way back to the centre to go back to Edinburgh to fly home to London. As I got closer it sounded like there may be a festival or band playing, maybe a free afternoon concert!?!

Nope...

I walked directly into the path of a massive march to demonstrate the independence movement for Scotland. Oh boy!

It seemed to go on forever, and news reports suggested there was about 20,000 people who marched all through the city. This is the third time in the UK I have seen a protest or demonstration about politics!

An eventful day to say the least. I did finally get on my plane and back to London home base I go!