Edinburgh: Out and about

On the first day in Edinburgh, we took a double-decker bus ride around the city. I know it’s kind of a tourist cliché, but I can’t help it… I love the double-decker buses. They really help orient me in a new city, and make it so much easier to figure out how to get from one place to another. (Of course, as we rode around in the bus, I made a mental reminder of the location of all of the antique stores and boutiques that I wanted to hit later.)

Even though the weather was supposed to be “rubbish” during our trip, we lucked out and caught quite a few beautiful days. It was cool and sunny in the city, like a pleasant fall day.

Our city apartment was a really nice place. It had three bedrooms, a huge kitchen, a comfy living room, and plenty of room to spread out. It was located in a really nifty part of the city—Not on the “Royal Mile” near the castle, but a bit further out in the newer part of Edinburgh. (New, relatively speaking. “New Town,” is still pretty darn old; most of it was built in 1765.)

Here's our apartment:

And here's our neighborhood:

Our apartment was right across the street from Queen Street Gardens. Queen Street Gardens is a huge park-like green space in the middle of the city, entirely enclosed by a tall iron fence. The gates are locked, and only residents in the area can get in. Luckily, the person we rented the apartment from had a key, and let us use it during our stay. It was like having our own private park. Once you were inside the garden, it was as if the rest of the city disappeared. It was so quiet, peaceful, and green that you could easily forget that it was right in the middle of a huge, bustling city. Frankie called it her "secret garden," and went there every day to play.