June 26 - Newhaven (Edinburgh) Scotland

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Our ship returned to the United Kingdom today, with a port call in the town which services Edinburgh Scotland. Unfortunately, this is another "tender port" because the actual piers are too shallow for our cruise ship. The one-way trip from ship to shore is about 20 minutes. Since it is kind of windy today, David watched from the Lido deck as the tenders bounced around quite a bit during their trip. Also there were waves of rain showers moving through the area all day. So we decided not to go to shore, even though this is our final port.

Scotland has 5.4 million people - more than Norway, but much smaller in area. Edinburgh was originally founded as a town in the 7th century. The castle, which is the highlight of the town tours, was built originally between the 10th and 12th century. Edinburgh is now the 3rd most visited city in the United Kingdom, with almost 2 million visitors per year. Since there are about half a million people living in the city and another half million in the immediate surrounding areas, it is a fairly densely populated place to visit. Our ship's port advisor said for everyone to expect big crowds when visiting the city.

We visited Edinburgh more than 10 years ago, and we remember it as being very interesting, but very challenging getting around, even if you do not have mobility issues. The castle is the most noticeable landmark in the city, but it was built on an extinct volcano. That means there is a steep climb up from the city, which was estimated by our port lecturer as being a 15 degree climb. We also remember the castle and many places in Edinburgh as being covered with cobblestones. We would highly recommend people to visit this interesting city, but you should be prepared for a good physical challenge.

Despite the noise from lowering the ship's tenders, we slept in until 8:00 and then went to the dining room for breakfast. It wasn't very crowded as many people were going to shore early today. The ship was fairly quiet on board today, and we stayed in the cabin most of the time except when we went to lunch in the Horizon Court. In the afternoon we started packing some of the suitcases in preparation for coming home. We did some more stitching and reading too, which was restful.

For dinner this evening, David had a Shrimp Cocktail and Janet had a Caesar Salad, and then we each had the Spaghetti Bolognese. We did not feel like attending the show in the theater, so we spent the evening in our cabin.

Joke: What do you call a line of rabbits hopping backwards? Answer: A receding hairline.

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