England Trip -- Day 7

After breakfast this morning, we set out to see Edinborough Castle.



It's a huge tourist attraction in Edinborough.  Very popular.  Very crowded.  The castle is impressive.  It is enormous and towers high above the rest of the town.




It would have been near impossible to storm it, I think.




The tour was interesting, but a lot of the castle was finished out like a museum exhibit.




We were sort of hoping to see a more ruins-style exhibit.
 

Or maybe restored to what it would have looked like in such-and-such year.

 

There was some of that, but a lot of it was pretty museum-like. 



And then... back in the car!



We drove further north today, to Inverness in the highlands.  Inverness is close to Loch Ness, which we hope to visit tomorrow.
 

But today, we arrived in Inverness, checked into our B&B, and did some shopping before dinner.



Our B&B is lovely.  The garden is beautiful.
 

I can't wait for breakfast, which is served in a room that overlooks the garden.



Walking around Scotland, we've seen lots of these signs that say, "Yes!"



They are signs that show support for becoming independent from the UK.

 

Most of the ones we've seen say, "Yes."  We've only seen a couple (maybe just one) that said, "No, thanks!"



The walk home from dinner was nice.  The temperature is cool, and the air smells salty from the ocean.



There is a large river (River Ness) running through Inverness and a few cool-looking bridges. Lots of seagulls.



Oliver has spent a lot of time during the day like this.  He's actually nursing, but you can't really tell.  At a glance, people just think I'm carrying him.  There is no way we could have done this trip as new parents with such a young baby.  But as a third-time mom, I feel totally capable of feeding on-the-go and going with the flow.
 

It's odd here that they often put street signs on buildings.  They're not free-standing on poles like back home.  Sometimes they're even facing the adjacent street, which makes it very confusing.



Daniel is our designated burper.  He's much better at burping Oliver than I am.  He can get him to sleep by patting his back in a way that I seem to be incapable of.  He does a great job as a dad.



And Carrie and Ben are a great aunt and uncle.  They're very patient on the rare occasion that Oliver cries or screams.  I wish he could remember this trip and this special time with his aunt and uncle.  
 

One cannot help but notice that plants seem eager to grow here.  I am feeling pretty jipped, living in our part of Texas where my plants can't wait to die.
 


I try to keep them alive, but it's an up-hill battle, I feel.  Here, there are hydrangeas and roses everywhere, and they're huge and healthy-looking. 



And that was day seven!  Only a few days left.  Tomorrow we head back down south.