It has been a week since my visit to Newfoundland.
It is a beautiful province, and if you’ve never been I highly recommend.
I spent my time on the Avalon Peninsula and did some hiking.
In St. John’s, there is Pippy Park, which I would compare to Victoria Park in Truro, Nova Scotia (no big waterfalls though). Lots of hills and stairs to work muscles you totally forgot you had, lol.
It was a beautiful day for hiking!
The second hiking adventure was a portion of the East Coast Trail, and included the LaManche Suspension Bridge. Hiked until we got to a spot where I was nervous (trail width was questionable and the drop to the ocean was a little too steep) so a turn around to head back was necessary, haha. Might chance it the next time!
Quite an appetite was worked up, so a stop at Keith’s Diner on the way back to town was required for some refuelling.
Chicken Wings and Fries with Dressing and Gravy
The last nice day was a hike around a lake in Torbay. Got a little muddy on that one, lol.
All in all it was a fantastic trip, and I am looking forward to another visit!
This meant some shuffling around of activities, but we had a complete blast the last few days out and about in Edinburgh.
We took one beautiful day and did some walking tours.
Our first tour was through a part of the Underground South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh with Auld Reekie Tours. These vaults date back to 1700. They were used as living quarters, brothels and bars over the years. They were also used for “black magic” and a local coven set up a temple in one of the vaults to banish the negative energy.
These vaults are creepy, that’s for sure.
The Wiccan Temple
Outside the vault entrance of the Wiccan Temple
The cursed stone circle
Looking out of the vault
After being creeped out by the most excellent tour guide, we bummed around town a bit before our evening walking tour.
We checked out Holyrood, Arthur’s Seat, Scottish Parliament and of course we had burgers, lol.
Loved all the little “secret streets” off the Royal Mile
One of the quotes on the wall down to the Scottish Parliament
Arthur’s Seat
Side Gate at Holyrood
Scottish Parliament
Entrance to Holyrood
Tea with the Queen anyone?
You can see the Abbey in the back
Back up the Royal Mile
The Heart of Lothian (you spit on this…for real)
St. Giles Cathedral
Our evening tour was one of the free walking tours held by SANDEMANs. We chose this Dark Side tour to hear more about Edinburgh’s creepy history. Our guide was awesome. He was really funny and gave us multiple opportunities to stop and take pics along the way. The most amazing views were from Calton Hill. Calton Hill is the home of the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument.
Nelson’s Monument
The National Monument (also known as the National Shame)
Going down Jacob’s Ladder (they moved coffins up and down these stairs)
Walking Tours are a great way to learn about the city and the guides are great for giving you tips and tricks for food and attractions.
We were lucky enough to be staying close to the Edinburgh Zoo, so our next day was spent with the animals, after some food at the Cocobean Cafe. We were lucky enough to see one of the pandas 🙂
YUM
Meerkats
Red Panda
Sleepy Tiger
Kangarooooooooos
Rhino
Heeeeeeeeeey
Hi Panda!
Bye Panda!
Our last day of running around Edinburgh was spent in town gathering goodies to take home and making sure TeenThing had motion sickness meds, as the plane ride over was not fun for her.
So, before we packed it in, we had to go to The Scotch Whisky Experience! We did the Silver Tour and had a great time. I wish I had gotten a video of TeenThing’s face when she tasted her whisky, lol. The tour ended in the largest whisky collection (3,384 unopened bottles of whisky). It was amazing.
Off in a barrel we go!
I am so sick in this picture, lol.
We both chose to taste whiskey from the Speyside region
The walls were alllllll bottles
The oldest whiskey in the collection
The man who donated the 3,000+ bottles
Our Sunday was spent resting and getting ready to head home to Nova Scotia. We had to be in bed early to get up at 4:00 so we could grab the bus into the Glasgow Airport.
On our way, we talked about “the next time we visit”, and I sure hope we do get over again. I am in love with Scotland!
Thanks for coming along with me on our little adventure.
Usually it’s me. I either get the head cold at the end of a trip, or right when I get back (Spoiler: I got sick too, lol).
It was TeenThing’s turn this time. The first day she really started feeling it was a gorgeous sunny day. I really didn’t want to stay inside all day, so after popping down to the pharmacy and gathering an arsenal of cold meds, I hoofed it back to the house and suggested a walk along the Water of Leith Walkway.
Once she was sufficiently medicated and fed, we began our journey. It was a 10 minute walk to the spot where we could hop on, so enough time for us to see if TeenThing was really up for the trek.
She was 🙂
What a hidden gem! This is a definite must do if you ever get to Edinburgh. We walked to Dean Village and back, took us about 2 hours.
Murrayfield Stadium. No games while we were there, booo.
Here we go!
“Mom, take a picture of me!”
Dean Village
There she goes.
Another serious “trip selfie”.
So pretty
Could have walked for hours. So beautiful.
We could have walked further, but we didn’t pack snacks (oooops).
The next day was cloudy and cool. TeenThing was feeling a little rough, but she agreed to a trip into town to check out the National Gallery.
Rooms and rooms of art. So many serious people in there sitting and staring at all of the paintings and sculptures.
We wandered and took in all of the art. Some of the paintings were HUGE. It was difficult getting photos.
The Campbell Sisters
So serious in here….
Man with Jawbone (this is the title, seriously)
Cain and Abel
Creepy Chair
Creepy Monk Statues
More subtle “trip selfie”, lol.
I was glad I didn’t have our time in Scotland fully planned, as it was good to have some downtime for TeenThing to get better. It was nice to have a couple of low key days.
After we had spent our time exploring the Gallery, we took the tram back to the house where we chilled for the rest of the day.
By the time our next adventure rolled around, TeenThing was feeling better 🙂
The Midlife Reframe 