Cullen Skink and Sticky Toffee. Oh yes I did.

Edinburgh did right by us today, despite the dour forecast for rain. We hopped on the tram this morning and in about 20 minutes, jumped off on Princess Street and from there, it was off to the Royal Mile with the rest of the thousands of tourists. It's a slow, but entirely pleasant, walk up the hill to the castle, with every kind of tempting store and market to lure you in. We did not go into the castle itself but loved the views from the top of the windy hill. Edinburgh looked green and charming, despite her blackened historic buildings and sooty church spires.

After our usual few hours of exploring, we managed to find a wee pub somewhere on St. Mary's Street. Almost three decades ago, mom, Jan and I were quite insulted by the bartender's admonishment to "move yer bags offa the table!" at the Jolly Judge Pub. He was anything BUT jolly. I am happy to report though that the atmosphere today was much more cordial, and my lunch of cullen skink (I'm going to make you look that up, but just know it was delicious) and sticky toffee pudding (everybody knew I'd cave) was delicious.

In the afternoon, the wind off the North Sea became strong and biting and the clouds rolled in, so we headed back to the apartment for the sad task of final packing, downloading boarding passes, and perfecting our exit strategy for tomorrow morning. There is a 100% chance of rain, so we'll try and figure out how to poncho our suitcases for the 20 minute walk to the tram station.

And so, this brings to a close the amazing European adventures for 2023. Ahead lies an 8 hour flight to Calgary and then the last short leg to Comox, which should get me home Saturday evening. I will then succumb to jet lag and use the quiet days ahead to reflect on the learnings of this journey, and all that it has added to my heart. Boudica, signing out.