Ireland/Scotland, Day 9: Edinburgh

After another great breakfast at our B&B on Skye (and can I just say how nice it was to stay at a place for more than one day?), we started our long drive to Edinburgh.

On the way, we stopped at the Dalwhinnie Distillery, which Dave was excited about because it was the first Scottish whisky that he truly appreciated. It's not super peaty, but it's a little more approachable. 

Before dropping off the rental car, we stopped at the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is in the northeast of Edinburgh. 

If you've seen "The Crown," you know that the yacht was taken out of commission in the 1990s as austerity measures forced the royal family to give it up when it couldn't be reserviced. 

What I didn't know is that now you can tour it!

At right is a room where the royal family liked to lounge and relax, right near a deck that provided an open space for being together. Everything was a little more cramped than I expected, but then again, it is a boat.

Of course, there are spaces on the boat designed for large state dinners and entertaining, where many famous people enjoyed meals, receptions, and dancing. 

Apparently now regular people can also rent out this space for weddings and other stuff. Not sure how Queen Elizabeth felt (or would feel) about that. There were nice photos of Charles coming back to the boat for a reunion with some of the old staff members. Obviously this was a special place with positive memories for all of them.

For dinner, we hit Timberyard, a Michelin star restaurant in Edinburgh. I tried my first tripe, and the booze pairing was very nice. I decided to splurge, since now I could enjoy as much as I wanted, not having to drive! Dave thought I got pretty funny.

On first glance, Edinburgh reminded me of Prague and Salzburg, what with the medieval streets and fortress at the pinnacle. We stayed near the downtown and turned in early, getting ready for the next two days - the last destination of the trip.