We didn't have a shore excursion booked, but during the port presentation we learned details about the X99 Cruiselink Bus, which seemed preferable to rail service in terms of timing.
We stepped off the first tender of the day --- a larger boat furnished by the port of South Queensferry --- and walked down the pier, enjoying a bit of live, traditional Scottish music on bagpipes and drum playing by the water.
We walked to the nearby bus stop where we found two X99 buses waiting. We went to the front one, which was almost full and boarded.
In less than five minutes, we departed for Edinburgh.
Good timing.
Thirty minutes later, Julie and I were strolling through a lovely green park in the well-maintained capital of Scotland.
There's something about the historic buildings, friendly locals and general feel that makes this a terrific city.
The fact that it was another gorgeous day made us quite jolly for our stroll.
We headed up to Edinburgh Castle to take a look around, but we knew without advance tickets, it would be a long shot to get in.
Finding no tickets available, we continued on our way, but not before snapping a few photos, because the public is welcome to walk up to the entrance without tickets.
The Royal Mile has a vibrant buzz without feeling crowded like many big cities.
At both ends of this famous street there are royal homes.
To be clear, there are cross-streets and also lots of little passageways that cross the Royal Mile.
After sauntering the mile, checking out occasional shops but mostly admiring the architecture, we bought admission for the Palace at Holyroodhouse, which most people call Holyrood Palace, and also the King's Gallery at Holyrood
No advance reservation was required, and the queue to buy tickets was short. Admission includes a complimentary audio guide.
No photos are allowed inside Holyrood, which is just as well, because if everyone took photos of everything of interest, walking through would take all day.
The audio tour does a great job mixing history with descriptions of furnishings. Of particular interest to us were dramatic chapters that unfolded in the castle during the life of Mary Queen of Scots, who we've followed in TV series and movies.
The royals say this castle feels very comfortable and is a terrific place to entertain, making it the preferred residence when "their royal majesties" visit Scotland.
After a couple of hours exploring the interior, we headed outdoors.
The royal gardens were also quite lovely and definitely spacious, though I rather preferred those we saw the previous day at Cawdor Castle.
Hours had flown by at Holyrood Palace, but we were getting hungry. We thought about having lunch or a tasty scone like we had a few years ago at the Cafe at the Palace.
Earlier in the day I had suggested returning for lunch to Footlights, a pub where we had dinner and drinks a few times during our previous visit to Edinburgh years earlier.
However, we decided to go to the King's Gallery before moving on, because Footlights is at the other end of the Royal Mile, plus another mile from there.
What we had expected to find was a collection of fine art, and there certainly are some masterpieces on display.
As it turned out, the King's Gallery on that day was focused on fashion through the years, which I think this must have been a special exhibition. For whatever reason, it proved to be fascinating to me.
Certainly, royal fashions were not what the average Highlanders were wearing, but it was funny how there were trends away from ornately formal through to sportswear --- for royal sports like fox hunting --- or something approximating country club casual, depending on the occasions or eras.
The combination of fine art plus actual clothing of the period, with descriptions in an accompanying audio guide, had me totally engaged. Julie enjoyed it too, but I think it fair to say that she had to drag me out of there to go to lunch before we lost our chance to return to our old haunt.
We were nearly starving by the time we found Footlights....or as starving as a cruiser ashore can be after days of rich, multi-course meals prepared by excellent chefs.
I can't say that I would have recognized the exterior of Footlights based on the rather non-descript exterior. Further, we could not have found it at all without Julie taking a screenshot of a map on her iPhone while we were at Holyrood Palace.
The bar had definitely been revamped with a chic gastropub feel, and walls that are now light blue were more browns and tans, as I recall.
We ordered drinks --- Belhaven's Best Ale for me and a Diet Coke for Julie --- and checked out the menu on the wall.
With a great selection of Footlights Gourmet Burgers to choose from --- a meal Julie and I regularly split --- we decided on the "Lucky Cow."
"Portobello mushroom grilled with garlic butter topped with grilled Halloumi cheese, tomato slices, lettuce, red onions, pickled gherkins, rocket and mayo."
Sounds great.
The bartender brought our order over himself, checking to see if we were happy with it.
The chips (French fries) and two onion rings were hot and delicious, so we ate a few chips before devouring the burger.
After a couple of bites of the hamburger, we agreed all the flavors were terrific.
After a couple of more chomps, however, we figured out something was missing.
Where's the beef?
It dawned on us.
"Lucky Cow."
Ha ha.
Oh well, we enjoyed our unintentionally vegan meal, knowing it wouldn't be long before we would be feasting on the ship.
I won't say that the burger wouldn't have been better with a quarter pound beef patty in it, but we enjoyed our late lunch.
It was already time to find our way back to the bus stop for return to the ship, and again our timing for the X99 proved to be very good.
Looking at our step counters, we had walked ten miles in Edinburgh, so we were glad we didn't have to row a boat back to our ship.
As the Queensferry tender boat approached Caribbean Princess, the crew gave specific instructions for everyone to stay seated so that we could debark in an orderly fashion for safety as well as efficiency.
Of course, there were a few "cheaters" who thought they were entitled to disregard the instructions.
Interestingly, lots of passengers spoke up, and the crew at least held the line-skippers back until after we had left. After two weeks sharing a ship, we were now a community with shared values. Democracy in action!
That evening, the controversial Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics unfolded not far away in Paris, but Julie and I didn't attend the gala party aboard the ship.
Instead, we continued with our beloved evening activities, visiting the Elite Lounge for happy hour fare including freshly baked soft pretzels, dining in style at the Palm Restaurant and enjoying live entertainment in lounges and the Princess Theater.
We did admire an Olympics cake displayed in the atrium near the International Cafe.
More of Julie's Photos
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| You need not worry if you miss bag pipes in one spot. |
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| Traditional Sottish music is often encountered. |
More of Wes's Photos
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