Niblings from Nottingham

The niblings from Nottingham are in Edinburgh for just 40 hours. Given that 16 or so are required for sleep, we are very aware that we have just a few waking hours to entertain our guests. As a result we have had a very busy day today.

First stop after breakfast was the botanic gardens - combined with a drenching. The café provided shelter, plus very welcome tea/coffee and scones. 

Back at the flat again, out came the Catan. Our guests were only vaguely familiar with the game so we treated them as faux débutants as we explained the rules and strategy. We stopped the game twice: once for our regular Saturday lunch of beans on toast with a poached egg, and again when it was time for a cocktail appointment at the Panda and Sons speakeasy in town.

We all agreed that one round of very boozy cocktails is quite enough in the middle of the day, so after this we set off on a quick tourist tour of the city centre: Princes Street gardens, the Mound, the castle esplanade, the Grassmarket, Victoria Street, Greyfriars churchyard, the High Street, and home again through Waverley Station. There was time to complete the Catan game before our evening appointment. (I won.)

This evening we walked to Newhaven for drinks at the Old Chain Pier. Here I blipped niblings Beth and Paddy. Our dinner venue was just a short walk away from the pub at the Fishmarket. More walking with bats (numerous) and foxes (two) brought us home again along the cycle paths (see the extra) at the end of a wonderful day.

Exercise today: walking (29,971 steps).