>We made it to scotland on Tuesday! There’s lots to write about but just a couple of things to get us started. First of all the sun rises at at 3.30am and sets at 11pm. With the time zone changes and the late sunset the girls havent gone to sleep before 10.30! We’ve had really nice weather so far, although a bit chilly.
Our place is near Holyrood Park, which is a “royal park” as it is owned by the Queen but open to the public. The park was part of a 12th century royal “deer hunting estate.” Running through the park, you can still see the ruins of Holyrood Abbey, built in 1128.
There is also the ruins of St. Anthony’s chapel that you run by, built in the 14th century.
We mapped out an excellent 5 mile run that goes along the park perimeter and up to the summit of Arthur’s seat, which is the highest point in Edinburgh. (This is also known as the “radical road option“, according to the cross country people because of its steep ascent). Yesterday when I did this run, i just did the round the park loop, which I thought had a pretty big hill. Then when scott went out after me, he discovered the radical road option so I tested it out today and was not disappointed! It was amazing, the view is enough to keep you running up the hill! The summit is only 823 ft above sea level, but when running the path up to the top, you go up about 500 feet in about a half mile. We were surprised to learn that arthur’s seat is an extinct volcano, erupting between 350 and 400 million years ago. Erosion has uncovered some of the lava flows, which you can see running through the park. Also at the top you can see a panoramic view of the city.
After running through the top of arthur’s seat, the route goes over towards the back of the park, which allows for a view of the southern side of edinburgh. You also pass by the Salisbury Crags, which are a series of 150 foot cliff faces. You then turn towards the north east and see the across the Firth of Forth to Fife, and if you look just below the park you can see the soccer stadium. We’ll try to get some of our own pictures later, but neither of us carried the camera on our runs. We’re thinking of taking Bee and Frankie there tomorrow for some hiking.
