Kith, Kin and Kilts

This past week Judy and Justin, Stacie's mom & brother, were in town. They were treated to the beauty of a Scottish June, temps in the 60's and rain! We didn't let the weather stop us from getting out and exploring Edinburgh however. It's amazing how much ground can be covered in a short period, I'm confident we left no cobble stone unturned while they were here.

One of the most interested parts of out time together was when we toured Mary's Close. Check out the link to the website. It was amazing to experience the underground closes of Edinburgh and gain an appreciation for how people lived in 16th century Scotland, a period which is famous for the plague.

We did get some breaks from the weather and took advantage by touring Holyrood Palace, above you'll see me and Justin in the Garden with the Palace Abbey ruins in the background. We were fortunate b/c Her Majesty the Queen arrived a day after our visit for her annual summer stay so the Palace was in particularly tip-top shape.

Edinburgh has a nice little Sunday market that we took advantage of. Farmers, butchers, distillers, knitter... you name it, all come to town to hock their wares. We didn't have to look too hard to find some good eats.

Here's another shot from the market. The market is set just below Edinburgh Castle which poses a pretty impressive backdrop.

Edinburgh is home to a pretty amazing botanical garden which is just around the corner from our new flat. We didn't have enough time to do justice to the immense garden but it was fun to sneak a quick peak at the variety of vegetation. Heck, they even have four foot tall palm trees there!

All in all the week was a success and it's always a blessing to have family in town. Christmas / New Year was the last time we had seen any family so it was well over due.

-Kyle