Day 12 - Edinburgh, Scotland

A panoramic tour of Edinburgh and another excellent dinner at Manfredi's

Aug 1, 2018 - Viking Sky is anchored off the coast of Edinburgh, Scotland today.

Our morning is spent moving a few of our items into the Owner's Suite on Deck 7 Forward. We have been given the opportunity to spend two nights in the Owner's Suite to get a feel for what Viking's ultimate accommodations have to offer. After our stay in the Owner's Suite, we will post a thorough review of the accommodations. However, I think we are going to enjoy the next two nights!

Our included excursion 'Highlights of Edinburgh' requires a 15-minute tender ride to Newhaven Harbour.

We board our motorcoach and head off to see the sights of Edinburgh. We drive by Fettes College, a popular private school. Tony Blair attended Fettes as did Sean Connery and today, many wealthy Chinese send their children to Fettes College.

After passing by numerous sites, we stop at the Palace of Holyroodhouse where we have 20 minutes for a bathroom break, or some souvenir shopping. Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch when in Scotland.

Our drive gives us a view of Edinburgh Castle, sitting high on a hill over the city. Our route continues through Holyrood Park on Queen's Drive where we have a photo stop with a panoramic view of the city.

*Rickee with Edinburgh in the background*

Our next stop was near the Royal Mile, a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh. The Royal Mile is lined with souvenir shops, clothing stores and pubs. The streets are packed with tourists today.

We have about 1 & 1/2 hours to spend here so Rickee immediately begins shopping for a Scottish cashmere scarf. It took a few stores, but she found one that she liked and bought it. The scarf will be a great reminder of our visit to Scotland each time she wears it. And, what visit to Scotland would be complete without a shot of Whiskey at a local pub? From our seat in the pub we could see it begin to rain outside. We were only about a block from where the coach is to pick us up, so we head out in the rain. We always bring an umbrella with us on excursions, but of course, we left it on the coach!

The 'Highlights of Edinburgh' included tour was quite good. However, Viking offers a few other optional excursions here (for a fee) that also look very interesting. Golfers will want to book the 'Historic St. Andrew's' excursion, for sure.

We return to Viking Sky and to the Owner's Suite where we get ready for our 7:30pm dinner reservation at Manfredi's. When we arrive at Manfredi's, we only have to wait a few minutes for our table to be readied, another beautiful window table for two. For the third time, Hector was our waiter. We had another excellent meal. Unfortunately, the photos I took with my phone got corrupted and I am unable to post them. Trust me, everything looked and tasted wonderful!

Tomorrow is another Day at Sea as we sail toward our final port of Greenwich, England.