Edinburgh!

I went for a walk in the suburbs at 6am - the sun was high in the sky but the city wasn't yet awake - one of the reasons I love getting up early. Walked up Blackford hill and got a good view of the city. After breakfast I walked into town and then my energy deserted me. So I jumped on a £9 hop-on hop-off open-roof double-decker tourist bus - and stayed on it for 2 circuits of the city! It was a very relaxing and enjoyable way to see the city. There are so many beautiful buildings. It is said (by brochures over here so possibly a little biased) that it is the most beautiful city in Europe. The Royal Mile, the road running for a mile between the Castle at one end and the Palace at the other, is lined by cool old buildings. The shops are very touristy, selling horrifically expensive chocolates and fudges, or cheap kilts, or whiskey. There are very narrow alleyways between the buildings called Closes, which tempt the passerby to pop down to explore. The street names are so cool - Kings Stable Road, Cow Lane, Candlewickmakers Row, Haymarket, Grassmarket, and best of all, Johnston Terrace!

All the museums are free, which definitely suits my style. I only visited the National Museum of Scotland and it's adjoining Royal Museum - and they were excellent. The National Museum was all about Scottish history and I liked the way the display cases had minimal exhibits - I can't cope when there are piles of artefacts; my eyes glaze over and I move on. This one would devote an entire display case to a single item. The Royal Museum is quite different to the National in that it is in a beautiful old building (the National is only 8 years old). It had exhibits about Japan, Korea, China, the Middle East - I enjoyed just wandering past looking at the gorgeous fabrics, vases and paintings.