I can’t believe the trip is almost over. I have looked forward to this trip since January 2023. It seems like it takes forever to get here then comes and goes so quick.

We didn’t really have anything left on our must do Edinburgh list so we were just going to try out some of the other areas a little more off the beaten path. Originally we decided to get the tourist bus route that would take us out to the Royal Britannia. We wanted to hit the gift shop since it wasn’t open when we were there at night.

The bus went by the Stockbridge and Dean’s Village so we hopped off there to check them out. Probably should have saved that to the next time around. It was a little early and most things were not opened. Mainly shops, antique/thrift stores coffee shops and restaurants but a cute area. A little newer than new town where our hotel is which was wide avenues and Georgian large buildings. Stockbridge and Deans Village were more rambling streets and brownstone type buildings. We walked around until 10 when most things opened then started shopping. You would think we would be all shopped out but of course not.

After shopping our way around the area we hopped back on the bus to head to the Britannia gift shop. The entrance to the Britannia is basically in a port side mall. This was not the entrance we used when we went to dinner so we were very confused and took us a while to find it. We couldn’t get to the main gift shop but there was one before the ticket area and we were able to find a few things and head back to the bus.

We were intrigued with the discount store so we got off at the next store to hit the Pringle discount tartan shop. Do not waste your time unless you are looking for a frumpy old lady outfit. We had high hopes as we walked up. The signs claimed to have all types of things at great prices. We were excited but it was quite a letdown. There were a few scarves and cashmere sweaters but they were not any cheaper than what we had seen in the other much more convenient stores. Very disappointing.

We ended up riding the bus back around to the Royal Mile and went back for a few things we had seen that we knew we wanted. We went back to one of the scarf store where we had purchased a few early in the trip and purchased a few more. I now have a scarf to match any color I might want to wear. I need a very cold winter or maybe a winter trip somewhere cold.

I also went on a search for a bottle Ballindolloch whiskey. It was the Grant home that we saw that also produced estate style whiskey. I regretted not buying it when we were at the castle. Sadly I could not find it.

It was one of the prettiest days we have had on the trip so we found a table outside and had a little break from all our shopping.

And for Kris the mayonnaise has a different name.

On our last wander through town we came across a scene from The Birds. Sadly there was an injured seagull and the number birds flying above it just kept growing. It was like every bird from miles away answered the call. We didn’t hang around to see how it ended so in my story the hurt bird was just stunned and with the encouragement of his many friends recovered and joined them on an exciting adventure back by the ocean.

It was time to go back to the hotel and pack all our purchases. It was a tight squeeze even with the extra suitcase I had packed and required quite a bit of shuffling before we got the 4 bags we were checking down to close to 50 pounds.

We had a quick dinner at one of the pubs we had eaten at before with giant chicken sandwiches. That was close to the hotel. We had an early evening to prepare for our early morning flight.

We had to get up and out by 4 am. It took us a couple of trips down from our room to get all our luggage. While we waited for our taxi we could watch the craziness going on outside. There were no typical bars or pubs on our street so not sure where everyone came from but there were probably 20 people hanging out just seconds from a street brawl. There was lot of pushing but we did see one punch as we drove away in the taxi. No one else seemed concerned so this must be a normal occurrence for Saturday morning.

The Edinburgh airport was kind of a mess. There was really no organization to moving through the process. We went from 12 lines down to 8 back up to 10 then to two. A complete mess. We make it through after a bag check for not pulling my iPad out of my purse and to the gate right as boarding was starting. It was a quick flight and we were in Amsterdam. We had about a four hour layover so we wandered through the airport. Not much shopping a lot of high end tiny little shops but not much else. Also not a lot of food options. We had some premade sandwiches nothing special and headed to the gate.

I can highly recommend the direct KLM flight from Amsterdam to Austin. It wasn’t crowded the plane was nice and the economy plus seats provided enough extra leg room to be comfy. It was a 10 hour flight so a little long but KLM provided enough snacks and movies to make it doable.

We made it safely home with our 200+ pounds of luggage and I am already looking forward to the next adventure.