Edinburgh, Scotland!

That’s Edinboro not Edinburg as the Delta pilot called it. We’re here, and it’s beautiful! We came within a whisker of having to cancel the trip because of a painful blood clot in my leg, but I got cleared by the docs at the last minute, and here we are. So far, we’ve seen the National (Art) Gallery, which had some excellent Impressionist work, as well as halls and halls of older paintings. We arrived, coincidentally, during Fringe Festival, which features a lot of shows by stand-up comics. Lots of enthusiasm in the streets for that. We might or might not get to one, because between my gimpy leg and dragging around a POC (portable O2 concentrator), activities that involve close quarters and sitting a lot are iffy. Still, there’s plenty to see.

Here’s a tall statue at St. Andrew’s Square. Edit: It is not Saint Andrew, as we had guessed. It is a monument to a Henry Dundas, first viscount Melville (1742-1811), who as Secretary of State for War in 1996, was instrumental in delaying the abolition of the British Atlantic slave trade, resulting in the enslavement of half a million Africans.

Later, me, in our basement hotel/apt suite with my new favorite beer, Wingman session IPA from Scotland’s Brewdog Brewery.