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First thing this morning we used the computer to try to book a room in Dublin. We had no luck. Either the rooms were to expensive , wouldn’t let three people stay in them, or were not available for the whole time.

Then we decided to eat breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet but once we saw how awful it looked we decided to skip it. Sort of embarrasing leaving the dining room after we had taken a table and been directed to the buffet. We took the bus into town and ate at a small place called SNAX. It was located sort of in a back alley/street off Princes Street. We had a traditional scottish breakfast: egg, back hash brouwns, sausage, black pudding and tatlie scone. It also came with beans but no thank you! Black pudding is also called blood pudding and is just what it says; pigs blood cooked with a filler so it gels together. It was okay. I did not tell Chloe what it was until after she had eaten. She ate some of it but was disgusted after she learned what it was and said it made her feel yucky the rest of the day. Tattie scones are a potatoe scone and a variant on a gridle scone. A gridle scone is basically a scone cooked on a gridddle instead of being baked. Trista did not eat the black pudding but I did try it. I did not really care for it or their sausage.

We got on a different tour bus today. I find it interesting to listen to the different information we hear from different guides. We got off at the Edinburgh Castle today. The bus lets you off at the bottom of a hill in town and we walked up. First we had a guided tour outside which was very interesting and we hadn’t even entered yet. Then we toured inside. The self-guided tour took three hours. As you look over the walls of the castle you are on the top of a large hill and can see the whole town. It would have been a perfect place to defend.

On the way up the hill we had noticed a woolen textile mill and decided to stop in. They were in the process of making many different wool items, blankets, sweaters, shirts, etc. The place was set up to also be very educational and explained how the whole process worked. The store part sold the items they were making and they also shipped out items. We did not find it less expensive to buy Scottish woolens here at the source but perhaps that was because they are on the way to the castle and so many people pass by.

After finishing the bus tour we visited an open air market. It contained foods and crafts for sale. Of course, we managed to find our way back to Princes Street for some more shopping before riding the bus back to our hotel at the end of the day. We had pizza delivered for dinner.