Edinburgh Take 1

What is it with our attraction to botanic gardens? Hobart, Adelaide, and now Edinburgh. I don't even like gardening...

Today was our first full day in Edinburgh and the sensible thing to do was a Hop On Hop Off bus tour. 

The first stop that caught our interest was the Botanic Gardens. On our first visit to London in 2003 we enjoyed a stroll through St James Park where a squirrel showed a keen interest in me. In Edinburgh we caught up with an old friend... 

Next stop was the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was not as fancy as I imagined, yet very comfortable nonetheless, which I guess reflects the age of the vessel and HM's wish not to be too ostentatious. Today's mega billionaires would find it very bland. 

However, the Royals didn't exactly leave the creature comforts of home behind - their 5 tonnes of luggage put our 2 backpacks into perspective. 

As well as all the royal stuff, there was a heavy emphasis in the tour on life on board for the sizeable crew. A bit of 'upstairs, downstairs', so to speak. 

One interesting point I noticed was that while there was a marked difference in the standard of accommodation as one moved down the hierarchy from Royal to the most junior ranks, every layer of this social strata had their own specific bar. And they are equipped with all the usual facilities one would expect in a bar on shore, not just a designated space with a mini fridge where one can have a few quiet ones after a hard day's sailing. 

Speaking of bars, after the yacht we went to a whisky experience. I went in with just one Mary and came out to this. 

We thought briefly of a manic sprint around some of the other attractions before the day was done, but wisely thought better of it. Plenty of time tomorrow....