As usual, we woke up far too early to do more than walk around. We took a walk from our hotel up to the downtown area and back, and in that time came to the conclusion that Edinburgh is a goddamn fairy tale town.

We ran across more churches here than in Dublin. Since the roads are all twisty around here they seemed to jump out at us every time we turned a corner.

We scoped out the shopping district and other places we wanted to visit then headed back for the hotel to try out their breakfast. This was my first time trying haggis, and I really liked it. I might be in for a reality check if I try it anywhere else though, because all the food at the Raeburn has been delectable.

We stopped in our local shop and found both an Egg and Cress sandwich and Vienetta (which I now know is an ice cream cake). We didn't purchase either today but we'll probably do both tomorrow for lunch.

We did pick up some IRN BRU. I expected to like IRN BRU but be skeptical about haggis, and I was surprised to find that I didn't like IRN BRU at all. It's very similar to Inca Cola, just orange. Susan and I agree that's its not worth getting more.

Our first whisky tasting

After washing our mouths out a bit we walked back to Edinburgh castle to sample Scotland's slightly more well known beverage - whisky. The Whisky Experience was way better than the Guinness Storeroom. For one thing there was a ride, but more importantly they had people going through in groups of 20 instead of crowding madly on narrow walkways by the hundreds.

We got to try 4 types of whisky on the tour: Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, and Islay. Susan and I had both tried a little of almost all of these, but there was a 5th region we'd never tasted before: Campbeltown. All of the whiskys we tasted were good and I'm still probably more of an Islay man, but the Campbeltown stole the show.

Susan is a Campbeltown woman. Whisky from that region tends to have a slightly salty aroma and flavor so neither of us are surprised it's her favorite variety. We got the Glen Scotia 18 and the Glen Scotia Victoriana at the bar there and really enjoyed both. The 18 year tasted like figs and prosciutto to me, while the Victoriana had a caramel aroma but tasted like sweet tobacco and finished with a burnt toast flavor.

After picking up some things at the Whisky Experience we headed over to World's End bar, the oldest bar in Edinburgh. (Edited 6/30: I have since been corrected - the oldest bar is The White Hart Inn) I tried haggis again, and it was good there too. We ran into a couple from Georgia who were also planning a drive up to Inverness. Hopefully their luggage gets found before they're forced to dress entirely in kitschy tourist clothes.

Ghost Tour 2: Electric Boogaloo

Ghost tours are a fun way to connect with history. We sought out a tour that took us into the Edinburgh underground and found that almost all of them cover some part of it. Our tour started in Old Town at Mercat Cross where various horrible torture scenes were reenacted. A few people were disfigured for light treason, and Susan was "volunteered" to be hung for being a harlot.

The underground bit was light on history but the tour guide did a great job setting a spooky atmosphere. She took great advantage of the cave breathing phenomenon in the underground by weaving it into a creepy tale, and got a good jump scare for her trouble.

After the tour we did a death march back to the hotel for a well earned rest. Some fun stats for today:

• Miles walked: 11
• Dogs spotted: 16
• Bagpipers spotted: 6 (1 was even good)
• Whiskys tasted: 7
• Cats pet: 1
• Ghosts spotted: 0