Outline of days
Day 1, flew from Indy to JFK and then arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland on the morning of 
We arrived at our airbnb in Portobello beach area and visited some thrift shops. 
Saturday, June 17 - Got up to enjoy some tea and crumpets and McVitie’s Digestive biscuits and a 4:30 sunrise. After a helpful nap, we drove downtown to visit the Edinburgh Castle. The girls had an Explorer Pass and I did the Historic Scotland Membership. We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant and had fried bree, haggis, fish and chips and dessert. I loved everything.
Then we went on a self guided walking tour of Edinburgh and saw the James Clerk Maxwell statue.
We stopped by a Tesco on the way home and had a great time at the beach around sunset (10pm).
That week my daughters and I visited the Dunfermline Abbey and Palace where people dressed in period outfits told us about blacksmithing, games in the Middle Ages, and actors performed as Queen Margaret and her lady in waiting. We learned that nails used in doors were bent and couldn’t be reused - thus, it was dead … dead as a door nail. While in the village we happened upon the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie and the accompanying museum. This museum was free and the abby was included with our Explorer Pass and Historic Scotland membership.
Betsy and I climbed to Arthur’s Seat and made it back to our bnb in a pleasant ran. The next morning we got up in time for the 4:30 sunrise. It was beautiful.
After a little nap we were off to Sterling Castle. We heard the tale of the unicorn, the official animal of Scotland - a symbol of strength, purity, etc. We temporarily usurped the thrones, had our Scotch pies and strawberry tarts we had picked up that morning.
Once the delightful tours were completed we headed to Finnich Glen (a.k.a. The Devil’s Pulpit, which we later found out appeared in shows like Pokémon and Outlander). Parking was limited and we missed the stop, but providentially we found a car park the led to a path up a hill with impressive vistas. Off in the distance I could even see Loch Lomond. The GPS said we were outside of Glasgow in Blanefield.
Then back to Finnich Glen and a perfect parking spot. Finnich Glen is a steep sided sandstone gorge carved by the Carnock Burn. The sign informed us that visitors should be aware of unstable gorge edges and hidden, sheer drops. It took us some exploring to find the way down, but it was worth it.
By 6pm we had made it to the village of Balmaha on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. We got some crisps and an ice cream cone and hiked a bit, but needed to drive to find a more impressive beach. It was brilliant.
We had one more adventure in us for the night. We hiked up Abbeyhill in Holyrood Park to capture amazing sunset photos at 10pm.
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