Scots Sunbathing On Princes Mall

We arrived at our economy hotel too early to check in and laden with baggage. The day clerk let us store our bags in a backroom, and told us to come back at 3:00 PM. We were seriously jet-lagged and needed sleep. We took a bus to the center of town to kill time, to find Edinburgh basking in sunshine. One imagines Scotland to be dank and gloomy, like England except colder. And, indeed, it was a cool and rainy August for most of our stay. But that day there was sun, and the Scots were sprawled about everywhere savoring it. Edinburgh Castle, the Tron Kirk, the whole Royal Mile was defined with crystalline clarity against a sky full of luminous clouds. We had never enjoyed total exhaustion so much before in our lives.