Conference and More (Scotland #2)

On our first full day in Scotland, I slept in. 

I don't remember how late, but I'd say that I sufficiently caught up on sleep! 

Meanwhile, Carson attended his conference. The setting looked beautiful, and this reminded him of Harry Potter (which he's reading for the first time right now, so everything reminds him of Harry Potter). Oddly enough, JK Rowling started writing the series in Edinburgh (she also finished it there), so we would later see quite a few things that were related to the story.

While he was presenting his paper and having famous people in the field ask him tough questions, I struck out on my own to walk around. I took some pictures and browsed stores, mostly. I knew we were going to do more exploring together the next day, so I didn't want to do too much.

Here is Edinburgh Castle. Castles on hills just seem more like real castles, don't they?

A thistle in the Princes Street Gardens.

The Balmoral Hotel, where JK Rowling finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It's a fancy hotel, but what I found fun was that the doormen helping people in and out of cabs were wearing kilts! Not all that abnormal in Scotland I guess, but I liked it.

Just like in London, we had to remember to look right first and then left. It's hard to train your brain that way! I'd be really interested to see the numbers on tourists who forget and get hit (I hope they're small, but I still wonder).

Statues of David Livingstone and Sir Walter Scott.

Reunited with Mr. Bay.

We walked down this street in search of my dinner. It was after 8 when we met, and Carson ate at the conference.

I didn't know this before but my first name is the name of a Scottish clan! I didn't purchase anything related to this clan, but I was still pretty excited to see my name everywhere!

Carson really wanted to do this dramatic drop with his paper he presented. Haha.

This is the backside of a Highland Cow.

And this is Carson, who said he "wasn't tired" and was "just going to read for a little bit". Spoiler alert: he was snoring in this picture, taken about 60 seconds after he made those claims.