On September 1, Elaine, Mary and I met at Mary’s Glen Ellyn home to consolidate luggage and get to O’Hare for our 6:35 overnight flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. We had planned this trip almost a year ago, a whirlwind, 24-day trip spanning Scotland, England and Wales.

We landed to a beautiful, sunny day, highs in the low 60’s. Getting through passport control was completely automated and took minutes, the luggage was on the belt quickly and we easily found our way to the tram. But it was when we got off the tram at St. Andrew’s Square that the magic began.

Steve Kydd is an energetic, jovial 73-year-old Scotsman who Elaine and I met on our first Camino. He is a retired videographer/TV cameraman who has amazing tales of stories he has covered and an incredibly deep knowledge of Scottish history and the history of the British Isles. He kindly offered to take us around the city—we had no idea that we were getting the best possible personal guide.

Once we stored our luggage at the nearby bus station, Steve walked us just blocks to the National Portrait Gallery, a site we totally would have overlooked if we were just following the guidebook. It is a beautiful building, with a main gallery that has a mural of the history of the people on Scotland and busts of famous Scots, including the literary giants Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott. We did not go into the exhibits, but looked at the gallery and the library, then had coffee in the cafe.

Steve walked us to the Holyrood House (where the royals live when they are in Edinburgh) at the base of the Royal Mile, stopping on the way to show us two beautiful old pubs and a very old cemetery where the philosopher David Hume is buried and there is a memorial to Abraham Lincoln.

At Holyrood Steve told the story of the night Princess Diana died. He had been filming interviews, but on his way home he decided to drive past Holyrood House, just in time to photograph a young man laying the first flowers at the gates. By the next day, the whole street was filled with flowers.

We walked slowly up the Royal Mile, stopping in front of Clarinda’s Tea Room to hear about the unconsummated love between Carinda and Robert Burns, stopping into Canongate Kirk, where Queen Elizabeth worshipped, and ducking into pends and closes and peaceful gardens.

At 3 we had tickets for the Edinburgh Castle, an entire walled city of old, dating back from the 12th century. It was great weather to walk around the grounds, and we got to see St. Margaret’s Chapel, the Crown Jewels, the royal residences, the great hall, the WW I memorial and even the dog cemetery.

by the time we finished, Mary and I could barely stay upright.

At some point, we retrieved our suitcases and dropped them off at the Airbnb, right on the Royal Mile, then we went to a pub for some dinner, said goodnight to Steve and came back to our place to unwind and finally get some rest.