16 June was a travel day from Toledo to Madrid to Edinburgh. A few trains, bus and a plane trip later landed in Edinburgh. Much much cooler. Very much enjoyed Spain. Madrid was pleasanter than we anticipated. Very easy to get around. Felt safe and people very friendly. Food was great - lovely and fresh and loved the flamboyance of the people - their clothing, the jewellery etc and the lifestyle. Also really enjoyed the art we saw - the Prado is probably better than I was expecting. Well thought out explanations of the art work and no photos allowed. Brilliant. So annoyed by the people who never look at the artwork and just stand there photographing or videoing them. Crazy. Very classy city. Also really enjoyed Toledo. The history is fascinating. So dark in many ways with the confrontation between the 3 religions and then the Franco era. Will have to come back and see the South.
Seems still quite strange, arriving back to our home in Edinburgh from Spain - just 3 hours later. Anyway Edinburgh has found the sun again so we made the most of it and walked up Arthurs Seat - the giant extinct volcano at one end of the city. Terrific views of the city and we sat in the sun enjoying some lunch. Loved watching all the locals and tourists and were rewarded with a pheasant flying past us at a terrific speed. I thought it was a hawk but SA - ever the intrepid fly fisherman - recognised the feathers from some fishing flies and advised it was a pheasant. Stunning looking anyway.
Politics getting ever more complicated here. Large protest outside the Scottish Parliament which we ran into - people marching protesting against the Conservative Government's deal with the DUP (the Irish Unionists) so they can form a government. The DUP are ultra - conservative. The protesters were largely basically pro-gay and diversity. Lots of rainbow coloured banners. Interestingly a number of companies such as major banks and their employees there and some had rainbow coloured flags inside their offices. The country does not seem happy. Lots of news about the Grenfell fire in London as well. Theresa May booed when she turned up there. What a mess. Have continued my buying of various UK papers. Onto the Guardian today. Definitely not buying The Sun again - not even for the TV Guide. Just can't do it.
No tapas tonight. Sigh. Will be enjoying a Tesco chicken and fresh vegetables however. They do have very nice fruit and veg. Bought some lovely looking raspberries.
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