There are plenty of things about living on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh that I might complain about (yes, I know, I live on the Royal Mile – how dare I complain about anything?). For instance, a few times a day (more on the weekend), tours come through the courtyard outside my bedroom window. The tour guides like to yell.
Other times, a crazy monk with a bell lurks in the trees and scares the tour groups coming through. They all scream and laugh as the monk howls and rings his bell. It’s hilarious… but only the first couple times.
I have to fight my way through tourists to get anywhere. They have this adorable habit of stopping suddenly right in front of you to take a photograph of something and I am becoming quite adept at swerving to avoid running into them.
I also get to hear bagpipes almost 24/7 drifting in through the windows. It wouldn’t be so bad if they would only learn to play more than three songs (Scotland the Brave, Amazing Grace, and the Last of the Mohicans theme song, to be precise).
But the good certainly outweighs the bad. I was reminded of how blessed I am to be here the other night when I wandered into the kitchen to make some dinner and happened to glance out the window…
I immediately rushed back to my room for my camera and proceeded to lean as far out as I dared to absorb the beauty of a brilliant sunset.
My window looks out over Princes Street (hence, hearing bagpipe players…all the time). The towers connected to our building belong to New College.
We often get too many clouds here for a proper sunset, but when the colors do show, they are breathtaking. And I get to see it framed by old towers through my humble, little kitchen window.