For our first trip out on Saturday, we went to the Royal Botanical Garden only a half mile from the flat. It is a magnificent 17-acre garden. And the admission is free!  There  are  impressive old trees with awesome trunks. The garden has 700 of the world’s 1000 varieties rhododendron. We were lucky because at the end of May, they were in full bloom and just incredibly very beautiful. We took lots of photos and spent about three hours walking and looking around.

    Because we were couldn’t see the all of the garden during our first visit, we went back on Monday. This time, instead of walking up the road to the garden, we passed through a gate to pleasant path that runs parallel to the road on side of the path and, on the other side, to a stream, the Water of Leith, the main river that flows through Edinburgh. This time we visited the extensive rock garden with many interesting plants, including some rhododendrons with tiny flowers and leaves. Later, the next week, we finished with a third walk through the garden.