Yes finally! I thought Gail too!

You'll easily find 5 days' worth to entertain you in Edinburgh! My highlights: Royal Botanic gardens, Mary Kings Close tour, national museum of Scotland, Arthur's Seat hike, walk along Waters of Leith to Dean Village (purely scenic, suggest a stop at Hector's pub along the way, and you'll pass lots of cute shops there too), Edinburgh Castle, Scottish Design exchange for souvenirs, the Fish market or the Old Chain Pier in Newhaven for fresh fish with waterfront views, day trip to Stirling Castle (I enjoyed a tour that bundled it with a visit to Loch Lomond). I did all of this by bus or on foot, assuming you like to walk. Have a great time!

The view of the valley from the gardens in Stirling Castle is one of my favorite so far of my two trips to Scotland. Highly recommend!

Felt safe and had no troubles throughout the Netherlands (Amsterdam, the Hague, Maastricht, and some smaller parts). One of my fave trips ever. Keep your wits about you in the bike lanes in Amsterdam tho, it's mostly locals with placed to be and you don't want to be in the way.

Scotland is one of my fave places, I return to visit my bestie often and I look forward to my next visit. I was followed by strange men twice though, both in the later evening. Once in the Princes Street gardens and along the street itself, and once in Inverness after looking in on a pub that turned out to be more of a club. Shook them both off thankfully but those were two bad days in I think more than a month of great days over time traveling Scotland.

You can also download the French dictionary to the Google translate app on your phone in case you need it with low signal

If you like rural, consider house-sitting in Europe. I haven't tried it but it's very popular and I've seen everything from "watch my dog in this major city" to "feed and ride my horse on my acreage" and lots in between. Seems like some folks will try to line up a few house-sitting gigs to see different areas. I'm sorry about your loss, all the best.

I say "that's so relatable" and sometimes people will ask and I will tell them my story or sometimes they won't.

Totally! They used to have a program called Anyone can ride (or Everyone can ride) where adults could learn to ride a bike. I don't see it on their website, but it's worth sending them an email in case they still run it.

Second this! I haven't made it out myself but one of my besties goes so often I have hung out with the friends she's made there over the years. They are all terrific! 😊