Edinburgh-wynds, steps, closes and the World's End

Edinburgh is many things, flat is not one of them. Our hotel was located just across the street from a set of steps that led directly to the front entrance of the castle. They were called the South Castle Wynd steps...all 150+ of them. From the castle entrance, you can walk down the Royal Mile all the way to Holyrood Palace, all of which is downhill. Then you get to walk back up again. Edinburgh has been built on many levels over the years, you can see this by looking down the narrow closes on the Royal Mile. The closes lead down to a amazing number of small streets, courtyards, and underground vaults. If you know your way around them, they're probably great for taking shortcuts from point A to point B, for visitors they're a little intimidating but quite intriguing at the same time. We had our final dinner in Edinburgh at a place called the World's End, so named because it's built over a section of city wall from the 16th century that marked the outer boundary of Edinburgh at that time. At that wall the world ended and Edinburgh began, hence the name World's End. I had an excellent steak and ale pie and Mike and I shared a sticky toffee pudding. The pub is really cool with lots of dark wood paneling and exposed rock walls. If I make it back to Edinburgh, I would definitely go to the World's End again.