Today was Day 2 in Edinburgh, and we were lucky enough to have gorgeous, sunny weather - very un-Scottish! After another quick train ride into the city I dragged Ray out of the train station, across Waverly Bridge (all of about 10 yards) and booked us on a terribly touristy open top bus tour! The Edinburgh Tour promised us an hour out in the sunshine (and wind) with views of the highlights of the Old Town and the New (mind you, New Town was built in the 18th Century, so everything is relative. Highlights included some great views of the castle...
...the new Scottish Parliment building on the Royal Mile (the "gun" shaped objects are meant to be curtains pulled back from the windows - the Spanish architect wanted these to symoblize the transparency of the Scottish government.... everyone thinks they look like hair dryers, screw guns or hand guns)...
...Grassmarket, where the executions and hangings would take place (X marks the spot)...
...and the school that inspired Hogwarts!
Our lovely tour guide kept telling us to "look up" - and we are glad we did - the architecture in the city is amazing, and the amount of detail work in the buildings is inspiring, you can almost miss 90% of it, unless you "look up"!
This warning appeared on our tour bus, as the didn't want any of the passengers falling out with a quick start or a low hanging branch. Our tour guide did inform us that there was one exception to the rule: English passengers should be certain to stand up, on the off chance we happened by a low hanging branch!
After the bus tour it was lunch time - hard to believe, right? I had a small list of things Ray was required to eat before we left the country: Haggis, Irn-Bru and a deep fried Mars bar, all Scottish by invention. Today we fulfilled the haggis requirement. In the off chance any of you clicked on the haggis link in yesterday's post, you will understand why trying haggis was a big chance... I don't think they can be imported to the US as they may have been deemed "unfit for human consumption", but the Scottish are a stubborn bunch, and resourceful. I had accidentally ended up in a situation during my semester abroad where I was required to eat haggis. Actually not bad... tastes a bit like a spicey sausage... a good haggis should be peppery and have a good deal of whisky in it, I've been told.
So we headed off to The World's End pub for some pints, haggis for Ray and fish and chips for me!
Ray had a pint of Guinness and I had an old favorite of mine, a pint of cider with black currant. It was a bit pinker than I was expecting, but just as tasty as I remembered.
Ray's haggis was served with it's traditional sides, neeps and tatties! We paid the extra pound for the whisky cream sauce, which made all the difference! Ray loved it, an plans to sample it again!
After lunch we marched ourselves down to the bottom of the hill to visit The Palace of Holyroodhouse. The oldest parts of the palace date back to the 12 Century and to this day it is still the official residence of the Royal Family in Edinburgh. The Queen arrives every July, on our way up to summer in Balmoral, and is annually presented with the keys of the city and pledged the loyalty of the Scottish people. She also holds a garden party for 8,000, so you can imagine the lawn.
There is also the ruins of the old abbey, which I believe pre-dates the palace itself, that was included with the tour. We weren't allowed to take any photos on the inside, but it was a series of stunning rooms, full of portraits, tapestries and furniture older than any of the buildings in this country!
The garden was quite lovely, and backs right on to a large park, which includes views of Arthur's Seat.
Here Ray and I both point to the highest peak - where we had been just the day before!
Our day ended with a bit of shopping and a rainy ride by bus out to the airport. We had to pick up our "hire car" as we depart on our road trip to the Highlands in the morning. The Nasmyths also leave for their holiday in the North of England. Charles and Mary will be sharing their holiday with their youngest son, Richard, and his daughter, Skye. As a special treat, they flew Richard and Skye up to Edinburgh this evening so we could see them briefly before we all part ways.