Wednesday we set out from London to Edinburgh via rail. There was a Scottie dog hanging out in the train station. I was hoping he'd get on my train car, but no luck. We snoozed and read and blogged until we had to switch trains (which we did like pros, by the way). Then we snoozed a little more and when I opened my eyes I saw the most beautiful bright green hillside! Hiya! (As they say.)
Arriving in Edinburgh, we were hit with hills. I immediately and not for the first time regretted poor packing choices. (Next time I vow to do better...) We trekked our way up and up through crowds to land at Hotel du Vin.
We dropped our things and headed down to get some dinner at Deacon Brodie's Tavern in Brodie Close. William Brodie was a well-loved deacon cabinet maker who had drinking and gambling problems and became a sort of crime boss after falling into trouble. He was eventually hanged (ironically on gallows he designed). Years later, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, inspired by Deacon Brodie. Not sure if he's an ancestor or not, but it makes for a cool story!
After dinner we walked up (and up and up) to Carlton Hill. It is supposed to be amazing at sunset, but that doesn't happen until 10:30 here, past our bedtime.
Thursday we had the day to walk around Edinburgh. (Around means up and down hills, up and down stairs.) We started at Princes Street Gardens, the large public park that divides Old Town and New Town. The park was created in the 1820's after the draining of Nor Loch in order to build New Town. The gardens run along below the castle and end at St. John's and St. Cuthbert churches (kirks). They both have extensive "kirkyards" full of large family crypts. Creepy but cool.
The Edinburgh Castle was built in the 11th century upon Castle Rock, a 350 million year-old volcanic plug, and was the site of many battles. We made our way to the top but had not planned ahead to visit, and tickets were sold out for the day. (Steve requested a maximum of two castles on this trip and we will be one over limit in a few days... but he would have liked this one!)
On to Greyfriars Kirkyard to find some notable graves. Out front is Greyfriars Bobby, the famous little Skye Terrier who sat at his master's grave. If you don't know the story, Google it, but I warn you it's a sad one and another reminder that we don't deserve dogs. (Notice the bronze statue-- his nose is shiny because everyone who goes by stops to rub his little nose.) After we saw Bobby's grave and memorial, I went in search of Tom Riddle's stone. (Harry Potter nerds--you know who you are!) We turned this way and that, then back... again this way and that... and then I found it! Steve said, "I thought we were looking for something cool. What the hell is this?" He never embraced the Harry Potter stories.
We continued around Edinburgh, mostly up and down stairs, marveling in the old. Endinburgh is full of colorful history of battles, trade, politics, art, poverty and opulence. We really didn't have enough time to explore it all, though we did spend a bit of time in the Grassmarket area, which was the inspiration for JK Rowling's Diagon Alley. It has been used as a market space since the 14th century. With a wide open area it was ideal for livestock and also public executions. (A versatile space!)
We had enough of crowds, so we thought we'd try dinner back at our hotel. The bistro at Hotel du Vin was a little fancy for us so we wandered around a bit and stumbled onto a menu along the sidewalk with a sign that read, "Under the stairs-->" Great food and atmosphere.
Somehow we found room for gelato. We noticed a line and as Portlanders it's hard to pass up a line! We knew something good was in store.
Edinburgh, that's a wrap. Too short, but there's still adventuring to be done. We'll be on the wrong side of the road soon!
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Wow, you sure covered a lot ground in Edinburgh. Not an easy city to walk around in. So many hills. Just the castle wore us out.
Thanks again for the blog and be careful with the wrong side of the road.
Your stamina is impressive! You are putting us to shame (although we did manage tickets into the Castle:). No worries though…we heard someone say outside the castle, “When you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”