the trio in scotland, part III: Edinburgh, day 2
the trio in scotland, part II: Edinburgh, day 1
We slept through breakfast and got lunch at 'Chocolate Soup.' We all got their very affordable soup and sandwich combo, and Cameron got the hot chocolate, which thank goodness he did, or we would never have tasted heaven. It was literally chocolate soup, and it was amazing. It reminded me of the Elmwood Cafe's hot chocolate in Berkeley - thick, creamy and soooo chocolately.
After brunch, I convinced the boys to go on a tour of 'The Real Mary King's Close' - an underground series of tunnels and rooms of the original city of Edinburgh, once open to the air, that is now buried under the Royal Mile. We weren't allowed to take pictures, as some of the tour is situated under Scottish government buildings. I did snap a shot of our tour guide (below) when she went on her lunch break above ground, who claimed to be Mary King's daughter, over 400 years old.
A 'close' is a name for street, and the one we toured was named after Mary King, a prominent seamstress in old Edinburgh. We learned about specific residents of the close, heard ghost stories of eerie phenomenon happening in the underground tunnels, and got a picture of what life was like in old Edinburgh.
The three of us walked down the Royal Mile, then past Holyrookhouse Palace to Arthur's Seat, the highest point in the city.
We started out our hike up the mountain with a leisurely walk through green rolling hills, with only a bit of ice as a warning of what was soon to come. As we headed up, it got icier, snowier, rockier and darker. This was by far my favourite part of our trip. It began to snow as we got about halfway up the mountain.
The view was breathtaking. If it hadn't been getting darker by the minute I would have loved to have stayed on top of the rock for hours. In the picture below on the right you can see the Royal Mile.
Once we got back to the Royal Mile we popped in to the Tolbooth Tavern, established in 1820, so the boys could finally try their Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. They ate everything on their plate! (And said they felt properly Scottish because of it.) I stuck with the fish and chips and wasn't disappointed. I did try the haggis, just to say I had. I can now add sheep's intestine to my list of weird things I've eaten in foreign countries (it can join the guinea pig I sampled in Ecuador).
Back at the hostel we played some cards and drank hot chocolate, and then got to bed early. We woke up at five in the morning to make our 7 am flight from Edinburgh to London.
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