This morning we had to get up early to catch the 8:30 train to Edinburgh. It was nice to just sit and ride. It took 4 1/2 hours to get here and it was rainy the whole way.
When we got here, we had to walk up and down steep hills .7 miles but it seemed like more with all of our luggage in tow and in the rain. We dropped off our luggage at the hotel because our room wasn't ready yet and we went to get lunch. We found a neat little pub on the Royal Mile. (The Royal Mile is the main street running through the middle of the old city, stretching a mile from the Royal Palace to the old castle.) I had berry cider and fish and chips. Scott had "real bear" from a cask and steak and ale with potatoes.
After lunch, we took a little side trip into the Edinburgh museum. It was a neat little museum with lots of artifacts of the glass and silver that was made here.
After the museum, we went to our hotel and put our things in our room. This by far is the nicest hotel we have stayed in yet. The room actually has floor space to walk around, wooden blinds, and one whole bed instead of two twin beds stuck together. (I can't tell you how many times Scott has fallen into the crack!)
After resting a little, we went down hill to the Holyrood Palace. This is the palace where Mary, queen of Scotts, lived. It's also where her husband had a friend of hers murdered because he was jealous. The current queen still uses the palace as her home when she comes to Scotland once a year. We saw the old king's receiving rooms, beds, furniture, paintings, and beautiful architecture. The Queen Mary chambers and artifact collection were also super cool. I couldn't take pictures inside, so there are none to show. But I did get the souvenir book!
After the tour, we went back to the hotel to hang out till dinner. Then we ate at another pub. This time, I had a pear cider and a burger. Scott had another cask ale and chicken with haggist. Then we went on a tour of one of the underground areas, "The Real Mary King's Cross." Back in the 1700s, the city was full of 12 story high buildings that were built all close together. In the mid 1700s, they decided to demolish the top wooden parts of the buildings and build on top of them. They covered the streets and built new buildings, evicting the people that lived in the homes. Now you can go in certain areas and see the old homes. It was a neat tour, but definitely creepy. It's hard to tell that they were homes except in a few areas. The end of the tour we could definitely tell it was a street and could see up and down the hill and how tall the buildings had to have been. I couldn't take pictures in there either, sorry!
One thing about this city, if you live here you have to be in excellent shape. Everything, and I mean everything, is on a hill. Its crazy! Here is hoping tomorrow isn't rainy and we will survive climbing all the way to the top of the Royal Mile to the castle.
No comments:
Post a Comment