Though grey skies to begin with, our day turned lovely and sunny in Edinburgh (pronounced Edinburr by locals)! At the Town Crier, we were blessed with a free history lesson from a local Scottish tour guide! We learned some fascinating history of Edinburgh, such as the number of claws on the lion statues/flags seen all about determines whether a king or queen was in reign. We also learned that the sound shoes make in the Advocate Hall muffles all chatter. Therefore, it is good for barristers to discuss cases confidentially whilst walking in this hall. Cora thought the barristers wearing wigs were quite interesting. Titus enjoyed the metal detectors we were required to use to enter the hall most fun! At the Advocate Hall there lies John Knox’s grave paved over by car park space number 23!
From here we walked to Greyfriar’s Bobby to see the infamous dog whom would not leave his master’s, John Grey, gravesight! Cora and Titus own a book about this dog and loved walking the church yard as this story came alive for them today! After this we stumbled upon the Elephant House, which is the cafe where J.K. Rawlings wrote the famous Harry Potter series. Kay loved all the elephants and the kids loved the view! Next we climbed higher to Edinburgh Castle where Cora was captivated by the views and Crown Jewels! Titus loved the loud boom of the cannon fired daily at 1pm!
Exhausted, we searched to lunch and all the places we wanted to eat at had too long of a wait. As a result, we ended up at St. Giles Cafe and Titus napped on me while we ate and then everyone went on to the shops while I remained with him to rest. Titus was determined to find a Nessie stuffed toy to take home, but Cora was the first to find hers in pink (a rare find)!
For dinner Ryan and I wee on the search for Haggis, Taddies, and Neeps which we finally found at Deacon and Brodie’s! In this establishment Deacon Brodie frequented and was known to live a double life, thus the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Delicious Haggis and sausages by the way! Walking nearly the entire Royal Mile twice in one day wore us all out, so it’s off to bed in preparation for more adventures tomorrow!
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