Day 20: Edinburgh III

Our last and final day we did more touring of the city and decided to spend it hiking up to King Arthur’s Seat; a high peak in the city with unbelievable views. It was really windy and quite chilly the whole trek up but totally worth it.

We took the unbeaten path back down. Eric guided the way and we ended up in some thorn bushes at one point. But it was pretty!

We worked up quite an appetite so we stopped by the Sheep Heid Inn (Est. 1360), a pub that Eric read about in our guide book. “The Sheep Heid doesn’t feature too heavily in the history books until the time of Mary Queen of Scots when it became a stop off point on her regular jaunts between the royal palaces of Craigmillar and Holyrood”. Fantastic decor inside...

A fuzzy caterpillar on our walk home.

We spent the evening packing up our things, getting ready to head home, and crying* because we didn’t want to leave. We left the flat around 4 in the morning. A very long day of traveling ahead of us. First stop, London. Then, on to Nova Scotia and finally Philly :(
So long, Amazing Honeymoon.

You. Were. EPIC.

*Not really. Well, maybe just a little.

Day 19: Edinburgh II

A fairly low-key day. We walked around town and through a pretty cool graveyard on our way to Holyrood Castle. 

Great shot of Arthur's Seat.

Holyrood Castle is where the Royal Family stays when they visit Scotland and have super special, secretive meetings. No photography allowed inside but here are a few shots from the grounds.

The courtyard.

Holyrood Abbey.

After, we meandered the streets of Edinburgh when all of a sudden, this happened...

Meandering ensued followed by dinner. Bangers & Mash!

We headed back to the flat while the sunset.

 

 

Day 17: Edinburgh

We slept in a bit today before bundling up and walking down the street to The Circle Cafe for some breakfast... at noon.

We had avoided the typical cold and wet British weather for so long, it was bound to catch up with us. It was cold and extremely windy but definitely not going to stop us. We walked through town to Edinburgh Castle; situated on a hill which used to be a volcano.

The entrance with statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.

 We got the audio tour and went through every single bit together. Great views.

At 1:00pm everyday they set off a canon as tradition since the first world war.

Here it is in action. (The real excitement starts at 1:50)

Soldier’s Dogs cemetery.

Small chapel.

Great sky.

Catching a break from the chilly wind.

A church within the castle.

Mary Queen of Scots. Quite a looker. Not the best life.

Prisoner of War cells.

Doors with graffiti dating back to the 18th century. An American prisoner carves the flag.

Rations.

We also go to see the crown jewels, scepter, and the Stone of Destiny (no photos allowed. This is super special stuff). After leaving the castle we stopped by the tartan factory where they make and sell all things tartan. Here are the looms in action.

We stumbled upon a pub just in time before a heavy dose of rain came and ate while it passed.

Some more walking around the city and it was time for some delivery dinner at the flat. After all the walking we didn’t feel like going out for dinner so we ordered some Indian food. We had high expectations but the food just didn’t come close to Tiffin, our favorite Indian spot in Philly. Oh well, we tried!