EDINBURGH Day 3

 We plan to tour the castle today and Rick Steves says we should get there early to avoid the crowds so that is just what we do.  It opens at 9:30 and we're there at 9:35.  We activate our special 7 day pass to different attractions throughout Scotland and waltz to the front of the line.  Feel like real VIPs.  

This church is at the corner where our street meets with the Royal Mile so we walk past it often.  The red shutters just make me shudder.  Looks like it is inhabited by some evil monster.  But back to the castle.

The cobbled stone path takes through the impressive front gate complete with heavy iron doors and a little later a big metal gate full of spikes that comes down.  We're inside!  We walk up to the line of canons and a great view of the city.  (Really better than Cantrell Hill).  We make a bee line to the crown jewels (again recommended by Rick Steves) and get there before any of the crowds.  Of course no pictures are allowed.  The crown is red fabric with a jeweled framework.  Along side are royal swords and the stone of destiny which must be returned to England for any royal inauguration.  

From there we go to the private chambers.  They seem more livable than many castles.  The next part we enter is the memorial to war veterans.  There was even a section honoring the musicians!  From there we entered the great hall.  The king had a special grate that he could look through to secretly watch his guests.  

On to the Chapel to Saint Margret.  Very small and very simple.  It is the oldest building in Edinburgh.  It survived several stormings of the castle as the invading armies were superstitious enough or religious enough not to harm it.  

There is a special area for the burial of the royal dogs.

Next stop is a gift shop/whisky tasting.  A Bailey's Cream type  was the sample being given out.  Yummm!  I bought some whisky fudge.  Probably will be eaten as soon as Nick and I meet up in London in a couple of weeks.  

We're heading to a cafe inside the castle for lunch.  What!?  It's closed off and we can't get there?  Well, in 30 minutes there is going to be a special 42 gun salute to celebrate the Queen's jubilee and they are clearing the area out.  We find a place to stand behind some nice short people to wait.  We are entertained by the people in special uniforms trying to go down a steep stone section of the road without slipping.  Tension is mounting and it is obvious that they are preparing for the pagentry to begin.  A brass band in full kilt regalia, military personnel with lots of ribbons, braid and stars.  Escorts with dignitaries.  Then the bagpipes play while a special guest is escorted to position.   We find out later that it is Moira Nevin.  

After the pageantry, we head down the Royal Mile and end up at our old favorite pub where we were last night.  I get a luscious brie sandwich with cranberries and chutney.  I know the brie is extraordinary because it was paired with one of my whiskies last night.  We know we're in the right place when some of the sailors who were at the ceremony come in for drinks.  

We head back to the hostel for some rest before heading out for our Underground tour.  The gathering spot is a few blocks from the hostel.  We're old hands around here now and know just where it is.  Others are gathering too and we're warmly greeted by our guide.  She is lively, dynamic and dramatic.  We have a couple of stops and hear some history of the gruesome, violent life in early Edinburgh. Being homeless was a crime that could be punished by hanging!  Blasphemy could be punished by publicly nailing someone by the tongue in the public square!  YIKES!  Then we head down to the underground chambers that were once used to store goods.  But since they were made of lime stone, they eventually started to have water drip through and ruin the goods.  They then became a very rough area with all kinds of unsavory activity going on.  Some areas were used for pagan rituals.  How much of what she told us was factual is left to our imaginations but it was fun and entertaining.  My guess is that there were grains of truth that were embellished.  

After the tour, Melodie and I walked down the last half of the Royal Mile that we had missed earlier.  We poked into a few of the close courtyards on the way down.  There was one that was particularly peaceful and had modern apartments hiding behind the old front facades.

 The end of the royal mile is the Royal Palace.  It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and of course, today is Wednesday so we could only view it from the gate. 

 On the way back up, a beautiful tunic type top caught my eye.  I went to take a closer look and it was on sale!  Yes, I ended up buying it.  

We met back up with Connie and Marilyn and went in search of dinner.  We ended up at Bert's Fish and Chips.  Quite a large place.  Once we finally were seated, we were overlooked,   Once we finally ordered, the order was lost.  I think it was about an hour later that we finally got our food.  We did get our haggis egg rolls quickly and they were quite good.  

After dinner, Melodie, Connie and I went to a pub that was just down the street and recommended by Stu and Ole.  We enjoyed a nice pint of porter and then headed back to the hostel.

We're leaving in the morning to move on to Sterling.