We're staying in the Stockbridge neighborhood, walking distance to both new and old town. We headed past both, walking a couple of miles to the Elephant House.
Cheese monger in Stockbridge
Edinburgh Castle
Floral Clock, commemorating the Great War
We visited Greyfriars Bobby, a memorial statue to a little dog who, according to legend, sat guard at his master's grave in Grayfriars Kirkyard for 14 years. After the dog died in 1872, a philanthropist donated a statue of the dog which is installed outside the cemetery where Bobby is buried. The monument has 2 fountains: a high one for people and a low one for animals.
We walked the Royal Mile which runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, the Queen's home when she is in Edinburgh. It's really more than a mile, but who's counting. We wandered off and on the main street as we passed parks, cemeteries and monuments we walked to investigate.
Cheese monger in Stockbridge
Edinburgh Castle
Floral Clock, commemorating the Great War
Elephant House is the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books. We had brunch here and checked out the place.
Somehow a tradition developed of writing graffiti in the restaurant loos. The staff used to paint over it, but within a day they'd be marked up again. Management finally conceded defeat and stopped cleaning up the walls, although they do try to keep the mirrors clean. Some of the writings are touching, others are funny.
We visited Greyfriars Bobby, a memorial statue to a little dog who, according to legend, sat guard at his master's grave in Grayfriars Kirkyard for 14 years. After the dog died in 1872, a philanthropist donated a statue of the dog which is installed outside the cemetery where Bobby is buried. The monument has 2 fountains: a high one for people and a low one for animals.
We walked the Royal Mile which runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, the Queen's home when she is in Edinburgh. It's really more than a mile, but who's counting. We wandered off and on the main street as we passed parks, cemeteries and monuments we walked to investigate.
St. Giles cathedral, with Dumbledore in the lower left corner...
... levitating.
St. Giles cathedral. That's John Knox holding the book
St. Giles cathedral. That's John Knox holding the book
Royal Mile
Holyrood Palace
Ditto.
We saw this plaque on the Canongate Church and figured that Mr. Moodie was forced to donate the church as punishment dictated by James VII, thereby being mortified or publicly shamed. But actually, Moodie was a rich merchant who left a sizable sum to the Town Council in his will, for purpose of building a church. Mortification, in this sense, must have evolved from mort, or death.
The Old Carlton Burial Ground has a watchtower to keep an eye on the graves so that they were not molested.
Several monuments sit atop Carlton Hill.
Dugald Stewart monument with castle in distance
View from Carlton Hill
Royal Mile
Scott Monument, dedicated to Sir Walter Scott
One of my goals as we crisscrossed the streets was to find a Fairlie tartan. At the kiltmakers shop, he looked up my name and said we were related to the Rose clan. So now we know! The Rose clan has 2 tartans: Rose hunting (the green) and Rose red. The green is for less formal situations.
We finally trudged back to Stockbridge and had dinner in a pub around the corner from our place. Tomorrow we'll wrap up here and had to Glasgow for our last night in Scotland.
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