We set out this morning as tourists in Edinburgh. When we left it was overcast, but there was not the dreaded haar (fog) that is so common in Edinburgh. This hill is called the Seat of Arthur and is visible when we walk about a block outside our apartment.
It was cloudy but warm, so we were perfectly content. It was 40-45 degrees all day today. That's fine with us! We walked around and took in the sights for a while. We came upon a statue of Adam Smith. Well, Myles was thrilled and we had to take a picture because Adam Smith is considered the "Father of Economics." He wrote The Wealth of Nations.
Myles was excited to see the statue of Adam, and we were REALLY excited to go to the Elephant House. It was a small coffee shop, now a restaurant as well. The exciting thing about this place is that it is where JK Rowling sat and wrote the early Harry Potter novels!
We are big Harry Potter fans, and it was so cool to visit the Elephant House. We walked around the back room (where she sat) and there is a huge window with a spectacular view of the Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh is not that big (about 500,000 people) and JK Rowling lives here. We all have our eagle eyes out for her. Seeing her would be a spectacular celebrity sighting for us!
We were there at about 11:00 and they were not serving lunch yet, so we did not eat there. We walked around for a while longer and then found a pub to eat lunch. It was called Deacon Brodie's. Deacon Brodie was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have had some literary fun today for sure!
This pub had some traditional Scottish dishes. We had a UK favorite, fish and chips. Ben was very brave and ordered the Scottish National Dish. It is called Haggis. It is sheep lungs, liver, hearts--minced and mixed with oatmeal and spices. Ben thought it was quite tasty. Some of us thought the idea of it was so disgusting that we would not even try it!
After lunch we went to Edinburgh Castle.
The castle has a long and fascinating history. Mary, Queen of Scots was born here and was named queen when she was six days old. She was coronated as queen at nine months old. Her son, James was born there, too. This is the James for whom JAMESTOWN in Virginia is named. Those two names are just the tip of the iceberg. We toured the castle and this was by far my favorite castle that we have visited.
The views are breathtaking. Of course, the castle is the highest point of the city. Since it was not too foggy we could see a long way away. The sea was visible and we had a wonderful view of the city. One of the things that I really liked about visiting the castle was all of the employees who were very welcoming. They were all over the place answering questions and offering insight. Here are Trey and Natalie modeling some head wear of medieval soldiers.
Of course, Abbie is in her element at a castle. She ended up with a tiara and her daddy crowning her Queen Abbie. All is right with the world.
We stopped by a grocery store and had dinner at the apartment. We had a full day and are in for the night at 7:00. We'll head out again in the morning...
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