Edinburgh, 4-29-10

Stayed the night at 53 Frederick St, a very comfortable and friendly guest house located in the middle of the New Town section of Edinburgh. Awoke at 7:30 local time and went downstairs to Ricks for a light breakfast of sausages, bacon, haggis, mushrooms, potato scone, eggs, and tomatoes, with orange juice, toast & coffee. It was my first time trying haggis, and I must say I found it delicious. Similar to livermush, for those who are familiar with that southern delicacy.

After breakfast we headed to Edinburgh Castle, (try the 3-D tour!) built on a well-situated hill created by volcanic activity sometime around 340 billion years ago, give or take. The castle was impressive, and there was lots of information, from the wall signs, tour brochure, and audio guide. There were human guides around as well, and they all seemed very well informed, and keen to answer questions thoroughly, rather than give simple responses. This made me happy, as I was keen to hear their lovely brogues, and tended to make up questions just to get them to talk to me.
Highlights of the castle include:
-The Honors of Scotland (crown jewels) -including the crown, sceptre, and sword that were once hidden away from Cromwell's forces for safe keeping in a wooden box, to be recovered later by Walter Scott. The Stone of Scone is there, as well, having been taken from Scotland to England in 1296 and returned finally in 1996.
At one point, I wandered into the gift shop, as I do. I love a shop. There was another guide there, dispensing small sips of whisky to those of age who were interested in tasting what they had on offer. So of course I stepped to receive a wee dram. I don't drink much, and can't remember the last time I tasted whisky, so I proceeded with caution. "Do I just ... shoot it?" I asked. "You can,...if you like," the pourmeister replied, a little dubiously. At this point, another interested patron, who apparently couldn't bear the thought of such a waste of good alcohol stepped in and said, "if you just put a wee bit under your tongue, just up near the back o' your teeth, and inhale and let the air move over it, you'll taste the aroma first. And then you can swallow it." Well, that sounded pretty sensible to me, so I tried it that way. I definitely tasted the aroma. Not unpleasant, but not something I could picture enjoying on a regular basis, either. At that point, I noticed a small bottle of 16-year-old Lagavulin on the shelf. A dear friend had given me strict instructions to bring a bottle of it home, so I seized the opportunity to seize a bottle. I asked for and received a taste of the Lagavulin, and the difference in taste was like night and day. I love the smokier and more smooth taste, and was quite pleased with my choice. I'm looking forward to enjoying it on a nice fall evening back home. I think it will be a very pleasant consolation.
After the gift shop, we realized it was very nearly time for the one o'clock gun, a tradition at Edinburgh Castle. We stuck around to watch that, then headed to lunch at a converted cathedral, where I introduced my parents to the spicy joys of Ginger Beer. We then took a walk along the Royal Mile, doing a little window shopping. It was mostly kilt shops and Celtic jewelry, but definitely fun, and an enjoyable walk. We got some information about a ghost walk later in the evening, and then Mom, Aunt Becky and I split off from Dad (who was feeling a bit under the weather) and continued on down to Holyrood Palace & Abbey for a tour. We had just enough time to make it through before they closed, and we got to see the setup for a banquet to be held later that night, when Princess Ann was due to make an appearance. We saw the room where Mary Queen of Scots witnessed the brutal murder of her Secretary by her jealous husband. Strange to think that such a dramatic and bloody event took place there in that clean, tranquil room. The ruin of the Abbey was beautiful, but then I am always drawn to those things.
Dinner was a quick fish and chips, and then Mom and I rushed back to the Royal Mile for our ghost walk. We were led by two young men whose names I've unfortunately forgotten, but I think one of them was Alex. They were funny and spooky, and told us stories about the gruesome history of Edinburgh, and led us down into the underground areas beneath the city that are said to be haunted. Of course, I enjoyed the heck out of it, but such walks have never been Mom's cup of tea. I think she just goes along to be supportive, and because 90 minutes of ghost stories are still preferable to her than 90 minutes of worrying about her "baby" daughter out there all alone in a big foreign city. It's sweet.
We walked around a bit after the tour, enjoying the sights of Edinburgh after dark, and got back in at about 10:30pm.

On the bill for tomorrow: Rent a car and drive through the East Neuk fishing villages to Anstruther, and on to St. Andrews (aka. The Birthplace of Golf).