Weekend with Leah: Day Two!

On Saturday morning, Leah and I got up early to head to tour the castle! I had pre-purchased the tickets, which was really good, as the queues were really long. It was another hot sunny day, I think it was even warmer than it was on Friday. We headed up Queensferry towards the castle, passing through in a lovely farmers market on the way in. It was mostly local food products, but unfortunately, most of it needed to be cooked! So we passed on by.

We decided to have out breakfast in one of the cafe's in the castle. We both had cappuccinos, and Leah had a scone, and I had a raspberry and white chocolate muffin. We sat next to a window that allowed us to look out over the sunny city.

After finishing up our meal, we decided to head out into the sunshine! The Castle is amazing, simply because it is its own little contained community. I feel like in Edinburgh, I'm constantly visualizing myself being in another time in the places I go to - a time without rushing tourists, the disruptive stop of traffic due to people taking pictures, or the sounds of traffic in the streets. Instead, I try to imagine what life would be like on top of this enormous military fortress. One story that popped into my head is that of a night watch soldier, standing guard on the ramparts, facing the icy wind coming off the Frith of Forth in the dead of winter. Even in the heat of this summer day, the breeze from the sea lead us to seek the comfort of our sweaters wrapped around us.

This is the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle. It has been restored to look the way it may have originally.

We got to watch an armory demonstration, while listening to tales of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.

 From there, we decided to brave the queue to see the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed in this part of the castle where the Jewels and the Stone of Destiny were housed, but it the exhibit prior was neat. It detailed the royal lineage and provided information about the coronation ceremonies in which the Crown Jewels, or "Honours" of Scotland were used. The Honours are made up of three items: the Crown, the Septre, and the Sword of State. If you have ever seen Scotland's Coat of Arms, you may have noticed it depicts a red lion, wearing a crown, and holding a sword and a septre. Those are the Crown Jewels!

 After exploring many of the exhibits, we headed outside to catch the firing of the One O'clock Gun. This ceremony, which has been performed since the 1800s, was once used to notify the ships on the coast what time it was. I am not sure if you can hear it in Leith or any of the coastal suburbs now, but if you are on Princes Street at that time you may hear it.

There is a joke I have been told a few times to contrast the social differences between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. I have been told that if you hear a gunshot in Edinburgh, you don't have to worry - they're just letting you know the time. If you hear a gunshot in Glasgow though, you better run the other way!

For the ceremony, I grabbed an Irn Bru, the unofficial drink of Scotland, for Leah and I to try. I think between the two of us, we finished a quarter of it. All around us, little kids were chugging bottles of the soda, which tasted similar to cotton candy. However, we found it sickly sweet! But that crossed something else off my list to try.

Once we finished touring the rest of the exhibits, most of which were about military history, we headed up to Leith. We had lunch at a cafe called The Roseleaf Cafe. We both had the soup of the day - carrot and ginger. I was so fascinated by all of their china! It was so interesting!

 One of the draws of the Roseleaf that contributes to its popularity, is that it hosts private tea parties. There was a "hen" party (what we know as a bachelorette party) while we were there, all dressed up with their hats and fascinators. Another one of the Roseleaf's signatures is that they serve their cocktails in teacups! They've termed them "pot-tails." It was pretty brilliant.

After lunch, we headed off to the Edinburgh Dungeons, a live-theater tour and the city's "most haunted attraction." It was mostly funny, but it touched upon some of the darker histories of Edinburgh, such as the story of Burke and Hare. They were famous for digging up the bodies of the recently deceased and selling the corpses to the medical schools. It also played on the story of Sawney Bean - a cannibalistic tribe. I'm not sure how true that story is, but I am sure it was dramatized for the tour! There were a few rides too, one boat ride through a dark tunnel which reminded me of Disney World. The other major one was a free-fall drop that was supposed to be a play on what would happen in a hanging. Leah and I had a good laugh, especially when we allowed ourselves to get scared! It was good fun, and certainly something completely different than I have done in my time here.

We wound up the evening with a trip down towards Grassmarket to an Indian restaurant. It got really good ratings, yet we were the only ones there at first! Unfortunately, the waiter, who must have only been 15 or so, was so nervous he dropped a glass of water all over the table and I got quite wet. He was so embarrassed and could not even talk to us, so his boss took over! I thought it was funny more than anything, and after moving tables, I dried off soon enough. At the end of our meal, a lovely older gentleman who had entered the restaurant not too long after us came over and started making conversation. He apparently hosts people from all over the world in his home for various Edinburgh events, and currently had a few American people in his home for the golf Open. He seemed genuinely kind, and was so curious about our experiences thus far in Scotland. He actually said that he loves Americans, and has always been struck by their generosity and friendliness whenever he encounters them. I expressed to him what a change that was from the normal opinion that is shared with me about my homeland. Honestly, it really was refreshing! I am glad our evening concluded with that interaction!