Day 46 - Thursday September 15, 2022 Edinburgh — Corner to Corner for HavenHouse

Quick facts:

Touring day in Edinburgh, Scotland

Weather: Sunny with scattered clouds. High 18 C Lo 8C Wind 19 kmh ENE

Sunrise at 06:44 Sunset 19:30

Departure: Hostelling Scotland Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh UK

Destination; Hostelling Scotland Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh UK

Distance: 0

Ascent: 0

This was a riding rest day.... I took the bus and toured Edinburgh. I need to go back!

Good morning / good day

We woke up to a sunny day which we were getting used to in Scotland. A perfect day for exploring the city of Edinburgh. The city Old and New is a well deserved UNESCO World Heritage Site . It has a population of around 500,000 +.

Ralph headed off to Eastside Bikes 1 Cadzow Place, London Road Edinburgh. This was the bike shop our new friend Gregor had recommended. Ralph was happily fitted with a new pannier rack. We had been repairing ours with plumbers' clamps and duct tape. My repairs were holding up but Ralph, quite reasonably, wanted a more permanent fix. Thank you Andy.

Queen Elizabeth II days of mourning her death meant that many tourist services were closed. I did find a Hop on Hop off bus tour and took advantage of it to take an overview tour of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is the second largest city in Scotland, after Glasgow. It has been the seat of the Scottish government since the 15th century. It is also the location of Hollyroodhouse, the official residence of the Monarchy in Scotland and the temporary resting place of the late Queen Elizabeth II as her funeral cortege made its way to London from Balmoral castle on September 11, 2022.

The art work and monuments around the city abound. I particularly liked these giraffes outside the Omni centre. They are in stark contrast to the ornate tower honouring Scott in Princes Street Garden.

The Scott monument is the second largest monument in the world dedicated to the Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott. It is a striking landmark in Princes Garden and made an easily recognizable spot for a tourist like me to maintain my bearings. The Castle was a pretty good landmark too!

It was a great disappointment that I hadn't booked an Edinburgh Castle tour as soon as Ralph and I knew the date we would be in town. It was impossible to get a ticket into the grounds and a tour by the time I realized this. There were a lot of people who had come to Edinburgh over the last few days. My loss.

The Hop on Hop off bus toured old and new Edinburgh and to the outskirts of Newhaven and Hollyrood and the Scottish Parliament buildings are located.

Hollyrood Park including the huge hill called Arthur's Seat is a large area open to the public. Hollyrood Palace is partially open when it is not being used as the official residence for the Monarch.

Just around the curve in the road is the Scottish parliamentary building , surely one of the most unusual modern houses of parliament. It opened in 2004, unfortunately after the Spanish architect had passed away and after overruns of ten times the original estimate. Each part of its structure symbolizes some part of Scotland.

The main public entrance below.

Office towers for the members of parliament:

Usher Hall is a performing arts concert hall in Edinburgh built in 1906.

Street scenes around Greater Grassmarket. This is in the old part of Edinburgh and holds stories of a notorious past full of public hangings.

Maggie Dicksons' shown in the photo below is named after a murderess who was hanged in the gallows. Her family retrieved the body but on the way to the cemetry heard a knocking. Maggie was still alive and lived another 40 years!

Of course I could have spent days in the National Museum of Scotland but I had to be satisfied with a few hours. The highlights included seeing Dolly the cloned sheep from 1996; a first edition of Darwin's On The Origin of Species and the first mechanically propelled bicycles invented by a blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan and a wood turner around 1839.

I haven't even gotten started on the steam power looms and inventions.... you will just have to visit yourselves.

Quite an endearing story is of Greyfriars Bobby. A little dog who stayed at his master's grave for 14 years. There are opposing stories of what might really have happened, but I will leave it to you to choose the one you prefer.