We had an easy and pleasant drive into Edinburgh and found the hotel with no trouble – can’t imagine doing this without a GPS!! Having spent most of the day in the Lakes District we didn’t get there until evening so spent the rest of the day sorting through luggage and organizing things for the canal boat. It was deemed that a pillow, torch and wine etc. were necessary items that had to be acquired before we left.
The next day was drizzly and cold so we hopped on a Hop on Hop off bus with an amusing and knowledgeable guide and toured the city being regaled with stories of times past. The notorious Burke & Hare, who murdered their lodgers to supply bodies to the medical school and the little dog Greyfriars Bobby are all marked by pubs.
We passed George Heriot’s School, which is a prestigious private school in Edinburgh, with four houses and four towers – a clear inspiration for Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Elephant Café where J. K. Rowlings wrote the Harry Potter series is nearby, as is the cemetery where she got the inspiration for the names of many of her characters
We spent quite a few hours at Edinburgh Castle – thousands of people from all parts of the world and cashmere everythings at exorbitant prices.
We had an audio guide explaining the history and went into several of the museums including the one that housed the Crown Jewels of Scotland (The Honours) and heard the tale of Oliver Cromwell’s determination to destroy The Honours, as he had the Crown Jewels of England, and the equal determination of the Scots to ensure he didn’t. We also visited the Scottish War Memorial on the site.
Back on the bus we passed The Deacon Brodie Tavern built on the place that the nefarious Deacon Brodie was executed. His double life as the respectable tradesman and daring thief is said to have been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.
We also passed a statue of King George IV which we were informed, in serious tones, was very flattering as in truth he was “a wee fat man in a short kilt and pink tights with bad teeth and very bad breath”. Obviously our Scottish guide had firm opinions on British Kings
We thought we might go back and have dinner at The Deacon Brodie Tavern but by the time we completed our shopping and got back to the hotel our enthusiasm had waned. We had a look in a pub close to the hotel but it was packed and the noise level extreme so we adjourned to the restaurant attached to the hotel and had a stunning, if expensive, meal of scallops, venison and panacotta/fruit crumble.
With the car packed and ready and the GPS set for the Falkirk Wheel we were ready to head for the canals.