What DOES a Scot wear under his kilt?
NOTHING! And you knew the answer to that.
After a killer first dinner in the Scottish capital at The King's Wark, we awoke on our first day in Scotland to blue, sunny skies! The bus picked up right in front of our hotel; we took it to the historic center and walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle.
Inside the Portcullis Gate we started to follow a walking tour, but it was too windy to really hear the poor gal leading it, and the kids weren't into it... so we opted to do our own tour. The castle is/was really more of a fortress rather than a traditional royal residence. They were prepping the 1 o'clock gun as we wandered around the Argyle Battery (we'd miss it later as we were eating when they fired it). All the boys had fun pretending to be soldiers again.
We did walk through and see The Honours of Scotland (aka the crown jewels). I wasn't sure if the li'l guys would be into seeing a crown 'n all but they loved it! Afterwards we checked out the Scottish War Memorial, St Margaret's Chapel and the Half-Moon Battery with it's amazing view of the city. We found our way down the Lang Stair (that's Scottish for "Long Stair" y'all) - a beautiful, long stone stair - back out the Portcullis Gate and down the Royal Mile again.
The Royal Mile is mostly tourist shops and restaurants, but it was great! There was absolutely some shopping done. Tweeds, tartans, whiskey - the works! After a few chats with some shop keepers we found a great, family-friendly place for lunch - The Advocate. Our server recommended some outstanding beers for each of us, and the food was wonderful.
It must be said that thus far in our travels the Scots were by far the friendliest people we'd met. The Yorkshire folk were lovely, but the Scots just made us feel welcome and were so kind at every turn.
Before we left the historic center of town we needed to find Greyfriar's Bobby. Bobby was a Skye Terrier that guarded the grave of his owner in the Greyfriar's Kirkyard for 14 years until his own death. You're supposed to rub his nose for good luck, but as you could see our li'l guys will need to grow a bit and try again on our next visit.
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| Edinburgh Castle atop the Royal Mile |
Inside the Portcullis Gate we started to follow a walking tour, but it was too windy to really hear the poor gal leading it, and the kids weren't into it... so we opted to do our own tour. The castle is/was really more of a fortress rather than a traditional royal residence. They were prepping the 1 o'clock gun as we wandered around the Argyle Battery (we'd miss it later as we were eating when they fired it). All the boys had fun pretending to be soldiers again.
We did walk through and see The Honours of Scotland (aka the crown jewels). I wasn't sure if the li'l guys would be into seeing a crown 'n all but they loved it! Afterwards we checked out the Scottish War Memorial, St Margaret's Chapel and the Half-Moon Battery with it's amazing view of the city. We found our way down the Lang Stair (that's Scottish for "Long Stair" y'all) - a beautiful, long stone stair - back out the Portcullis Gate and down the Royal Mile again.
The Royal Mile is mostly tourist shops and restaurants, but it was great! There was absolutely some shopping done. Tweeds, tartans, whiskey - the works! After a few chats with some shop keepers we found a great, family-friendly place for lunch - The Advocate. Our server recommended some outstanding beers for each of us, and the food was wonderful.
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| Greyfriar's Bobby |
Before we left the historic center of town we needed to find Greyfriar's Bobby. Bobby was a Skye Terrier that guarded the grave of his owner in the Greyfriar's Kirkyard for 14 years until his own death. You're supposed to rub his nose for good luck, but as you could see our li'l guys will need to grow a bit and try again on our next visit.
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