#2may2017

And also spent a bomb.

So yesterday morning I got up at 7.20am, took my time writing the first post, and by the time I got ready to leave, it was already 8am.

So first up was Arthur’s Seat. Holyrood Hills is one of the highest points in Edinburgh, and I wanted to get to the peak. Apparently during May Day it’s a tradition for girls to climb up and dab their faces with morning dew in order to prettify themselves. So I scrambled up, and found myself facing rocky terrain with loose pebbles. For the record, this is not me being a ninny. There actually are signs stating that this is an unsafe route with some dangers, and my airbnb host Alex has said that people have died there before.

So I clambered up warily, trying not to think that this might be the last thing I did in Edinburgh (and my life), and my very unathletic legs trembled from the strain. Several times I couldn’t find a stable foothold and thought of giving up. But the peak was so near! So i thought that I MUST complete it.

And complete it I did. The view was not so great at the top as you would think, because Edinburgh chose that morning to be cloudy and everything was in the mist. I got some great pictures and selfies though, so that’s all right.

Then I headed to Holyrood Palace, where I paid just to get into the place and got a free audio guide I saw Mary’s, Queen of Scots bedroom, and the room where her gay bestie was brutally stabbed to death. I learnt later that you could see the bloodstains on the flagstones, but I didn’t look out for them. Missed opportunity!

After that I walked randomly around Cockburns Street and spent a very long time in the Harry Potter shop near Grassmarket, where I contemplated for the longest time whether to buy the Hogwarts wax seal or not. After that I asked Winston if he would buy it for me as a birthday gift. He acquiesced, and therefore I felt better about buying it HAHA. So now all that’s left to do is buy candles that will allow me to seal my letter with wax!

Then I joined the walking tour departing from the Starbucks near Tron Kirk. My guide was Angus Coutts, he’s a little short but filled with good humour and was a good guide indeed. He repeated a few stories that I’d heard from Jodie already, but it made for a good refresher. He pointed out the uneven steps, the City chambers and how it had 11 floors because it was on a downward slope, Half-Hangit Maggie, and David Hume who hated superstitions and religions and was now one of the most-touched lucky charms (his toes were all shiny), and Greyfriars Bobby, whom he reckoned should have a lifespan of only 8 years (half the reported 16), and therefore the grave was probably of Bobby II. He was good enough that I amended my dinner reservation and signed up for the dark side tour, which cost £10.

After the tour I nipped off to Oink for a pulled pork sandwich, and then back to the Potter shop to get my wax seal, and also 4 coasters and New Scamander’s notebook. Sadly I didn’t manage to get the heat change mug. Then I went to Mary’s Milk Bar and got two scoops of gelato. Then I headed back to Starbucks on Tron Kirk and we set off on the Dark Side tour.

We went to a kirkyard, Caton Hill, and then another kirkyard. Some stories he told us was about Allan Mengzies, Jessie King, he showed us the graves of McGonagall, Thomas Riddell, Adam Smith, David Hume, and David Riccio. Some corpse of a biddy had been the first to be pulled across the bridge between Balmoral hotel and Rabbie’s Cafe, and some politician (with a name that was apparently delicious to say, but I cannot say I see why) had been brutally sentenced to death because he’d shot somebody and that person had developed gangrene from his injuries and died. And then there was the story of Arthur the giant and the three orphaned boys who had bagpipes, a fiddle and a great singing voice - and how the youngest had tricked him into being choked by a horse and a cow. He also talked of brownies, Red Caps, and kelpies.

After the tour I took a bus down to Princes Street, hoping that I would be able to get a purse from River Island, but it had shut long ago, as did Jenner’s. So I went up the short summit I’d seen from the street for many days, but it was disappointing - just loads of trees and more streets. Then I walked down a really nice flagged back alley to Forage & Chatter, where I had a really great meal of specially spiced lamb, with some nice mantou-like bun with butter and green veggie. It came up to £19 - I asked for tap water and declined dessert. Then I took the bus home - my third trip of the day, thereby making my £4 dayticket worth it.

Stayed up until about 1am watching danisnotonfire - sorry, no, it’s Daniel Howell now - and nigahiga’s newest videos.