Wednesday

Our alarm went off at 7 am Edinburgh time so that we could both get ready, eat breakfast, and be ready to go by 8:30. Kaylee had a malfunction, broke her hair brush, but we still made it to breakfast on time. Today we were headed back to Edinburgh. It was an hour bus drive away, but this time we picked up a local tour guide who took us by BUS to many of the same places we saw on foot yesterday, but with good local stories and explanations. We went to a small castle outside of town where the Queen and family spend their time on vacation, and there was a small cafe in there where we had homemade pastries and coffee, and that coffee was juuust what I needed. We walked around the old stone buildings, took some photos, enjoyed our time there. We then went to another, much bigger castle. I will have to look up the name later, but it was beautiful, on top of a big granite hill, with a view all around. They said it had never been taken by force, even amid the wars they had. It had the oldest known building in the country, a chapel there. Two rows of underground dungeons left preserved (Creepy), and several museums. The castle wasn’t just one big building, it was a series of smaller ones, like a city within castle walls. One of the museums I surprisingly appreciated the most was a memorial to every soldier who did and has lost their lives in service of Scotland. You are not allowed to wear a hat in there, nor are you allowed to take any photographs. They insist on quiet and respect in the room. The room mentions and honors all of the men who fought and died, named and unnamed, and talks about how even the unknown names are now in the book and hands of God. They’re not afraid to have the word “God” on THEIR monuments yet. Anyway. But the neatest part was that inside, there were large books bound in leather with parchament pages, with the names of Every Single Soldier from the beginning of their history, how he died, and bits about him. Each book was listed under a range of dates. They even have a service where if you give them your name, for $15 they will research and find your family history if they can. But they are so reverent and respectful of their history, their traditions. In America we have one wall for one war, and monuments of history being torn down by petulent children having a temper tantrum over something they don’t truly even appreciate or understand. Scotland stands by its history, good and bad, and honors the people who fought for them. I appreciate that. That castle was cool, and had a great view all around. Down in the dungeons. You could just feel what it must have been like to live during those times, and their punishments were cruel and ironic. They tried to make the punishment fit the crime, and executions were family public affairs. I’m guessing the crime rate was a little lower that way. It would work for me. Yikes.

Afterwards we had free time for several hours. We went shopping, we ate lunch, we walked around, and we enjoyed the city on our own terms. Kaylee got a few things, and I got one thing. We walked by and there was a guy holding a very large owl. He said for $4 we could hold him too. She was dying to do that, so we did, and she loved it. Her owl was named Frank. There was another owl there, Hazel. They were trained, and would lean their heads in to you if you leaned in to them, but when they stared right at me, they still looked like the predators they are. I really wouldn’t want an angry owl headed at me, for real.

When the shopping was done, it was time to meet back downtown for the Ghost Tour.

That was pretty interesting too. Our tour guide for that was definitely a theater major. She played the role to perfection, too. She told us all the nasty juicy mean things that happened, people who died and how they died, places where folks swore they saw heard or felt ghosts, and the stories that went with them. And then she took us two stories underground and talked about the area down there, which is where criminals and homeless mostly hung out. She went into how the BBC did a piece on them and determined that was probably the most haunted area in the entire UK. She told supposedly true stories of things that had happened to them while they were setting up for these tours and since they had begun running the tours. Then she took us into the last room, tiny, one way in and out, pitch black, no candles, and herded everyone into that little room. I stood right by the doorway. People were arguing that we all needed to herd way into the back and make room, but NO Way was I doing that. She ended up blowing out her candle and scaring people in the back, but I wasn’t scared of ghosts, I am just clastrophobic and I was okay underground in a group, but I was not okay underground in a group all crammed into a space you could almost reach across in the pitch black. Not happening. When we left that roon she said it was common for people to come out of there with hard to explain scratches or marks on their arms or back. One of our dads, Ron, the guy who almost got in trouble for asking a lady if she’d give him a show along with his smoothie, was in the room afterwards and lifted the back of his shirt and there was a relatively fresh looking red stripe on his back. No idea how it got there. Kinda weirded out some people in the group. I still think he’s pranking us, but he is pretty convincing that he doesn’t know how it got there either.

After the ghost tour we had about an hour, which we spent walking around looking for a Cat Cafe for a girl who was insistent on it. Come to find out it’s not that close, and it’s called “The Fat Cat”, and who thinks that is cat cafe where you drink coffee and cats sit around nearby? After more walking, Kaylee and I called uncle and turned around and went back to the meeting place. The girl and her dad turned around too, but she was pretty mad about it for awhile. I didn’t care. She could go if she wanted, I was done.

Next up we walked a lot more and ended up at a Scottish restaurant whose name I will also have to look up. They gave us a four course meal, and a show with two Scottsmen in kilts, a singer lady, and two dancing girls who were professionals in Scottish dances. We had haggis again, wonderful chicken and potatoes and vegetables, a soup, and dessert with creme and berries and oatmeal. Yuuuum. In the meantime, they also did this show off and on, and one of the features at the end was where they teach you a simple dance. The two girls went into the audience and picked two people to dance with them. They wanted boys but only one boy would go with them, so Kaylee was picked to be the other participant! She went up and did the dance on stage with the others. She said she got dizzy after the twirls and messed up, but she did well. :)

The adult ladies all got a shot of whiskey and got our photos taken with one of the performers in his full regalia kilt gear. The whiskey was for a toast during the show, they’d asked everyone who wanted to participate to do so. I don’t have those pictures, but hopefully the mom who does will share. :)

By now it’s 9 pm again, and time to ride the bus back to the hotel and crash for the night. Except now it’s midnight this time, I’m not tired, and we have to get up at 6:45 am for breakfast and then we leave Edinburgh for good and go on a 6 hour bus ride to our next destination...