Today we were very slow off the mark – our
slowest start yet. As we don’t often
have two nights in one place, I’ve found when we do we just collapse. Not once has anyone complained about being on
the move and if there was going to be a place to just hang out for a bit – it
surely had to be this amazing apartment. On the news, the weather girl commented that
yesterday had been the hottest day in September’s history!
Heading out after midday we made our way up
the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. I’d
been there 20 years earlier but I couldn’t really remember a lot and surely now
that I was older, I would be interested in the history?
Passing the many shops on the way filled
with shortbread, tartan and kilts, I resisted going into to any of the
shops. I haven’t bought a single
souvenir – nothing other than food and grog - on our entire trip. Obviously with three boys there isn’t a lot
of time to shop, but I haven’t really seen anything I need – other than
sampling the local tasty treats!
We arrived at the castle and started making
our way around. It is hard to believe
that real Kings and Queens had lived in this castle – and we were there
now! We stood in the room that Mary
Queen of Scots gave birth to the future King James VI and Terry and I were intrigued
by the life of Mary and her final demise after 19 years in captivity in
England.
As we left the castle, we had become a lot more
aware of the significance of the Royal Mile – we were making our way down a
street that every King and Queen had come down!
Just think, Mary Queen of Scots would have been led down this road to
her exile.
Terry and James made their way back to the
apartment and Will and I walked on to Princes street in the new part of
Edinburgh. The gardens were just so
pretty and I still couldn’t believe I was walking around Edinburgh!
That afternoon, Terry and I hit the pub
trail as I was keen to track down a traditional music session – I just had to
find that fiddle! After searching online
for the best places, we hit the pavement.
First up was Sandy’s Bells, famous for their daily music sessions. As we entered the very small pub, I’d felt
like I’d made a mistake – surely a music session couldn’t take place in this
little small pub? It was a real local
pub and as there were two seats left at the bar, we decided we’d have a pint
and wait and see. Our drinks were
certainly cheap enough – compared to paying 6 pounds for a pint in Temple Bar,
we were paying 5 pounds for two. We met
a Canadian , Linda, and she could chat
as much as me! The next half hour flew
and before we knew it musicians started rolling in one by one. There were banjo players, fiddle players, a
piano player – there was even a harpist!
There seemed to be more players in this pub than there were
patrons. All the musicians were fighting
for a seat! Whilst they played some
great tunes, the group were beginners, so after an hour we headed up the road
to another pub The Royal Oak. Another
small pub and it was packed and the music was fantastic. By this stage, the cider had really kicked in–
the Canadian had handed me pint after pint - and the musicians were fantastic! The group of musicians were mainly guitarists
along with a pan flute player. Let’s
just say, when I started dancing solo in front of the group Terry clearly knew it was time to go. By this stage, I’d somehow lost all sense of
direction (not that I have much anyway and with one eye open the streets all looked the
same) and that left Terry to navigate our way back home!
St Giles Cathedral
Go Terry!
First up - Sandy Bells
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