Edinburgh 2019: Day 1

This day I had planned a whole day for us in the Old Town. Arguably my favourite part of any town/city. First off we went to Edinburgh Castle where we proceeded to spend a little over 3 hours. I've previously been to the Castle but it was a lot of fun to see everything again and to watch Toni's reactions. The castle is oooooold, like 850 years old and still one of the most impressive buildings in the city. And since it's on a hill it can be seen from pretty much anywhere in the city *queue a multitude of pictures of the castle from every angle*

After three hours at the castle we moved on to the next place on my list: St Giles Cathedral, which was cool but looked pretty much like cathedrals everywhere. The most unique part was the chapel of the Thistle. Photo permit cost £2 so we decided to not take any photos.

Right after that we went across the street to The Real Mary King's Close and booked a tour for Sunday. I tried to book it via their website before we left home, but it wouldn't work for some reason, and then we went to have dinner at a burger place close by, which is where I tried haggis for the first time. My burger included all the ordinary things: beef and onion rings, but also a haggis fritter. Knowing what it's made of I expected the taste and texture of fried liver. Couldn't have been more wrong. It's juicy and spicy and I really liked it ♥

After dinner we walked down Victoria Street on our way to Grassmarket and there we found a Harry Potter shop. So I had to go inside. And spend a bunch of money. We walked through Grassmarket, up the stairs of the Vennel and past the remains of the Flodden Wall and George Heriot's school, before coming up to the Greyfriar's Bobby statue and the Greyfriar's Kirkyard. After a quick look around the kirkyard we walked down Candlemaker Row and along Cowgate until we got to the South Bridge Vaults, where we grabbed a drink at Bannerman's; a rock bar.

After the drink we walked back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and then we took the tram/walked back to St Giles Cathedral to meet up for the City of the Dead walking tour. I really, really recommend this one! It started off as a history walk along Old Fisherman's Close and Cowgate before the tour brought us to Greyfriar's Kirkyard and the spooky part began. We got the story of the Mackenzie Poltergeist and the Covenant's Prison (the world's first concentration camp), and while most of the tour had been about building tension through words there was one single orchestrated jumpscare towards the end. The tour guide made a point of explaining that the café where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book overlooked the kirkyard and that she got a lot of inspiration for names from the gravestones. I found James Potter, Moody and Scrimgeour on the stones. According to the tour guide there was a gravestone with the name Thomas Riddle Esq. but although I followed her instructions to the letter I couldn't find it. I suspect it may be in the fenced-in area, and by then the light was so bad that I couldn't see what any of the stones said. (The tour may be scarier in the autumn and winter when it's actually dark during the tour).

When we walked back to the hotel I found said café and we stopped for pictures. I had tea there during my last visit 10½ years ago ^^

We finished the day with a drink in the hotel bar, before going to bed just after midnight completely exhausted.