We Might Be Giants

Today Charlotte and I went to Edinburgh. She is not helping me write this blog, after her breakfast of glop (instant oatmeal without enough water) and my breakfast of eggs, toast, and banana, we attempted to get on the bus to Edinburgh. Emma got us lost!

We both fell asleep on the bus there, even though there was a very smelly man behind us who kept talking to himself. Charlotte couldn't wake up even when we were driving into the city!

The first stop was the castle. Emma enjoyed it the second time - and got to see certain things like the dungeons that she hadn't seen before. The dungeons were recreated as they were during the American War for Independence and there were American prisoners in the castle. Emma thinks that it was just to scare the Americans who visit. She also feels odd writing about herself in the third person.

Charlotte doesn't know what she liked about the castle. The dog cemetary was nice. the stone of destiny and the jewels were cool.

We saw them shoot the gun at 1:00. Don't ask why it's 1 pm instead of 12!

The next stop was St. Giles Cathedral. The windows were stained glass, but when Emma lurked behind some people getting a tour she learned that they are all 20th century. During the Reformation all the stained glass windows were destroyed and replaced with plain glass.

The third stop was the Palace at Holyrood, the official residence of the Queen in Scotland, and the Queens Gallery. Charlotte got the audio guide to the Palace and learned that Mary Queen of Scots' second husband was "allegedly" strangled by our ancestor, Lord Bothwell. Speaking of violence, Most of the portraits in the Great Gallery of the Palace were slashed during the Jacobite Rebellion and weren't restored until 2003!

After all the history, we had to have a restorative chocolate bar so we tried something orange flavor. It was ok, but clearly not memorable since we have no idea what it was called.

Then we wandered around, saw the cemetary where David Hume is buried and ended up at the Lord Nelson Memorial and the Edinburgh Observatory. We took a number of pictures of the view then headed for the bus back to Glasgow. After a short ride on the Underground, which looks a lot like a caterpillar, we arrived back near Emma's room. We picked up some fish and chips to complete our Scottish day.