The day started off with a breakfast buffet at the hotel. I am not sure if I have tried haggis before but it was on the menu so I gave it a go. Not near as bad as I feared, not exactly good but not horrible. It has a funny mushy texture for meat (there are some oats mixed in) but kind of spicy like a mild chorizo. Tomorrow I will try the black pudding. Didn’t quite have it in me today but since the haggis was an ok experience I am up for giving it a try.

After breakfast we headed out on the bus to the castle. Now the bus cannot go down High Street so it lets you off on the main street down below and we had to climb the stairs we did the first day. It would have been better to walk from the hotel than climb those stairs again but we made it.

Julien was our guide through the castle grounds and gave us all sorts of information on the military aspects of it through the years.

The medieval area is the great hall and a few chambers off that. One of the small chambers is where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to the future King James I of England. It was a tiny little room. Likely not any bigger than some of your primary rooms closet.

The Scotland Crown Jewels are in the castle and even though older than England’s they are not as impressive. You have a sword, scepter and crown.

On a more modern turn there was a military museum with a big presentation on the Napoleonic war. There is a Napoleon war eagle that was taking in the battle by a sergeant who received a battlefield promotion.

From the castle we wandered around the city again and grabbed a quick lunch before touring St Giles Cathedral. Since it is a reformation church it is not all that elaborate inside. Absolutely nothing like the Catholic Churches in Italy and Rome. However, still worth a visit. It does have the Thistle Chapel which houses the Order of the Thistle. Basically the Scottish version of the Order of the Garter. I am not sure how everyone chooses or gets assigned their standard but either way I do think some better thought should go into them.

From the church we did a tour through the streets of Edinburgh working our way down from the old town to the new town establish primarily in the Georgian time period. Julian and Micheal led the tour so it was a rambling walk with various odd stories. We learned a lot about what is thought to be the influence for Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Seems there was a relatively prominent member of a local family that made furniture became a different person at night gambling and drinking. To cover his debts he started robbing people at night. No one cared until he robbed the government office then he was tracked down and hung in the city center. Now he has a pub named after him. Robert Louis Stevenson grew up not far from this point and likely heard these stories as a child.

We also heard a sad story of Lord Montrose who fought for James II in 1715 and was left to fend for himself when James fled to France. Which happened to be the third time James had asked for his help then didn’t follow through. He was also hung in the city gallows and his body separated. After sometime it was determined he was actually a good guy and they brought his heart back to be buried in the church.

We walked through one of the closes(basically alleys) to see how the houses were just stacked on top of each other. From there down to the new more spread out area with wide streets and manicured squares. Our hotel is then area so we are basically walking back.

We also walked by the home of the doctor who discovered chloroform. always something exciting to learn.

We finished out this day with dinner on our own. Nothing fancy we had chicken sandwiches at a local pub.