The Royal Mile
Posted by Leonard And Me , 7.14.2018 1:12 PM
If you look closely at the map above you will see the Royal Mile extend from the Castle all the way down to the Holyrood Palace (the Queen's official residence in Scotland) through the Old Town of the city. The Royal Mile is the busiest tourist street in the Old Town, rivaled only by Princes Street in the New Town. After being dropped off to tour the castle with our CIE group this morning....the rest of the day was ours to explore Edinburgh. Our hotel just happened to be at the bottom of the Royal Mile beside the Palace. Eventually we would have to end up there later this evening.... eventually! There's quite a few pubs, shops, more pubs, and more shops along this mile that needed our attention this afternoon. Not to mention some landmarks that we wanted to see that were off the beaten path!
We started by visiting a cafe that wasn't actually on the Royal Mile....but only a few blocks away. If any of you are Harry Potter fans....the Elephant House has some historical significance (and some great shortbread)! This small cafe is where J.K. Rowling sat writing much of her early novels. It is said she sat in the back of this place by the window with views of the castle...which became the inspiration for Hogwarts. I had to disturb two people by the window to get this "window view" photo. Not sure I would be inspired to write a billion-dollar best seller from this view (castle sits looming on the hill in the background).
Next stop would be lunch...and I already knew where I wanted to eat! Down the street from the Elephant Room sat the Greyfriars Bobby Pub. During our city tour this morning we passed by this place and heard one of the saddest stories ever! Grab a few tissues....because I'm going to post the story below.
Over 150 years ago, a wee Skye Terrier was about to become the most famous dog in Scotland’s history. When Constable John Gray of the Edinburgh Police passed away, he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Soon after, the church gardener found the deceased man's Skye Terrier sitting on the grave. The gardener drove the dog away, because dogs were forbidden in the churchyard.
But the small dog named Bobby refused to go and continued to sneak back in and lay by his owners grave every day. The gardener finally relented and allowed him to stay at Greyfriars. Bobby spent much of the next 14 years on vigil over his owner's grave. He was also befriended by many of the locals and well looked after by them. It's said that at 1pm each day, when the famous cannon was fired from Edinburgh Castle, Bobby was said to have headed for Traill's Coffee House on Greyfriars Place for a hot lunch.
The faithful dog died in 1872. His story is still known throughout the world, and visitors continue to visit his statue, tomb and fountain monument, which were erected in his honor a year after his death. The tombstone erected to Bobby reads, "Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all".
Next stop would be lunch...and I already knew where I wanted to eat! Down the street from the Elephant Room sat the Greyfriars Bobby Pub. During our city tour this morning we passed by this place and heard one of the saddest stories ever! Grab a few tissues....because I'm going to post the story below.
Over 150 years ago, a wee Skye Terrier was about to become the most famous dog in Scotland’s history. When Constable John Gray of the Edinburgh Police passed away, he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Soon after, the church gardener found the deceased man's Skye Terrier sitting on the grave. The gardener drove the dog away, because dogs were forbidden in the churchyard.
But the small dog named Bobby refused to go and continued to sneak back in and lay by his owners grave every day. The gardener finally relented and allowed him to stay at Greyfriars. Bobby spent much of the next 14 years on vigil over his owner's grave. He was also befriended by many of the locals and well looked after by them. It's said that at 1pm each day, when the famous cannon was fired from Edinburgh Castle, Bobby was said to have headed for Traill's Coffee House on Greyfriars Place for a hot lunch.
The faithful dog died in 1872. His story is still known throughout the world, and visitors continue to visit his statue, tomb and fountain monument, which were erected in his honor a year after his death. The tombstone erected to Bobby reads, "Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all".
Lunch consisted of a large order of fish and chips.....and Scottish eggs! This was the first time we've seen those eggs on the menu. And from past experience, we love them! For those of you who have never had Scottish eggs it's simply an egg inside a sausage ball. Delicious!
Before heading back to the Royal Mile we headed down to the "gallows". The Last Drop pub is where men sentenced to hang for horrible crimes were taken to have their last meal while they prepared the gallows across the street. Just before leaving the pub they were given a last whiskey, 'one for the road' as it was called. The owner has the pub walls decorated with pictures of the gallows and several nooses. We chose to skip the whiskey....but enjoyed 2 "drops" of beer!
Returning to the Royal Mile....we came upon quite the talented street performer. This is one act we have never seen before. Take a guy, his twin puppet, and a violin. Put them all together and you have some great entertainment in Edinburgh! This guy's "puppet" played the violin quite well!
Hello? Paxton, are you home yet? We have had some drama back home with one of our cats. The little guy popped out the back porch screen window and has been MIA for the past several days! Our friends have been working hard to get him back inside. We are anxiously waiting by the phone for some good news!
Jenesa managed to reach the bottom of the Royal Mile without breaking a sweat....of course, it was all down hill! Located two blocks from our hotel sits the Queen's Scottish residence -- the Holyrood Palace. There are no public tours available so we had to settle for a picture from outside the gates of this estate! Tada!
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