Edinburgh Part 2

Friday October 1, 2010
I had a very good sleep last night and woke up at about 10:45 am. I ate another big free breakfast and did some more blogging. Then I headed along to the free walking tour that I wanted to get on yesterday. In my typical fashion though, I was being overly optimistic in the amount of time it would take to get there (read: I was running late), and I got to the meeting point 20 minutes after the tour had started. However I managed to find them just up the road, and joined on.

My tour group for the Sandemans free walking tour of Edinburgh. The tour guide is on  the left.

It was good, I learnt a few things about the city that I would otherwise not have known about. Quite a lot of history in the town hey?
We walked up the Royal Mile, there was a heart in the pavement, called the Heart of Midlothian, that was in front of the tax office where people went to pay their taxes.

The Heard of Midlothian

People would spit on the heart, because it represented them not wanting to pay taxes. It was also a site where people were executed, so the spitting also represented peoples dislike for the people being executed. People still spit on the heart to this day. The locals don't walk on it, because obviously it would be quite dirty, but you'll see tourists walk straight over it, not knowing what it is. Apparently one time there was a man who proposed to his wife-to-be on it.
We saw an old church called St Giles Cathedral, lots of history behind that one regarding kings trying to gain power by taking over the churches.

St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

We saw an old building, built in 1520 I think she said.

And old building built in about 1520.

The poorer people would live up in the higher floors, because there was no fire escape. So those that had more money would live in the floors closer to the ground, because they had more chance of escaping a fire.
We saw the impressive Edinburgh Castle, which must be one of the most visited attractions in Europe.

Edinburgh Castle.

The tour also covered Old and New Towns, the Mercat Cross, Scott Monument, the National Museum, the Princes Street Gardens, the Site of Witch Burnings, the original 'Hogwarts', the Scottish Enlightenment, the real Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, William Wallace and the Stone of Destiny, Greyfriars Kirkyard (cemetery) Burke & Hare the Body Snatchers, Edinburgh University, Covenanters' Prison, Martyrs' Memorial, The Mound, Grassmarket, Tron Kirk. Admittedly I don't remember the tour covering all these things, but it was all interesting nonetheless, and went for three hours.

Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens and Edinburgh Castle.

This is the "original Hogwarts", the building J. K. Rowling based her Hogwarts on.

This is the "original Hogwarts", the building J. K. Rowling based her Hogwarts on. 

J. K. Rowling would also wander around the cemetery for inspiration and used some of the names on the gravestones for characters in Harry Potter, such as this gravestone for William McGonagall.

Greyfriars Kirkyard (cemetery).

Tomb of Sir George Mackenzie.

Greyfriars Bobby, a famous dog.

Afterwards we went to a pub and I ordered haggis, which is actually quite good!

Haggis at a pub nearby.

I had a chat to a few other people on the tour, there was a girl originally from England but moved to Perth five years ago when she was on a three month backpacking adventure, and ended up staying there for five years. She's on holiday this year so back with friends and family in the UK.
There was also an American and a Pom who was an architect.
I missed the post office today, so I'll have to get there tomorrow morning, and I would also like to check out the Botanical Gardens and Arthurs Seat before I go. I won't have time for the museum. I've gotta work out where I'm heading tomorrow, I would happily stay in Edinburgh for longer, but I know there's lots of other places I want to see. I might stay in Glasgow and try to plan around the AFL Grand Final and the cycling world championships so that I can watch them on Sunday.
Back at the hostel, I used the opportunity while I had a real computer to catch up on my blog for the last week or two.

Looking out the window from my hostel.

Looking out the window from my hostel towards Edinburgh Castle.

Ride Stats
Distance: 11.51 km
Average: 8.6 km/h (low average because I walked the bike on the walking tour)
Maximum: 42.5 km/h
Time: 1:19:47