Scotland, Day 3

This morning's excursion is a hike to the top of Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano smack dab in the middle of Edinburgh that overlooks the entire city. We have a hearty breakfast at Black Sheep Coffee, which seems like Britain's answer to Starbucks, pick up sandwiches from a convenience store, and set out for the day.

 

Getting to Arthur's Set is an adventure in itself. There's no bus route that takes us nearby, so we get as close as we can and navigate our way up and down side streets, at one point literally cutting through a graveyard.

 

This is an excellent place to note that Edinburgh is an EXTREMELY vertical city, rife with steep slopes and streets, and a lot of stairs to climb, even just to get to the next street over. I'm guessing in no small part that's due to the fact that it was born when there were few -- if any -- methods for taming hills.

 

There is what appears to be a standard route up to the top that's well-populated with other tourists, and which we're happy to take. It's an 800-ft rise, so we take frequent breaks -- not only to rest, but to take in the view, which gets more and more breathtaking as we climb.

 

While most of the way up is a well-worn path, getting to the peak basically involves clambering up some rocks as best you can, at which point Emily's mom (wisely) decides to leave the rest to us.

 

From the very top you can see all of Edinburgh and many, many miles beyond, and it's simply amazing -- I feel like I start to sense of how the geography of Scotland feels, with its hills and crags and firths.

 

We hang out there for a while, taking it all in and enjoying our surprisingly good sandwiches. J brings out his sketchbook, but it turns out to be quite windy, stymieing his efforts. I linger for as long as I can, but eventually the kids get restless (G goes down with E first, leaving me and J there for a bit longer) and I must follow.

 

On our way back down E and I take a slight detour to inspect the remains of St. Anthony's, a chapel that's close to the start of the climb. Best guess is that it was built sometime in the 1300s and fell into disuse sometime in the 16th century, meaning it became a ruin before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock.

 

After a break at the hotel, our afternoon plans involve exploring Edinburgh Castle, which is built on a high rock that overlooks the entire city. Most faces of the rock end in sheer cliff, with the only gradual approach being from the east, a long street known as The Royal Mile that's anchored on the other end by the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Castle is mostly given over to tourism, but still remains an active military base.

 

We marvel at Mons Meg, a gigantic and wildly impractical cannon that hasn't been operational since 1681, when the force of its firing destroyed itself. There's also the 1-o'clock gun, which fires at -- you guessed it -- 1pm on most days, and which I somehow haven't heard yet so far.

 

We duck inside St. Margaret's, a cozy little chapel, and wander around inside the Great Hall, which is lined with arms and armor; and I'm particularly taken with the stained glass in both buildings. (Also, J and I have been playing Kingdom Come 2: Deliverance, set in medieval Eastern Europe, and he has a lot of fun identifying weapons and armor components.) We visit the War Memorial, which is somber and quietly moving.

 

For some reason the children are especially keen to visit the prisons, and we learn that it once housed captives from the American Revolution, one of whom apparently carved a crude early version of the American flag into one of the doors. I'm wryly amused that those captives were apparently treated poorly in comparison to other prisoners, as they were considered traitors to the state rather than enemy combatants.

 

Apparently, a common punishment (for British soldiers detained there, at least, for crimes such as dereliction of duty, etc.) was to assign them tasks that were absolutely brain-crushingly in-your-face pointless, such as moving cannonballs from one container to another, then back again. Sounds effective.

 

Dinner is at a fancy restaurant called The Wedgwood and it is marvelous. I particularly remember their savory lobster creme brulee, which I absolutely had to try, and an amuse bouche flight ordered by E's mother. Afterwards we return to our hotel and make preparations for tomorrow's trip to Dalhousie Castle.