Every stone tells a story

Edinburgh, Scotland Today we walked the Royal Mile, the ridge where people have lived before recorded history. At its top was the perfect place to place a castle, and to start our walk. We have toured the castle previously, and have also been here on the esplanade when the Military Tattoo was gloriously paraded.

The end of the esplanade has a quaint corner dedicated to a sad past, when witches were so prominent.

The walk down the mile has us pass an astonishing number of wool/cashmere/kilt shops, which somehow all seem to have sufficient customers to succeed. To this add the whisky shops, and that’s the majority of the retail establishments.

Old Edinburgh of the 17th century was quite crowded and housing became vertical — long before elevators, not to mention sewage management.

Branching off the Royal Mile are narrow alleyways that go by various names, but most are very charming.

The Mile was quite well populated with tourists, with lots to admire.

Lots of famous Scots have been memorialized with statuary that decorates the streets and provides a resting place for the birds. A sentimental favorite is Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal dog reputed to have slept on his master’s grave for 14 years.

As you go downhill on the Royal Mile, buildings become newer, relatively speaking. John Knox had his own house, which is still standing.

The Heart of Midlothian marks the spot of the city’s 15th century municipal building and jail. Nearby, witches were burned, traitors were decapitated and criminals were hanged. Fun times. Locals with long memories still spit on the pavement in protest.

These decommissioned phone booths were produced in Scotland, as were all of Britain’s iconic red boxes.

Harry Potter fans would appreciate the side street that claims to pass as the inspiration for Diagon Alley. Even if you didn’t know that, the area’s shops would be a dead giveaway. A Harry Potter Latte Mug? Give me a break.

We ambled down the end of the Royal Mile, taking in the rest of the sights. The Canongate Kirk near the end is the small church where the royal family worships when they are in town.

And then we are almost at the end, except for an architectural nightmare — the new Scottish Parliament Building. What were they thinking? Far be it from me to guess.

Then, in complete contrast, across the street is the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the preferred residence of Scotland’s royalty.

Don’s Food Corner

This was quite a food day. At least in volume.

We started with breakfast at the most famous Scottish restaurant in the world — McDonald’s.

We had the Egg McMuffin, which had sausage that was slightly more heavily seasoned than the U.S. version. I don’t know what they call the “English muffin” used in an Egg McMuffin because an “English muffin” is unheard-of in the UK. But it was a good version. Also, there was no “biscuit” alternative to the English muffin because a “biscuit” that we know is also unheard-of here. If you asked for a biscuit, you’d get a cookie.

I was intent on getting back to my scone-tasting pursuit. The first scone of the day was at a little two-story tea shop called the Elephant Café, which the sign outside claimed to have been the location where J. K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. But we were confused because the last time we were in Edinburgh we took a Harry Potter tour and the Elephant Café site we saw was larger and on a corner. It was explained that the original building had since burned down and the owners opened this new place and took the “magic” with it. Not bothered by historic fact, Harry Potter fans lined up to get in and the rest of the Harry Potter fanatics took selfies outside in front of the building.

I ordered a scone and a tea. Jo, sconed out by now, ordered a slice of apple pie and a hot chocolate. The pie was unbelievably fantastic. The scone? It was hot, which actually melted the clotted cream. It was also fluffy and light, tasting more like a buttermilk biscuit that you could get at Biscuitville in North Carolina. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not a scone. Grade as a scone: F. Grade as a buttermilk biscuit: A+.

We stopped at an other tea room further down the Mile (which actually felt like 10 miles instead of one). This place served something closer to what I expected as a real scone. I wouldn’t say it was unusually heavy, but I wouldn’t have wanted to drop it on the floor for fear of breaking the floor tile. They didn’t have clotted cream, only butter. So, that was a negative. It was dense, but tasted more like stale bread instead of a fresh scone. But is was flavorful. Grade: C+.

We finished the day by going to an Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel. Housed in a former bank, the room was beautiful. The food was standard fare. I ordered pasta with Bolognese sauce. Jo ordered lasagna. She thought both dishes had too much garlic. I didn’t think so. I ended up eating most of both dishes. I didn’t want to insult the chef, okay?