Arrochar to Edinburgh

One last lingering gaze at Arrochar this morning as I packed up my little red car for the last time.

Arrochar this morning

I was actually feeling a bit sad this morning, because yet another part of the journey has come to a close. My little red car and I have traversed some awesome mountains and been through many windey roads and seen some beautiful sights..... Now, sad but true , it's time to move on.

Today's journey

 As you can see, I was presented with 2 options for the journey today. I decided to stick with the blue one as I had virtually done a fair bit of the top grey one yesterday.
And, it was different! I followed the M8 which is the main drag between Glasgow and Edinburgh and swept right around the edges of Glasgow. It presented a different side to my journey and  was glad I did it that way.

When I dropped off the car at Edinburgh airport, the young fellow who was checking the car said "You've done some miles!" It was actually 1470 miles, which is 2365.736 kilometres, to be exact!!!
But it wasn't just the length of miles it was the challenge of the journey and it was worth every minute of it. Absolutely loved it and would highly recommend Scotland to anyone who enjoys a bit of a challenge.

Edinburgh airport

So, apart from one little glitch where I missed the final turn off to the airport and went nearly 20 kms out of my way (!!), I arrived safely and on time at the airport. I couldn't book in to my hotel until 2pm so I figured I might as well have lunch there, as now I had my cases to deal with!
That was all good, then I hopped on the bus to take me into town, in theory to come out right opposite my hotel - The Scotsman. Bit of a miscalculation there.... had to take a bit of a hike around the corner and over the bridge, but I eventually arrived OK. I have to admit, it's a bit nice. When I booked it, it was a bit of a splurge, and fortunately it's all pre-paid, so I can just enjoy  it now!

My hotel

Once I arrived I had to plan what to do with my afternoon in Edinburgh. My first thing was to sort out tomorrow as I have to book into another hotel connected with the tour tomorrow. So I walked down there (only 5 mins) and the gentleman behind the desk said I can drop my luggage off at any time, even in the morning. So that means I can spend most of the day without cases and just do the sight-seeing thing!

I had a vague plan of going to see The Royal Yacht Britannia today, but it closed at 4.30pm and by the time I was organised to go out it was 3.30pm. Not much point there.

So, I decided to go for  walk up the Royal Mile, which is just around the corner.  I also remembered that Rick Steves had made an audio guide to tell you about various items of interest in the Royal Mile, so my phone was getting a real workout with being both my source of audio and also my camera. But the audio guide was really good and showed me things I wouldn't have noticed just on my own.

Rick Steve's map of The Royal Mile walk

I walked up to where you pay to get in to the Castle, but again it wasn't worth going in at this late stage of the day.

Looking down the Royal Mile

Rick Steves commentary sets the scene for the Royal Mile

As Edinburgh grew, it spilled downhill along the sloping ridge that became the Royal Mile. Back in the 1600s, this was the city's main street, bustling with breweries, printing presses, and banks. With tens of thousands of citizens squeezed into the narrow confines of the old town, there was nowhere to go but up. So builders lined the street with multistory residences called tenements — some 10 stories and higher.

 

Gladstone's Land

Apparently the poor used to live in the basements or the very top storeys and the rich lived comfortably in the middle. Edinburgh was a very smelly city and it "reeked" - that's where it gets its nickname "The Auld Reekie"

Site of the last public execution

It was all happening on this Royal Mile

Heart of Mid Lothian

This is on the pavement on the Royal Mile and represented where the jail was, where taxes were paid and where executions were held. There is a custom for locals to spit on it, as a sign of disrespect for all that it represented... There is much more to the story... read on here, if you're interested.

Next major place was St Giles Cathedral which is the major Church for the Church of Scotland.

St Giles Church

 You had to pay £2 to take pics there, so I coughed up the money. It was a strange place. The stained glass windows were absolutely lovely, but there was very little else there. Maybe I'm used to all the Catholic Statues etc.... but to me it was just an empty shell. And of course it was full of noisy tourists!!!

Inside St Giles

Lovely stained glass windows

Lovely stained glass windows

There was a statue of John  Knox, founder of the Presbyterian Church (I think?)

John Knox

He apparently is buried under the car park outside - under Spot 23, according to Rick Steves!

There were lots of little alleyways leading off the main drag...

Alleyway off the Royal Mile

Writer's Museum

Robert Burns was here!!!

This statue marked the market place where the Town Crier would make announcements etc... Apparently it took a horse and rider 3 days to get from London to Edinburgh with announcements... eg We have a new Queen

Market Place Town Centre

As always, there was a whole lot more,  but I can't cover everything unfortunately.

That was only down to the half mile mark, but my hotel was just around the corner, and I knew I had better write this blog before tea!

The flavour of the journey has changed already... we've moved from scenic routes back to a more historical and city based report.

Such are the vagaries of Wattle's Wanderings....