Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A walk around town

I'm doing a giveaway this week! Comment here and on yesterday's post for an entry.
More info here.

******

A week and a half ago J and I went on a Saturday walk. Well last weekend, armed with the "24 great walks in Edinburgh" book we went walking around town again.

Saturday we went on walk #10.

It started off at the Greyfriars Bobby statue.
The story is when Bobby's master passed away he accompanied the funeral procession, and then keept a 14-year vigil at the graveside.
Bobby

So the dog now has a statue, and is in just about every tourist booklet about Edinburgh.

Then we went into Greyfriars Kirk, where Bobby's master, among other people, is buried. It's an old graveyard and many of gravestones were from the 1700s, not to mention pretty creepy.
Grave
Scary Grave

It was thankfully a warm day, and not only did I walk around without my coat (gasp) but I also had sunglasses on (woot). And we took a photo to commemorate the occasion.
Sun and shade


On Sunday we took walk #2, which went along the Royal Mile (called that because the palace is located at one end).

DSCN3952
In 1861 a building suddenly collapsed. As rescuers were searching the ruble they heard a faint voice say "Heave awa lads, I'm not dead yet". The boy was saved, and the building now holds a carving of him and his words.

The next picture is an old wellhead (though I think it's been fixed extensively), where the people used draw water. Since it was so important to daily life people also used this as a meeting point.
Cistern
Behind the wellhead is one of the oldest buildings in Edinburgh, part of it is from the 16th century. It's believed that it's survived this long because it was (possibly) John Knox's house.

We didn't get to see a the reproduction of a 17th century gardens because hooligans were hanging out there, but we did see this plaque saying that the garden was sponsored by the mushroom society.
Mushroom plaque

Here is a clock that I particularly like.
Clock
And from another angle, not too long after (notice the change in the sky color).
Clock

And, just out of pure luck, at the end of our walk we ran (haha) into the Edinburgh marathon (these were the stragglers).
Edinburgh marathon

And then it was off for a Full Breakfast (essentially an English Breakfast, but we're in Scotland), and then back home for a rest.

15 comments:

  1. I've walked the Royal Mile before! Your pictures bring back memories!
    http://catsongstitchery.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. very cool! i love historical places, both the history and architecture, wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I will probably never see Edinburgh in person but it is wonderful to visit it through your photos and writing. Thanks a bunch.

    RoamingKnitter on Ravelry

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've read the book, so it's quite interesting to see the actual city. Thanks for posting these!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i love edinburgh- it's such a great city!!! The ghost tour is a lot of fun too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What beautiful pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:23 PM

    My other half has Scottish blood running through his veins. How wonderful it must be to see all this beauty up close & personal!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful pictures =)

    fisiwoman(at)hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my.. i would SOOO like to visit edinburgh..
    is it very expensive??
    the pictures are beautiful...

    (since i¡m participating on the giveaway, i leave the mail here for contact purpose: cailinn@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous pictures. Thank you so much for sharing (even if you did make me a tad jealous heehee).
    ladyanissina[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous! The American SW is so drab....

    ReplyDelete
  12. I liked your pics of the clock at different angles.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love book-guided urban walking tours (esp. when they end with breakfast)! If you ever visit the Los Angeles area, I would recommend:
    Stairway walks in Los Angeles / Adah Bakalinsky and Larry Gordon.
    thorandellie [[at]] gmail [d0t]] com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful photos! I really like that clock too :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like to walk self-guided nature trails and have started to enjoy architectural walking tours as well. Would love to visit Edinburgh.
    thevanandthecart AT gmail D0T com

    ReplyDelete