I climbed to what is called King Arthur's Seat today and got some gorgeous views of Edinburgh. I hadn't planned on going on a "hike" and kind of wish I had worn my sneakers instead of my leather boots, but I survived and more importantly, so did my boots! They're going to need a good shining after this trip.
I did a little more wandering today. This is St. Giles Cathedral.
One of the many "closes" in Old Town. A close is a narrow street that could literally be closed off by a door. Some of them are still closed off by gates so that local businesses can use them as storage.
Most of the closes lead to another street via staircases like this one. Back in the day these pathways were cesspools of human waste, but today they are ridiculously picturesque and fun to explore.
Palace where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland.
I'll take one set of wrought iron gates for my dream home, please.
Path up to King Arthur's Seat
The view from King Arthur's Seat
Looking out across the bay.
The palace from above.
I then achieved one of the most important things on my to-do list for this trip, and that is to visit Elephant House! For those of you who aren't quite as obsessed as I am with Harry Potter, this is a shop that JK Rowling is particularly fond of, and she wrote most of the first books here. I swear that, as I was drinking tea, my nose finally cleared up and my ears unclogged. Some of you will attribute that to modern medicine and chai tea, but us believers know the truth: it was the Harry Potter magic (Thanks, Madam Pomfrey!).
Notice the Ravenclaw scarf. Thanks, Lauren!
Stood in the middle of the street to get this picture. NBD.
Now for why my day has gone a little too Harry Potter: I missed my train! I must've been looking at arrivals instead of departures on the screen, because I was at the wrong platform, and by the time I realized my mistake it was too late. Unfortunately, unlike Harry and Ron, I do not have access to a flying car. BUT, today is probably the best day to miss a train. Thanks to St Jude Storm, a lot of trains in and out of London have been cancelled. Normally this would be kind of disastrous, but in my case it means that all tickets are valid for any service both today and tomorrow - I can use my pre-paid ticket any way I like to get to London. I decided to take my chances and take the next train as far as Peterborough, and the train guard informed me that there might be a shuttle from Peterborough to London. If that doesn't work out, I'll either find a place to stay in Peterborough or doze in the train station. Either way, I'll get to London sooner than if I had stayed in Edinburgh until tomorrow, and at no extra fee!
And, because they feel guilty for the delay, I now have free WiFi. Score! It's all about the silver lining, folks.
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