Holyrood

May 7

For our second full day in Edinburgh we decided to take another Hop-on Hop-off bus. Were were finally able to see Edinburgh castle but that was only the beginning of things to see. At the other end of the Royal Mile lay Holyrood house, the Scottish palace for the Royal family. Both times we attempted to see it previously, the palace was closed to visitors. We were hoping again for today.

But first things first, and that meant breakfast. We decided to try out the diner below the apartment to see what we’ve been smelling the past couple days. We arrived at 11 and there were only 2 other customers there at the time, which was good because there were only 4 tables. If you call them tables. Maybe TV trays would be a more accurate description based on their tiny size. 

We tried cramming two of us into the booth which we barely fit into, and the table was pushing into our stomachs. The waiter/chef/busboy/owner saw our struggle and jumped to action. The other two patrons were petite Asian girls and they were at the largest table so he just up and moved them to a smaller table and us to theirs. 

Now from a certain perspective that would be a terribly impolite thing to do, but this wasn’t just a restaurant - it was almost like visiting family. The proprietor and his brother now ran the tiny place and chatted with all of us like he knew us. The restaurant has been in their family and started by his great-grandfather over 100 years ago and the place doesn’t look like it has changed much since. There were signs and pictures on the walls advertising items over the past century. Over our table was a sign: hamburgers 25 cents. A picture of Audrey Hepburn was prominently displayed on one wall. 

The owner took our order writing it on a brown paper bag. There were very few choices. We ordered 2 traditional and 2 vegetarian breakfasts which came with coffee. Sort of. The cups were like something from a toy tea set. All of our plates and cutlery were mismatched and our orders came wrong. Probably because the cook was talking to us, and anyone else that entered, the whole time. 

I think he sent out a to-go order in the brown paper bag that he wrote our order on:

Oh you wanted scrambled, right, coming up.
Coffee, ok yeah sure, hold tight.
Oh BROWN bread, yeah no problem.

How about sauce? He asked,
  What? I replied.
You want your brown sauce?
  For what?
For your food?
  What sauce is it?
The brown.
I gave up, I had no idea what he was talking about but we took it. Tasted like steak sauce.

His delivery driver was an American from Houston who had relocated and perhaps retired here. Another customer came in by herself, a young girl, perhaps in her 20s who carried on quite the conversation with the guy from Houston about Bibles and which versions were the most authentic. Actually he was doing all the talking and she was trying to eat and leave as fast as possible. We avoided letting him know we were from Arkansas in fear he’d try to enroll us in his seminary class.

The table and seats were so close together it was like eating in airplane seats. We finished our meal, paid, and were off to find our bus.

We walked through a little of the Royal Mile, passed through Queen Mary’s Close and arrived at St Andrew’s Square, but not without passing some street performers and another guy playing bagpipes. Actually two of them. When they were in earshot we immediately knew to keep an eye on Rob because to him it was like the pied piper playing his enchanted flute. No matter what we were doing Rob would fall into a trance and follow the music. 

Eventually we made it to the bus stop and hopped on for our city tour. We hopped off again at Holyrood Palace. Finally the palace was open and we were ready to see it. 

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyroodhouse has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining. 

The late Queen Elizabeth II spent one week in residence at Holyroodhouse at the beginning of each summer, where she carried out a range of official engagements and ceremonies. The 16th-century historic apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the State Apartments, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the royal family are in residence. 

The palace was beautiful of course but we weren't allowed to take pictures and it was all top secret so I can't tell much about it. That and because there was so much information and history that after awhile all I really remember from the tour is that it included endless names and dates and tapestries and it had beautifully ornate ceilings, each room more ornate than the previous.

The palace tour concluded and we boarded the bus again to complete the route taking on some of the incredible sights and buildings that make up the old city. We repeated a little of it and exited the bus at the stop closest to our apartment. 

By this time we were well past lunch and ready for dinner. After a few blocks and a few potential places we finally landed at The Hanging Bat. It was primarily a bar but served food and as long as they had fish and chips we were satisfied. They had a large selection of local beers, ales and ciders and so we all got one, or more.

Rob and I rarely drink much but we both found the ciders were a really tasty treat. Rob enjoyed his so much he had a second. I knew better than to get two because I know they can offer a sneaky punch right to the cerebral cortex, which he soon found out. The fish and chips were cheaper here than most places. We soon found out why as the helping was half the size of the usual orders in most restaurants. They money most people save on the food obviously went to the drinks. 

As we walked back to the apartment Rob was bragging how his two drinks didn’t seem to affect him at all. A city bus pulled up across the street. It was advertising the Edinburgh zoo and was painted to look like an animal. Rob looked at it a little puzzled. 

Rob commented, am I drunk or am I seeing a zebra?
We all glanced across the street.
Apparently you’re drunk cause that’s a giraffe.

We had nothing to do but pack up as this was our final night in Edinburgh. We sat down to relax with a cup of hot tea from a tiring day of walking when my phone started ringing and I started getting messages from my home alarm company. 

Not knowing who the calls were from I ignored them at first but the calls were persistent. I looked at the texts and it was showing my house was on fire and the fire company was being dispatched. 

Now I was on the phone and in a hurry. I called Barbara, who was house sitting for me but she has some hearing loss and unable to hear the high pitched tones from the fire alarms. More alerts came in and this time it was a freeze alert. 

I reached a friend that luckily was nearby and he quickly drove over. Joseph found the alarm blaring and Barbara still unaware of it. They quickly began a search of the house. Again another alert, the carbon monoxide detector went off also. 

They continued their search and found no indication of a fire and no smells either. They also couldn’t get the alarm to turn off. Again another alert came in, a smoke detector was reporting more problems. 

There were several more calls both received and made to the alarm company and while they were notified that there was no obvious danger still they were unable to get the alarms to turn off.

I called yet another friend and now Kevin was also at the house helping in the search. While Barbara wasn’t affected, the piercing shrill of the alarm was deafening to Joseph and Kevin. I could hear the alarms through the phone while trying to talk to Kevin and the alarm company to stop the alarms. 

Finally they located the culprit and found a smoke detector on top of a tall cabinet that had a corroded battery. The mystery of the burning house was solved, and there was no damage except to several of our nerves. 

I put away the tea and went back for another cider.