A late sleep this morning felt so refreshing given our busy travel schedule. After a delicious and super affordable Scottish lunch at The Cellar (pea risotto cakes), we decided to tour the Underground City today. You may have heard that Edinburgh has lots of ghost stories and legends that surround the city when it was hit by plague in the 1500’s. Many legends say that Edinburgh just built buildings above the closes (neighborhoods) to keep in those people who were sick. Not really true, but the government did decide to build upon some of the tiny winding streets to cut costs for building more important buildings, like the City Chamber over Mary King’s Close. They didn’t allow photos on our tour of Mary King’s Close, but take my word for it, it was really interesting to see how they lived during that time.
Along our walk to Caldon Hill, we met Scottish George at the Regent Park Bowling Club. He told us more about the how the game of bowling works and then we watched some of his buddies play. As has been the routine for the past couple of days, we stopped for an afternoon pint at The White Horse Bar, the oldest bar on the Royal Mile. After dinner along the Royal Mile, we treated ourselves to hot chocolate at The Elephant House, the famous coffee house known as the birthplace of Harry Potter where J.K Rowling completed her first book.
The beginning of our tour of the Underground City
The Regent Park Bowling Club
British Bowling
George, owner of the Bowling Club
Birthplace of Harry Potter
Holyrood Palace, working palace where visiting royals still stay to this day
Now that's close!
The Brits go for sun anytime they see it!