Peter with guides Jane and Shauna

Today we did not get on the bus–oops, make that coach–at all.  Rather we spent the morning with walking tour guides, and then we had the afternoon free to wander about on our own.  We had two guides, Jane and Shauna, and we divided into two groups with Jane leading the longer but flatter walk and Shauna taking the other bunch up to the top of Calton Hill.

In her introductory remarks about Edinburgh, Shauna explained, without anyone asking her, that ‘burgh’ in Edinburgh is not pronounced ‘burg’ and it is not pronounced like ‘bureau’. She said, “It is pronounced like ‘buhrow’ and don’t ask me why!” I guess that answers my question on pronouncing the city’s name.

On the top of Calton Hill there are a couple of monuments–an “unfinished” Parthenon and a monument to Nelson, an inverted telescope. The weather was beautiful and we did get a very nice panoramic view of the city of Edinburgh which I could not capture with my camera. We could also see the Palace used by the Queen when she is working. She has her own vacation home at Balmoral in the highlands.

View of Old City from Calton Hill

Nelson’s monument and the unfinished Parthenon

Palace at lower end of The Royal Mile

After we descended Calton Hill we began making our way over into the Old Town and walked up High Street–The Royal Mile. Shauna pointed out numerous buildings and monuments and she also mentioned many Scottish writers, including Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle and J.K Rowling, to name a few.

Statue of Lincoln

Adam Smith, the father of economics

High Street wellhead

St. Giles, Church of Scotland

Motto of Scotland – essentially, “Don’t mess with me”

Castle at top of Royal Mile

Scott Memorial – the Gothic Rocket

Saturn V Model in The Museum of Scotland

After the walking tours we all did a lot of exploring on our own. One of the monuments to Sir Walter Scott is referred to by the locals as the Gothic Rocket. We were surprised and amused by its comparison with another rocket of which a model is displayed in The Museum of Scotland–a Saturn V.

As we explored the city, we felt compelled to do the normal tourist things such as: rubbing David Hume’s big toe for luck, buying new hats to complete our wardrobes, and visiting the place where Harry Potter got started. It was nice easy day for for the Road Scholar adventurers.

Harry Potter’s birthplace

Heidi and Beverly sporting their new tams

Linda rubbing David Hume’s big toe