We walked to a little Scottish restaurant called "Auld Jock's Pie Shoppe" and had a traditional Scottish breakfast. I didn't take a picture but I found this one online. It includes bacon, sausage, a potato scone, haggis, black pudding, toast, beans, tomato and mushrooms. I LOVED the potato scones but wasn't so much a fan of haggis or black pudding. (I dare you to go read what black pudding is.) But we also had chocolate chip shortbread, croissants and some other shortbread treats. Shortbread treats are my new favorite dessert, and on holiday it is perfectly acceptable to eat them for breakfast.
There were more fun buskers to see, and my parents (who were walking separately from us) saw a hovering Yoda that sounded really cool.
The history at Edinburgh Castle, and all throughout Scotland was so overwhelming to me. I wished I knew more, or had read more. It was hard to understand when Scotland had it's own King/Queen and when it was under English rule. There were bits and pieces that sounded familiar, like William Wallace or Mary Queen of Scots, but I didn't know any details or have any kind of broad understanding of historical context. But I'm motivated to learn more and get some books from the library.
In the United States, the history of our country that we learn about in school is more or less 300 years. But when you get to these countries in Europe, they have a "civilized" history of 2000+ years. When I told Richard that I felt completely lost and confused with Scotland's past, he said
"Just wait until you visit Rome."
Yikes.
We ate lunch at a really tasty vegetarian restaurant in downtown Edinburgh, where we could stay out of the forthcoming rain and rest a bit. Then my dad left to go get train tickets up to our next destination. My mom found a public records library where she wanted to make some family history inquiries and we took the kids to Calton Hill to see the National Monument and climb the Nelson Monument.
The Nelson Monument is a memorial to a famous Scottish Admiral, Horatio Nelson, who fought in the Napoleonic wars. He was killed in the Trafalgar naval battle, but was a hero. I didn't get a picture of the monument itself, but it was designed to look like a telescope. We climbed the stairs to the top for some spectacular views, but my photos didn't turn out well because it was raining.
"Where do I check in?"
"That's right here darlin'."
The hotel was old, and classic. It wasn't fancy but it was full of charm. Crown molding, high ceilings and chandeliers. We loved it. We unloaded our things, went for a little walk down to the pier, and then came back to the hotel to eat dinner in the pub. (There weren't really any other options.) We were all pretty exhausted so we went straight to bed. Well, Richard and I went to bed with the littles, but apparently Cameron and Eli stayed up watching a movie with Baca and Grandpa.